The Utah football team has a big season ahead as they have made the move to the Big 12 from the Pac-12. Conference realignment is one of the biggest storylines in college football right now, and the Utes are affected. Another big storyline around the Utah football team is their head coach, Kyle Whittingham, and his looming retirement. Whittingham has made it clear that he will retire soon, and the Utes have even already named his replacement.
This current situation with Kyle Whittingham is a unique one. We typically don't see a coach go about their retirement like this. Utah football will have defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley take over when Whittingham retires, but it is still unclear when that will be.
“As soon as I lose my passion and my energy for it, then you need to step aside,” Whittingham said, according to an article from ESPN. “I missed so much of my kids growing up, and I don't want to do the same thing to my grandkids. I want to be there and be involved.”
Whittingham currently has 10 grandchildren. It's unclear what will be the deciding factor that makes him call it at this point, but it sounds like it could happen any day now.
Kyle Whittingham has confidence in Morgan Scalley
Sooner or later, Morgan Scalley will be the new head coach of the Utah football team. Currently serving as the defensive coordinator, Scalley has been around the program a lot, and Whittingham is confident that the transition will be smooth.
“Morgan Scalley is an Utah guy, through and through,” Whittingham said. “He's been in the program for almost as long as I have. He's done a great job as an assistant coach and as a coordinator, and it's, to me, going to be a seamless transition. We've had a lot of good coaches on our staff that will be head coaches some day, but for right now, when that transition takes place, Morgan is the choice.”
No matter who the head coach is for Utah football this season, there is a lot of potential for this team. The Utes have a lot of talent returning to the team, including quarterback Cam Rising who was injured last year, and they are the favorite to win the Big 12. With the expanded College Football Playoff, a conference championship would get Utah in.
“The state that our program is at, we're playing for championships,” Whittingham said. “That's our objective each and every year and as long as I'm here, that's not going to change. And the beauty of this now is, if you win your conference championship, you're in the playoffs, you don't have to have some committee vote you in. You're in.”
This is going to be an interesting year for Utah. They could end up going through a coaching change soon, but they should be able to put together a good year regardless. The expectation for this team is to win the Big 12 and make the College Football Playoff.
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