Who is Byrd Ficklin?

[The Miami Ute]

Evidently, he’s a freshman QB who’s made a good impression at camp. Does anyone have any details about him?

[NarfUte]

He was a late cycle flip from texas state out of oklahoma, just before early signing day. Jamarian Ficklin – https://www.si.com/college/utah/football/2025-three-star-qb-jamarian-ficklin-flips-from-texas-state-to-utah

He’s also a lefty

[Ute Dub]

If I remember correctly he’s the quarterback that was committed to Texas State that Utah flipped when at the same time Utah was interviewing the Texas State OC.

Also, the DNews had a write up about him.

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/04/01/utah-utes-spring-practice-observations-backup-quarterback-race/

“His arm is live and he’s accurate. He’s put on some weight. He was real thin when he got here, but he’s put on like 15 pounds since he’s here and he is really starting to feel comfortable in the offense and doing things that we saw him doing in his high school days,” Whittingham said.

[Yergensen]

First glance his offers aren’t impressive.

Closer look, Texas St was #5 in D1 offense in 2024. They know how to score points. They know under the radar players that will score points in their scheme.

JB also knows what players will shine in his scheme.

This could be good.

[EagleMountainUte]

Calling me gun shy when it comes to any news about Quarterbacks doesn’t begin to describe how I feel. I won’t trust the “rhetoric” around the qb room until 16 games are hopefully played. (Hopefully you see what I did there)

[Jim Vanderhoof]

We need depth at Qb. Dampier will get beat up running the ball. Ficklin has similar skills to Dampier. A much different offense than we’ve seen in the Ludwig era. A less complicated offense should make it easier for the young QBs to grasp and get ready to play sooner. The spark has been lit on offense. If the Oline buys in it could be a fun year. Instead of trying to over power everyone use our speed and athleticism to spread the field.

We’ll soon find out if Ludwig’s offense was holding us back or we just don’t have the talent to compete.

[Tednab]

A close descendant to Ray Finkle a former Miami Dolphins kicker

[Yergensen]

I hope the offense will be transformed, but I think you’re giving Whitt too much credit.

I’ll believe he has gotten out of his own way and the OC’s way when I see it. We will see it in scheme, we will see it in the “throw game”. True change specifically will be less predictable playcalling and game plan, increased WR use and targets, throwing vertically, attacking the edges, just simply getting the ball more to our playmakers.

If not, then we’ll know once again Whitt is in control and in the way.

[UteThunder]

Your skepticism is warranted, but for me, the circumstances of this OC hire are different than the rest which gives me hope the results will follow.

[RedRocks]

Yeah, we’ve seen this song and dance so many times before. “This time will be different.”

That said, we’ve had some recent years with good offenses. Not sure if the coaches deserve some credit or if all the credit goes to the players who may have just had the skills to mask the coaching deficiencies (Rising, Huntley, Kincaid, Moss, Covey, etc.).

[NarfUte]

utezone’s practice report has me drinking the kool-aid again. I gotta stop

[Utah]

Can UteZone actually watch practices again?

[Yergensen]

Yeah, I think personnel was transformative.

Whether it was Rising getting us into the right play at LOS or his making a play with his legs when plays broke down or TT’s elite vision it transformed Whitt and Ludwig’s predictability and conservatism into something more.

Do we really believe that in 2021-2022 Whitt and Ludwig schemed and playcalled that high red zone success rate when for years prior and since it was pretty mediocre? Or could it have been Rising, TT, Oline et al made the same old scheme and plays hum.

[UteNamedOg]

If I had to guess, it’s probably both. Whitt’s offense seems to play to the players strengths, but not at the cost of risking turnovers or negative plays. I remember going from almost never having a fullback in 2021 to Logan Kendall committing padded homicide in 2022. I’d be interested in seeing how the offense changed from just one year to the next where we went from Booker to Williams, Wilson to Williams, etc.

[Charlie]

Actually, we need to give Whitt more credit. The last few years have been awful, no doubt. But I stop and ask: how many coaches have better overcome the numbers of injuries at the QB position? Very few of the top teams have quality QBs in the 2 and 3 spot. Very few keep running along starting the #4 or #5. We could do better at backup QBs but we have to consider we are short on resources compared to all the other ranked football teams. If Rising had simply maintained typical QB1 health, just maybe more people would respect the job Whitt has done. That is more bad luck than in the way.

[Yergensen]

Charlie, I like your posts and positive outlook. But really? Whitt committed QB malpractice the past 2 seasons (not his first offenses btw) and you want to chalk it up to bad luck?

We see this one differently.

[Utah#1]

I agree, Whitt doesn’t get a pass! He’s been head coach at Utah for about 20 years. Most of those years except Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowls have had inefficient offenses and about 12 different OCs during that time. He gets paid approximately $4Mil+ a year not to be a solid top 10 experienced coach. He f’d it up with Wilson’s NIL and all the players knew it. He was a liability and Whitt did nothing to stop the bleeding and acted like nothing was wrong. His ignorance or denial cost us dearly 5-7, especially last two seasons. He’s got this upcoming season to make right or heads are going to roll! I think he’s got the talent and the players to be very good this year, it’s whether he can coach the players in a way to be successful, or will he F it up without even trying?! I think he’s one of the best coaches in college football except when he does something foolish to F it up and makes horrible boneheaded decisions that’s held him back over the years from making it to the playoffs. Caveat, it may not be ALL his fault, but he shoulders a good portion of the blame as him and Scalley have been the longest tenured coaches on staff. Hope he can take them to a CC victory and deeper than any previous Big12 has gone in the playoffs as possible, especially with limited NIL! I truly hope to be shocked in a good way! Go UTES!

[Uteanooga]

This notion is with the knowledge that Cam would never return. That is easy in retrospect. All decisions are easy in retrospect.

There was no way for Whitt to know that Cam was done. A healthy Cam would have changed everything. Obviously it didn’t happen and Whitt looks like a dunce. If cam came back Whitt would have looked like a genius.

Inability to predict the future is not malpractice.

[chinngiskhaan]

I agree he deserves more credit, but I’m not going to excuse the last two years as bad luck. Sure, part of it was bad luck, and I don’t think Whitt is as much the problem as some of you seem to think, but it is ultimately his responsibility.

Our offense wasn’t just okay when Rising was healthy, it was very good. The scheme fit our personnel perfectly. When Ludwig had his guys in there, his playcalling looked great. Ludwig was a solid offensive coordinator for us.

IMO, what hurt Ludwig was his inability to recruit guys that could succeed in his system. I think a lot of that stemmed from Rising sticking around for two years too long. No good QB wanted to come and sit behind Rising.

Make no mistake, we needed to move on from him, and we did move on, but I think people forget just how effective that offense was when it was humming.

[Charlie]

You noted the problem that can be brushed over. Coaches work and hope to get or develop a star player and leader like Rising that can expand the capability of the football team. And it is hard to recruit a quality backup behind a star. But when such a player develops health issues, it is natural for the team to pull for the return rather than take action to move on. We can be critical about the lack of quality backups without realizing how many very good teams live on the edge without a quality backup for a team star. This happens more often than you expect at all levels of football. Most often the coaches play the hope card week by week, most often the star gets back at some point. When the star does not return, expectations are not met, parents are despondent, fans are disappointed, and the coaches fail. Catch some luck and coaches become better. I honestly do not know how this responsibility divides up between Lud and Whitt and exactly where Whitt was irresponsible or simply playing the odds like any other coach. Maybe my mistake, but I tend to look at the big picture over many years to help me determine bad luck vs poor judgement and mistakes. I think bad judgement and coaching in the way of success has a tendency to be a rule rather than an exception. We need to see if success returns as we clear the Rising bad luck with health. Again, I am an optimist.

[HATUman]

Not many things great come out of Muskogee, OK, but this kid will be one of them. Excited to see what he’s got, hopefully we can hang on to him.

[The Miami Ute]

Thanks for all the comments to my original question. I’m thinking that if this Ficklin kid is more in line with the offense that Beck wants to run, that might really make Wilson redundant. We shall see.

[D T]

Hopefully, this reduces odds of relying on IW, who really needs a RS year.

[The Miami Ute]

Well, if this Ficklin kid is as good as he’s showing in practice, it might reduce the odds of even having IW on the team.

[Utah#1]

the current players, if they stick around, will make that position loaded. I think we could see two four star QBs in the 2026 class who have Utah at the top of their lists: Peyton Falzone and Oscar Rios. we also have freshman QB Wyatt coming in the fall. Isaac Wilson may not want to stick around and I’m okay with that. Utah is gonna have a stacked QB room come fall camp.

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