Here’s a thought: Whit’s in Orlando to be with his new team. I would imagine the UM assistants are asking Whit what their status is. Human nature.
If he’s got an agreement in place with Beck / Harding / others, it might leak out, which gets his tenure in Ann Arbor off to a rocky start. If he tells the assistants he wants to get to know them better, that may or may not land. Either way, they probably want to know what exactly happened in SLC.
I think Scalley has an opportunity right now to make a strong case with the assistants, likely with the money to back it up.
Success in the Big-12 is more likely than at Michigan, there’s a longer runway, less insane pressure. For guys like Beck who have families they’ve led around the country, that might make a difference.
Sounds like Hill is leaving BYU and joining Whit. That is a HUGE loss for BYU. I have nothing against Sitake, but Hill is the best coach on the staff, and I don’t think it’s close.
Haven’t heard anything about Beck. Maybe that will be announced after the bowl game. I hate for Utah to lose him, but it’s not like there aren’t other coordinators out there. I love what he did this year, but I honestly think the No. 1 reason for Utah’s offensive success this season was the offensive line. So retaining Harding might be the top priority.
Basically said he was planning to leave last year but didn’t due to the poor season.
He said he made a mistake in Utah as he was asked (I believe by media) about retirement and he started answering….and I believe he meant this as the last few years. When he started with the “I won’t coach past 65” talk
Honestly reading everything today he backed himself into a corner then didn’t have a way out.
Thought this was an interesting article about how one very random play last year may have permanently altered the trajectory of both Utah and Michigan.
I also tend to agree with this take.
*The optics are awful, but the logic is sound.
The Utes didn’t blow it. Quite the opposite, in fact.
This is a win-win-win situation: The right time for a change in Salt Lake City; a great opportunity for Whittingham; and a masterstroke for Michigan.
Had the 66-year-old Whittingham stuck around, the Utes would have risked more than Scalley’s allegiance. They could have descended into an untenable, inescapable situation for years to come.
Imagine Whittingham being either energized by good seasons or motivated by bad ones, year after year after year, until the school and its coach become locked in a state of codependency into the 2030s.
That would have been far worse than an amicable separation unfolding with the program on solid ground, with Scalley ready to take charge and with Whittingham off to a terrific opportunity in Ann Arbor.*
I have to believe that the ultimate say on whatever Whittingham wanted from the U had to be Randall. Too big a deal for the U to be left solely on the plate of AD. Of course, we will never know but Harlan is an easy target.
Seeing some discussion about the dislike of Harlan - I’ll outline mine while admitting some are straight up legit concerns and others are secondhand pettiness…
We were invited to listen to Harlan talk about NIL about a year after it was starting up and schools, athletes and boosters were still trying to get a handle on it. I left not only unimpressed but exacerbated and perplexed at what Harlan had to share. He was completely not on top of where things were going at all, had no plan, and was way behind what other schools were developing. I left with a sense of doom for the program, that honestly I felt until this whole PE deal going on. But in a time where he had basically one job and that was to get on NIL, he dropped the ball.
Craig Smith was a nice guy, but not the hire to get Utah b-ball to where we want it to be. The handling of that along with the firing of Krystko was bad.
It is my understanding that Harlan’s handling of basketball has been so bad that the boosters had to step in and basically say either hire Alex Jensen or beat your feet. The first round with the Craig Smith hire, apparenlty Alex was very interested and made it known. He showed up to meet with the U and Harlan couldn’t even been bothered to meet with Alex, he just sent staff to meet with him. That is why Alex abruptly withdrew his name from consideration the first time. Just straight up disrespectful.
This one is person, but a close family friend was sexually assaulted by a Utah athlete in a non-sanctioned sport. She reported it to the school and the athletic department and the handling of the whole thing was completely deplorable. I’ll just say, after that I know why women don’t report.
This one is the petty secondhand one, but I understand that when he arrived he did not treat U staff very well. He immediately raided a contingency fund that Hill had set aside to negotiate future contracts, or to provide for coaching buyouts to give himself a new fancy office in the new basketball facility. But I know a lot of people at the U were very unimpressed with him.
So, as far as I can tell, he’s bungled the basketball coaches, had a solid FB coach fall in his lap but had to be strongarmed into the HC in waiting thing, and nearly dropped the ball with NIL. I’m doubtful that the PE thing was his doing, that has Taylor Randall all over it.
Oh, and I didn’t even cover the PAC-12 debacle. I give Harlan a solid D+ - for not completely driving the ship into the rocks.
My problems with Harlen are more oriented toward how he treats the majority of the Athletics Department customers like crap. Just look at the deterioration of CC membership benefits. As a Level 4 I used to get on campus parking. Now I have to pay $200 for a lot where it takes at least 30 minutes to get to an SLC surface street. Last year I thought it as beyond insulting to get asked in a b-ball game survey what I thought of the CC reception lounge. How the hell would I know? That requires a $14k/yr CC “obligation” to go in and get a vile hot dog and/or nachos.
He is totally out of touch with with 90% of the people who have supported the program for decades.
I don’t disagree with anything you said about Harlan.
My only comment about him however, is based upon living almost exactly equidistant between Harlan and Chris Hill (a few neighborhood blocks between each).
If I saw Hill at a local market, or walking the neighborhood (my casual attire usually includes a Ute shirt/jacket, and I often have a huge Ute flag on my porch during any major Ute game I’m not attending, so it’s not hard to recognize me as a fan), he always broke out a smile and said hello, acknowledging my Ute fandom based on my attire/decor. Out of respect for his privacy, I never did more than smile back and happily acknowledge him. Occasionally, he’d ask a question about my opinion on some recent big Ute win, some change in the department, coaches, etc. to which I would again respectfully, answer honestly, briefly, and was often surprised to have him engage me further in a longer, occasionally very long detailed discussion. Over the years, we ran into each other so often in this manner that he got so that he recognized me and if I happened to walk by him at the Huntsman Center, he’d recognize me and give a little smile and a wave.
Soon after he retired, we crossed paths going in and out of the Smith’s at 8th S and 9th E, he again recognizing me he said hello, I told him how much we as fans would miss his leadership and wished him well. We ended up speaking for perhaps 20 minutes.
In contrast, I frequently run into Harlan at one of the local markets, while wearing Ute gear, or have him walk past my house (while the Ute flag is out and I’m sitting on the porch 20 feet from the sidewalk) and have never had him acknowledge me as a fan, or even as a neighbor in any way whatsoever. Rather, he appears to see the clothing or flag and immediately turn in some defensive manner the other way. And, he never has a smile on his face.
I assume that he is a very private person and/or is trying to avoid what he fears might turn out to be a controversial or tedious interaction with a fan of his program.
I didn’t agree with everything Chris Hill did over the years, and certainly have some negative opinions of more of Harlan’'s actions, but as human beings, the two are very different.
Oh, well. I hope whoever worked with him during this year stays and tries to emulate his approach. I don’t blame him at all for taking this opportunity, but it’s sad for us.
This is disappointing news, but not a surprise. It’s the nature of the beast of present day college sports. I thank Jason Beck for the year of sharing his knowledge and experience. His offense was fun to watch!
