Saturday's highly-anticipated matchup against the USC Trojans will present itself as an opportunity for the Utah Utes to bounce back following last weekend's disappointing 42-32 defeat at the hands of the UCLA Bruins. Utah football head coach Kyle Wittingham has now added more intrigue to the narrative after he appears to have taken a veiled shot at Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley and the USC football program in general.
Wittingham had quite a few things to say about the NCAA's current NIL state. According to the 62-year-old shot-caller, it is inevitable that the more affluent programs will get an unfair advantage that will be brought about by the current system that's in place. Wittingham wasn't shy about sharing his thoughts on the harsh reality that teams like his Utes are living in amid the changes in the NIL rules (via Josh Newman of The Salt Lake Tribune):
“Pay them a bunch of money, do you have money we can use to pay them?” Whittingham said tongue-in-cheek. “That’s kind of what it comes down to, that’s what it’s coming to. I’m not accusing anyone of illegal improprieties or anything like that because it’s above board now with NIL, but as I said before, there’s going to come a time in the very, very near future where the top-25 NIL pots of money are going to mirror exactly the top-25 teams in the country.
“That’s just how it is. That’s where it’s heading and there’s no debate about it, unless they change the rules. I don’t think they can backpedal now with the can of worms that they’ve opened.”
Wittingham was then asked about his relationship with Riley. The Utah football coach admitted that he doesn't really know Riley well, but that they did cross paths during the latter's time with Oklahoma. It was at this point that Wittingham seemed to take a subtle dig at his opposing coach and the USC football program:
“He’s obviously doing a great job at USC,” Whittingham said. “Obviously, the transfer portal is being manifested how impactful it can be there, and at Oklahoma. Oklahoma had mass departures, USC had a mass influx of talent. You see what’s happening, and you’re going to see that teams are going to be able to make major improvement or go the other way more than ever before because of the amount of talent on your roster. There is far more turnover on your roster now than there ever has been in the modern era of college football.”
It now goes without saying that Wittingham's comments here only make Saturday's matchup even more intriguing.
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