SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Utes dot the landscape when it comes to being on National Football League rosters as training camps prepare to open. The program is represented by 30 players, scattered on 18 different teams.
“That is a lot of players that are having the opportunity to make a living and a good living. There’s not a lot of jobs coming right out of college that can pay you what the NFL does,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “So it’s a selling point for us in recruiting that if you come to the University of Utah there’s a very high chance that you will have an opportunity to play at the next level.”
Whittingham acknowledged there’s a lot that goes into it. The preparation is something the Utes take pride in accomplishing.
“It’s a collaborative effort. It’s definitely a collaborative effort. But like I said the grassroots of it all is evaluation during the recruiting process.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, on having 30 former Utes in the NFL
“It all starts with evaluation during the recruiting process, evaluating guys that have the upside, the physical profile and that have high ceilings. I guess, maybe, that’s the best way to put it,” he explained. “Once we get them in our program I think there’s a few things that happen and reasons we get the results we do.”
A lot of it starts in the weight room, Whittingham said. He credits the work of Utah’s director of football sports performance Doug Elisaia and the strength staff.
“Those guys do a great job of adding size and strength to these young men and getting them physically where they need to be,” Whittingham added. “Then our coaches do a great job of developing them on the field as far as fundamentals, techniques and then football knowledge — just teaching the game of football.
“It’s a collaborative effort,” he continued. “It’s definitely a collaborative effort. But like I said, the grassroots of it all is evaluation during the recruiting process.”
It’s working well. Besides winning back-to-back Pac-12 South titles, Utah is among the upper half of programs in the conference in terms of players currently on NFL rosters.
He admits, having 30 in the league — two others in the NFL, Caleb Repp and Siaosi Mariner, also played at Utah until they left as grad transfers to Utah State in 2019 — sometimes makes it tough to keep track of exactly where everyone is these days.
“I try to keep up with it. It’s pretty fluid,” Whittingham said. “I can tell you pretty accurately who’s in the league, but not always what team they’re with. Things do change. But if you tested me I think I’d come out pretty good on that.”
Safety Julian Blackmon, a rookie who was taken in the third round (85th overall) by the Indianapolis Colts, isn’t surprised by the high number of ex-Utes on rosters.
“You’ve got to give it up to the recruiting Utah has. They always find guys that are kind of diamonds in the rough that end up developing and getting into the NFL,” Blackmon said. “They do a really good job preparing us for the NFL and that’s why they’re so successful — the defense that we have, the opportunities that we have.”
Even so, this year has been a bit different because of the coronavirus.
“For all of us it is exciting to be here. I think it’s just kind of weird with the pandemic going on,” Blackmon said. “So things are a little unclear, but I mean it’s still a great opportunity.”
Cautious optimism is part of the equation as reporting dates approach and policies and procedures are established.
“We don’t want to rush into it. We don’t even have all the guidelines that we need to have in order to have a safe season, Blackmon said. “They’re telling us we’ve got to push, so we’ve got to report and do everything by the book kind of thing.”
However, it’s failed to dampen the enthusiasm associated with a pro career.
“I’m very excited to be a part of the Colts. I think it’s a really good team and the coaches that we have here are just as outstanding of men as the ones at Utah,” Blackmon said. “So I’m very excited to get started, but at the same time I want to do it the right way.”