Recruit signing date: December 3. As it currently stands, Utah has 16 commits and rank 45. Utah is ranked 9th in the BigXII but that is impacted by the number of recruits. if you look at the average recruit ranking, Utah is 4th, slightly behind BYU. Utah really can’t afford to lose their top end guys.
Portal: Only one portal and it opens on January 2 and no spring portal. Retention of key players is a priority. The position coach and Whitt typically meet with each player with eligibility remaining prior to the bowl game to discuss where that player fits and what that player needs to do improve their position on the team. I suspect that will still be the case but I think a more specific discussion with players about their thoughts on portal and NIL. Teams cannot afford to be caught in the dark about players leaving. Whether players will be up front is another question.
Returning priorities in my opinion:
Offense
Jason Beck
Parker
Dampier - Iike both DD and Byrd, but if a choice needs to be made I think I pick Byrd
Ficklin
Bray
Buchanan
Andrews
Simmons
Defense:
Fano
Lea’ea
Vakalahi
JHD
Hall
Reynolds
Bennee
Snowden
Tao
As we head into the offseason (yes, there’s a bowl game coming), I’m continually amazed at how negative some Utah fans are. For the record, I am one of the worst offenders of being negative in the moment. I let my emotions get the best of me, so during games when things aren’t going well, I tend to react. But reflecting on the bigger picture, I can’t believe how some people want to see Whit go or criticize the program for “only” going 10-2.
As a fan nearing half a century years old, I remember the dark days of the 80s (I’m too young to remember the perhaps even darker days of the 70s) when finishing with six wins was considered fantastic—and that was winning six games over bad WAC teams. Imagine telling Ute fans in the 70s and 80s that a day would come when some fellow fans would bemoan a 10-2 record in a power conference, with those losses coming to top-10 teams. Imagine telling these fans that some people would be calling for Utah’s head coach—the winningest of all time, who delivered eight 10-win seasons, an 11-6 bowl record, three conference titles, and an 11-6 record against BYU, and four visits to New Year’s Day bowls—to step down.
Yeah, it sucks that Utah imploded in the final 10 minutes against Texas Tech and that Whit chose to not kick field goals at BYU. But this was a fun season. Heading into the bowl game, Utah is in the top 10 in the nation in scoring, total offense, and rushing. They scored at least 31 points in 10 games this season, scored at least 42 points in eight games, and hit at least 51 points in four games. We haven’t seen those numbers since 2004.
I suspect Whit will indeed retire, however, and I have some concerns about Scalley taking over. With NIL and the transfer portal, there are a lot of unknowns about the future. But this year was a fun ride, and I believe the program can continue to succeed.
This was a very good season. Definitely nothing to scoff about. Those last two games reminded me of the late 1980’s teams that had to score outrageous amounts of points to bail out the defense, but the defense did more than any of those 1980’s team did getting turnovers.
It was a great rebound from last season’s heart-ripper. That said, that team competed and never gave up, hence how bad it hurt to see them lose. This year’s team was just better and deeper - especially at the QB position.
Given all the crazy going on, who knows what next year will bring. I can hope the kids stay and play - those who can, but you just don’t know.
Overall it has been quite the ride. From seasons where the only thing that mattered was beating BYU, to where we are now is something I would’ve never place a bet on. And the ride isn’t over yet.
Excerpt from Stewart Mandel’s column today about Lane Kiffin’s move LSU:
Ah, but good news. The long-awaited SCORE Act, subject of all those TV ads, is expected to reach the floor of the House of Representatives next week. If it comes up for vote, it is likely to pass that chamber. The bill, among other things, would give the schools an antitrust exemption to pass rules without the threat of getting sued.
Imagine how much of the sport’s current foolishness they could curb. Perhaps they could put a cap on how much guaranteed money a school can include in a coach’s contract, so they don’t get stuck paying $40, $50 or $60 million to fire a coach. Or, they could institute a portal window of sorts for coaches to take new jobs, say from Feb. 1-March 1, after the season but before spring practice. You know, common sense stuff like that.
But of course, they won’t do any of that. The law is solely intended to put the clamps on out-of-control NIL spending and unlimited transfers. Like if, God forbid, a player ever tried to leave one SEC school for another in the middle of the season for some absurd number like, oh, $12 million a year.
The timing of Kiffin’s move makes a mockery of a sport that’s become way too easy to mock lately. The College Football Playoff should not be an opt-in for the coaches of the teams. Ole Miss shouldn’t be put in the position of having to choose between keeping a lame-duck head coach or promoting his defensive coordinator on the eve of one of the biggest games in school history.
But get used to it. Kiffin won’t be the last. Especially once the powers-that-be devise their next solution to a nonexistent problem by doubling the size of the Playoff field.
There’s a good reason that other than the Utes, I don’t really watch CFB anymore. And I barely watched the Utes this season. I pay more attention to the minor sports (e.g. vball, WBB, softball).
Baseball was the thing for our family. The old Beehive League was a place where the College players played in the summer and worked local jobs until school started again in the fall.
I don’t think anyone anticipated Byrd Ficklin. Out of respect to Wilson they said the competition for QB2 was neck and neck… then they didn’t talk about it anymore, and we all got to see Byrd emerge.
To his credit, Wilson seemed to be very supportive of his teammates. I wish him well.
Apparently Zurbrugg, the fourth-string QB who transferred from Oklahoma, is leaving too. Some walk-on QB named Drew Cowart is entering the portal as well. I wonder how these players who go to three or four schools actually earn a degree, and if they do, from what school do they earn it?
