THis raping of the Utah staff means for me, no one better open their mouth to suggest a statue again.. Men worthy of a statue DO NOT ■■■■ OVER THE PROGRAM THAT MADE THEM A LEGEND.
I’ve now lost every bit of respect for him.. one or two coaches I could understand and maybe forgive, but not this.
And dont forget he backed out on his word to be a consultant to the program for 2 years or so.
That is so 1900-2015 of you.
It’s 2025 and honor and loyalty are gone now it’s just about $$.
I’m trying to prepare myself for my impending obsolescence. Come join me in the geezer corner where we shake our fists and bemoan the good ol days.
This is why I despise the Big 12. It’s not a big time conference, it’s nothing more than a triple A farm club for schools in real conferences, the Big 10 and SEC. I know there’s no going back, but I felt like the PAC 12 was a real conference. I just don’t care about playing TDS, Houston, whatever school is in Florida, or WVU. They mean nothing to me. Beating USC did.
Oh well, no one is asking me on how to fix this.
You apparently lack any knowledge of what “rape” is. Disgusting.
On the bright side, Jay Hill is going to Michigan. Anything that hurts TDS is a good one.
It’s easy to understand why any Utah coach, from head coach on down the list, would choose to take a job like Michigan’s. They’re going to make several times what they are earning at Utah in most cases, and their employment prospects in the future are much brighter coming from Michigan than from Utah. Recruiting will be easier. NIL will not be a big problem, if at all.
So I get all that. Bottom line: what KW is doing feels like a kind of betrayal. Watching him walk away with most of our coaching leadership (and we are still wondering which players he’s going to take) simply leaves a bad taste. It’s a shame this is happening. But to paraphrase The Godfather II, this is the fanhood we’ve chosen.
As polite as Coach Whittingham has been in describing his release from the Utah head coaching position, I believe that he was forced out. I think with the new private equity deal/ Dampier and Bryd returning he wanted to continue as head coach, but was denied. So I don’t blame him for his raiding the talent pool that he created. I blame the Administration / athletic director for this dumpster fire 
The PE deal certainly wasn’t “new” to Kyle.
He would have been briefed on it months ago.
The reality? Kyle had a last minute change of heart and tried to get paid.
Taylor Randall said no.
Those who keep trying to say he was “forced out” seem to look at the world as if it’s in a vacuum. It’s not. At some point the process was started and, it wasn’t prudent to stop it.
People can’t say football is a business when it suits Kyle then blame the U for treating it like a business.
None of this was just about Kyle and Morgan. It’s a much bigger process, one Kyle actually suggested.
Sometimes it’s just time for change.
We got to experience something rare in CFB, a coach who was super successful for two decades at our University. Most Universities never have that happen, especially nowadays. Regardless of what happened that triggered the changes, it happened. Best wishes to Kyle, and the assistants that are following him to Ann Arbor, on their new opportunity. Given how topsy turvy things are in a “Win It All At All Costs - Or Bust” culture, they are going to have their hands more than just full. Don’t be surprised is a few of them come home after a short time because sometimes “homesickness” has a way of changing one’s mind.
After the game in Vegas, I knew there were some coaching moves underway, but intentionally unplugged, enjoying the '25 season.
We’ve known Whit doesn’t like to wander too far away from his own network of coaches. So, it’s not surprising he’s turned to coaches he knows he can trust. He’s been burned before.
Remember “Fire Ludwig!”. In context, that was annoying, and ridiculous, but it was a Kindergarten birthday party compared to the way some of these other fanbases can be.
When the coordinators became known, I did wonder if there’s any stumbling along the way in Ann Arbor if having 3 white Mormons running the show will become an issue, especially in recruiting… in the competition for the 5 star recruits. The bar is very high at UM, maybe about 5% room for error and the rest is we’re paying you a lot, coach, you BETTER get it done!!! There is an army of angry men who will help you move all your crap out of town.
For example, Ohio State fans who thought Ryan Day wasn’t the answer bubbled up enough in tone and numbers to be acknowledged by national media as a serious issue for him… of course, until he won the Natty. (Losing to Indiana this year won’t go down gently and might get that fire re-kindled.)
Multiply “Fire Ludwig!” by about 10,000 and you get the idea.
Diehard said Scalley’s a people person, Whit not so much. Given everything else about Scalley, he’ll be more comfortable, intuitive and insightful in evaluating external candidates, and making assessments on fit and competence much easier than what we saw with decisions like Dave Christensen, Troy Taylor, 25 year old OCs, 70 year old OCs, etc. Beyond a few phone calls, now there are ways to find out what a coach is really made of, character, “fit”. Much less of a roll of the dice. (Our bar was certainly less high, but… in hindsight, we had some crazy situations.)
Scalley won’t be perfect, but probably less erratic. There are always moves in coaching, and while it’s crucial to get coaches on the same page, with the backing we have Scalley should be able to get a staff that is solid.
For example, I’m not saying this guy is a candidate or anything, but look at that Pete Golding coach at Ole Miss who just beat Kirby Smart and GEORGIA. I thought based on the way he dressed he might be an analyst or position coach. My point is there’s LOTS of bright coaches working their way up in the coaching world. The money alone gets many capable people into the profession.
IMO, Scalley can more easily find out-of-network coaches who fit our culture. And if the coordinators are all Mormon, exactly nobody will care… like they might in Ann Arbor.
Great analysis. I don’t understand X’s & O’s a footballBut it makes perfect sense to have an individual who’s empathetic, and motivating without being rhetorical, while keenly aware of human behavior.
It seems to me that being a head coach is a lot like being a conductor of an orchestra. I’ll probably get blasted for that metaphor, but it really is the same thing: working with and leading highly motivated, talented - but also insecure people - due to the pressure of the tasks required and the inevitability of being replaced at any moment.
Great analogy.
It’s important to have a respected, tolerable guy at the top - the reason the UM job opened up - but HCs who can develop the organization, a “CEO”, are crucial.
I’ll always love Whit, but his management style - tough nosed coach focused on Xs, Os, and especially results - meant a lot of people didn’t communicate a lot of things to him. He had some level of fear and intimidation going on. The program was pretty clean, he did a lot of things the right way. And to be fair, there is no singular perfect coach, doesn’t exist.
There are 100 important things you need in a HC, and Scalley will have some tests ahead - like if he’s willing to fire a coach who’s not performing. (He’ll pass the test.) But I think his ability to network and interact will help him more naturally find a good staff.
The biggest issue is everything is so compressed this time of year. But Utah’s in a much better place than a lot of other programs (like Nebraska). And we have serious checkbook, now.
You can’t expect Scalley to hit with every hire. No one could. He’ll be lucky if everything is as he wants it in two years.
True.
If he can land Jonathan Smith, my optimism levels goes up quite a bit. It may complicate things with Smith’s buyout at Michigan State. Maybe he would be an option at OC until the rest of his MSU contact is up? (Spit balling it here, no idea.)
Regardless, with the Otro money I’m guessing our level of prominence has gone up a little on “the market”, for both coaches and players. It’s not a gold rush, but shouldn’t have to be a start-from-ground-zero situation, either.
Chris Hill used to say he had a short list of options for coaches. I’d be surprised if Scalley doesn’t have a medium sized list. It would be negligent to not have one.
I think we should be honest with ourselves. The Big 12 is merely a G5 conference, and we are no better than we were when were in the Mountain West. If Utah is going to play in this new world of college athletics, the Utah administration needs to do everything, including begging, to get into the Big 10 and leave behind the detritus of the Big 12. Especially TDS.
I don’t think we’re MWC level, but TT’s inability to even score a point against an Oregon team that allowed 34 to James Madison underscores how inferior the Big 12 is to other P4 conferences.
Gonna need to change the “scowling Kyle” billboard at I-15 and 45th South now.
That’s been there as long as I can remember.
Whitt is choosing to act the way he is. Whitt has been alluding to retirement for years. Whitt could walk away from his time here looking like a class act. Take a coach or two… but gutting the coaching staff? Whitt is what all his critics have said he is. Not about the program, all about him!
This is the one time Utah and byu fans can agree: Whitt is the devil.
I’m fine with Whitt taking whomever he wants. Because THEY are deciding to go. If someone offers me an extra mil a year I’m going too.
This was a job. Not a marriage. He gave us a whole generation of football and the coaches clearly want to keep working for him. I can’t hate him for not picking up randoms when he could get known coaches.
That being said…his reliance on the familiar may bite him in the ■■■. His constant return to old friends and players didn’t change the world for us. A few amazing QBs and players did. So I’m not convinced we will die because he goes and takes people with him. And I’m not convinced it is the recipe for making Michigan great.
This IS the future of ALL college football. Get used to it. Its NOT about family. It’s not about team. It’s about a payday. Until that changes…don’t blame Whitt for getting paid an amount that would make almost any of us pack up and leave for Michigan too.