2008 National Champ

I’m not a bigger fan of 45-42 than I am of 13-10. I do want a team that is capable of putting up 45 every week and don’t think that should be sacrificed so that the team will only give up 10. Great teams are capable of both. Good teams do one or the other and bad teams can do neither.

I’d love to be surprised by a home run OC hire. At this point though, it appears the most likely option is Bronco’s OC. Beck may be great but to me it’s just a further sign of how small Whitt’s coaching world is.

For as much success as Whitt has had, his coaching tree is a seed that never grew. Urban has people all over the country leading…[Read more]

I hadn’t seen that McNair signed at the time of my post but it wouldn’t have changed what I said.

I’m fine with people having different opinions than me or even vehemently disagreeing with my opinions as long as they’ll tell my why. It’s not my job to teach people to think the way I do and come to the same conclusions. But I can learn from…[Read more]

seemed like a pretty reasoned analysis to me. I don’t have to agree, even though I do, but it certainly didn’t sound like he was throwing spaghetti at the wall.

I’m not arguing that Scalley did not know the situation at the time he signed. Human nature leads me to believe that he just might, kinda sorta, maybe, have the teensiest sliver of different mindset today than when he signed. And perhaps he might be more willing to listen if a P4 job came open that would pay him an equivalent salary to what he…[Read more]

With all due respect to Mr. Markham you don’t spend 9 months setting expectations, follow that up with 3 months of failing to meet those expectations, watch others who fell short of their own expectations make decisive moves, and then tell your fan base to keep quiet and trust that it will all be fine.

having a big back is an overrated luxury more than a need. Better push by the O Line, especially the IOL will get you those 2-3 yards consistently. When first contact is happening in the backfield when everyone knows you are going to run the ball, the problem isn’t the RB’s weight.

I actually don’t think the offense is that far from having all the pieces it needs. Need some return to health at QB and figure out the IOL but the skill players should be solid. Just need a scheme that maximizes their talents and better execution.

I don’t remember that. I remember talk from our “insiders” that one of the reasons Jackson left was the way Johnson was handled in 2023. And walking away from the team so that Bottari had to play against Colorado may have turned some people off.

Time can heal a lot of wounds and if he was coming back to play a different position, especially…[Read more]

We keep talking about Whitt’s money but tied up in his decision to stay or go is that Scalley is leaving millions on the table every year Whitt stays. I may have the number wrong but I thought someone posted that Scalley’s first year as HC would be valued at 5.4 MM.

Not sure how long you ignore that delta from your coordinator salary before…[Read more]

wow, nice one Jim!

I need Anfernee to post the egg on face emoji for me

It’s such an easy conversation/sales pitch to imagine.

Utah: we know you had a top 10 offense the last two years. We’re willing to pay you half of what our last guy made to produce two offenses around the top 100 and if you produce to your standard running an offense completely different than you want, we’ll pay more in your next…[Read more]

Johnson’s sophomore tape when he played more of Percy Harvin RB/Slot hybrid was excellent. Which is why I was always big on him moving because unless the offense was going to change to something that features the QB like Bobby Petrino did with Lamar Jackson, Johnson’s #1 weapon was going to be stifled. Rich Rodriguez would be someone who would…[Read more]

system works great against less talented teams. What is Franklin’s record against top 20 teams?

Ludwig was up to 1.85 with a bigger than normal buyout because Notre Dame came sniffing. In retrospect, the worst decision Utah could have made was to go all in on Kyle’s buddy instead of taking the Notre Dame cash and using it to upgrade.

Right now, potential OC’s know that Utah is desperate and will force them to pay a premium for potential…[Read more]

typically, schools will fire the AD before a major coaching change since you don’t want to tie a new AD to someone they didn’t hire. And since Harlan has already handpicked Whitt’s successor, Utah’s hands are effectively tied through the end of Whitt’s and Scalley’s contracts. Any change at this point would cost 10’s of millions in buyouts and 3 firings.

Lyons, Pittman and Glover were the only ones I heard about during the season

Worst bet of the season would be taking Whitt to walk away from 20 MM because he was such a great guy who didn’t care about money and would do what he decided was best for the program and not him. Anyone who saw his retirement comments as anything more than his usual coachspeak was in denial.

At this point, the only change to the offense for…[Read more]

I’m not sure why Whitt failing on offense should be a surprise.,,

He’s had a two month head start to find Ludwig’s replacement and is still playing katsup.