I think it’s a bit early to tell, although Byrd is locked in I believe.
Kyle’s remarks to media this morning indicated he met with their QB for 45 minutes and keeping him is his top priority FWIW
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So much drama. Haha
Yeah, I don’t think Dampier is headed to Ann Arbor.
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Well, my question was more broad. I want them at Utah, not at some other place. I realize that UM has the #1 recruit from the 2024 class who played all year last year as a freshman.
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It’s no secret KW’s had somewhat of an acrimonious relationship with the administration at times, like when he was renegotiating a contract with Chris Hill and it got ugly and spilled out in public. I suspect things have been “rugged” recently as he’s had second thoughts about calling it a career.
As Diehard said, the inconsistent messaging from KW had to be aggravating, then he sort of fell back on the “you’re losing 5% of the fans every year” truism, then announced he himself was in the portal. There was a plan, he deviated from it, wanted to keep coaching.
My hunch is his competitive nature was aggravated by the PE deal, like “where was this when I really needed it!?!?! THIS WAS IN THE WORKS FOR YEARS!?!?!”
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Agree. That QB at UM looks pretty impressive. I really like our 2 QBs and hope we can keep them in SLC.
But the truth is a LOT of our success on offense was from the O-line. That made everything possible.
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loved the 21 years that Whitt gives us. We’ll likely never have a head coach in any sport with that kind of tenure again. I dislike the current transitory nature of college athletics, but I better get used to it. I also might as well let those damn school kids cut across my lawn on there way home.
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I posted this anecdote on a basketball thread, but I saw Dampier and Ficklin leaving the game against Eastern Washington in 12/20. That’s after Kyle has left but before the UM news. They were both having a ball with the fans, taking photos with anyone who asked, joking around, etc. just the fact they were at the game makes me think that, at least then, they were not on their way out.
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It may be a premature assumption that Beck (and others) are headed to Ann Arbor. Where historically we’ve always been out-gunned by the really big schools, with Otros that may not necessarily be the case. We’ll have to see, in this case.
Whit has to sort out his coaching situation, Scalley will work on his, as need be. But there’s always movement in coaching. Always. Can anyone recite from memory all our WR coaches from the last decade? Didn’t think so.
Scalley was involved in bringing Beck to Utah from UNM, and without Beck we probably don’t get Dampier.
UM’s QB situation is pretty different, so I don’t see Dampier going to Ann Arbor, unless their all-Everything FR QB is bent on leaving.
Regardless of what happens, Dampier & Ficklin has been one of the very nice stories of this year.
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totally premature question but I do wonder…assuming Scalley has money and some momentum this year and wins at least 8 games next year (which honestly I think would be a heck of a good result if we lose OC and other key players). How soon before the U has to renegotiate his contract? it looks great for 5 years ago but not really all that for today’s average HC…
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Agree.
Dampier and Byrd have been pure class in addition to being stellar on the field. They both have great personalties and are excellent ambassadors for the university.
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Obot is practicing with the team in Vegas
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He’s already with the team?
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So is a kid from Corner Canyon who went on a 2 year mission.
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I’m assuming Beck leaves, Freddie leaves or retires. I’m guessing Harding will be asked to join Michigan’s staff, but he has had other offers from bigger programs and NFL and has stayed because his family is happy. Would he be able to step in as OC? I know he was CO-OC with ARod in the worst designed OC arrangement ever. I hope Atuaia stays, but he could be gone as well.
Obot and Moa are the highest profile kids and I could see both ask for releases.
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I’m not so sure about commit upheaval. It’s not like the Whitt retiring to be replaced by Scalley scenario was a secret, in fact quite the opposite. If the culture hooked them most kids would expect that to stay the same.
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I’ll just say, regardless of what did or didn’t happen with Whittingham, I think the Harlan fan hate is warranted far beyond that.
But anyway…
It sounds like a lot of people in the know, and a lot of former players, are excited about the Scalley Era for Utah, and they also don’t seem to be overly worried if coaches follow Whit to Michigan.
And let’s be honest, as fellow PTSD sufferers: As great as Whittingham is, he had some coaching philosophy flaws - that actually may work well in a blue blood program - but weren’t going to get Utah over the hump. He was frequently too conservative and often relied on his defense and clock management to deliver the day instead of stepping on the gas. Whit’s conservative philosophy often stymied offensive production, and he went through OCs like toilet paper as a result.
I also blame him completely for the loss to BYU. Just some seriously bad decision-making at the time, that we as fans know was pure Whittingham. No, it isn’t the level of Sitake’s fake punting in his own endzone, but massive head scratchers. I also blame Whittingham for giving a few kickers the yips.
I’m excited for Scalley and hope that he can take all of the good of Whittingham (which is 90% amazing) and fix that 10% and get Utah in the CFP.
And to be clear - I love Whittingham, I don’t fault him at all for taking the Michigan job. I am super grateful for him and what he’s done. Despite my criticisms above, I still think and thought he was a top 10 CFB coach. Wherever he goes, he is going to run a disciplined, smash-mouthed, analytical program that doesn’t have any scandals and gets more out of players than anyone else. That, coupled with the draw of Michigan and the type of athletes he’ll be able to recruit… look out.
I don’t think we ‘lost’ him, it was time.
I think the story he tells is actually the truth. Sure, he wanted to keep coaching, but he also realized it was time. Time because he’s over 65. Time because he’s kind of done what he is going to do at Utah. Time because his loyal friend Scalley had been promised things and been patient, and he wants him to succeed, too.
Had Michigan not come calling, he’d probably be planning some vacation somewhere. He wasn’t going to entertain calls from Ole Miss or Washington or something. But when a dream job falls at your feet with a Mazda full of cash to boot, you take it.
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LOL at a Mazda
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Zach Moss and Eric Weddle both indicated yesterday that Kyle really didn’t recruit.
In fact, Eric and Zach were both pretty critical of the way Kyle treated alumni. Eric has obviously been going on recruiting trips with his son, and he said Scalley will fix the issue that existed at Utah and left us short of the other places.
He also noted that Scalley will have a much better relationship with administration, something Kyle struggled with.
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Yep.
You’ve reminded me that on this very Ute fan site we learned from Morgan Scalley that Whit had called Morgan and told him he had chosen Utah over BYU. As I recall, he said, “Morgan, I’m a Ute.”
Morgan is now Whit’s successor. No one could ever make that story up.
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