SALT LAKE CITY — Just moments after Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham announced on the first day of fall camp that linebacker Manny Bowen, a Penn State transfer, had left the program to pursue a business opportunity, linebackers coach Colton Swan mentioned Devin Lloyd.
”It was a great first day. I’m excited about Francis Bernard being back, I’m excited about Devin Lloyd. I know both those guys are huge talents and some of those other guys that are in the room gotta step up,” Swan said.
Whittingham also spoke highly of Lloyd following Bowen’s departure.
“We just move forward. We’ve got some really good players in the program — Trennan Carlson, Devin Lloyd, Sione Lund. We’ve got plenty of good bodies in the program,” he said.
Besides Bernard, Lloyd is the only linebacker on Utah’s fall depth chart with college football game experience. Come Aug. 29 in Provo, Lloyd could be starting at linebacker alongside Bernard.
“He’s a guy that’s in the group that has some of the most experience. We’re not extremely deep with experience out of there and he’s a kid that was here last year. He played a little bit limited role behind Chase (Hansen) and Cody (Barton) and we’re looking for big things to come from him,” Swan said. “As far as role goes, expectations are high. He’s a very smart, bright kid, he works extremely hard and we expect good things from him.”
Swan says that Lloyd impresses him in practice “every day.”
“He’s very long, very strong and athletic. His skill set is really high. Just apply all of his knowledge to what he can do physically and we’ve got a good linebacker,” Swan said.
Lloyd came to Utah from Otay Ranch High in Chula Vista, California, where he did everything for the Mustangs — playing safety, receiver and punter, and was named a team captain his senior year. He had 52 tackles and eight interceptions as a safety that year, caught six touchdown passes and even snapped off a 60-yard punt.
Once he arrived at Utah in 2017, Lloyd was converted to linebacker as he took a redshirt year. Taking a year off helped Lloyd, as he was able to learn from linebackers like Barton, Kavika Luafatasaga and Sunia Tauteoli. He also learned a lot from Hansen last year.
“It was definitely a learning experience. It was my first time playing linebacker, and so it was a reality check. I saw the game in a whole new way, especially being at a (Division I) program, it was definitely just a shock in terms of how much studying and preparation they do compared to high school. It helped me a lot,” Lloyd said. “It was kind of a big transition, just because I had never been in the box.”
During his freshman season last year, Lloyd played in 14 games on special teams and three as a linebacker, totaling six tackles — four of which came in Utah’s 30-7 win over Colorado.
Lloyd’s father, Joe, served in the military for 26 years and instilled a work ethic in his son.
“He just taught me a lot of good values, core values and everything you need to be successful in life,” Lloyd said.
That work ethic has been on display during fall camp, as Lloyd looks to improve into a starting-quality linebacker for what has the potential to be among the nation’s best defenses.
“Just my explosiveness and range of motion. I’ve been stretching a lot, everything, just trying to get my body loose. I’ve been watching film, trying to always up my instincts and everything on the football field,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd will be ready by the time Utah rolls into LaVell Edwards Stadium in late August.
“Practice has been going good. I think we’ve just been getting better every day, eliminating mistakes day by day and just getting ready to go down to Provo,” Lloyd said.