It’s time to talk football.
Big 12 media days have begun, signaling the unofficial start of college football season. New Utah head coach Morgan Scalley will be on hand for his first appearance at the annual meeting, along with quarterback Devon Dampier, running back Wayshawn Parker, linebacker Johnathan Hall and defensive end Lance Holtzclaw.
Last year’s Big 12 media day for Utah revolved around former coach Kyle Whittingham and his decision to return for his 21st season in charge of the program. This time around, the hot topic will be Scalley, who took over the program this December after Whittingham “stepped down,” then took the Michigan job after it opened up.
While Scalley has already coached (and won) a bowl game for Utah — the Utes’ 44-22 victory over Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl — had an introductory press conference and completed spring practices, Wednesday will be a chance for the former star Ute safety to speak his vision for the program to a national audience.
Outlets from across the country will be on hand at The Star — the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility and headquarters in Frisco, Texas — and the always-engaging Scalley will be featured on TV, radio and social media both on Wednesday and beyond.
Scalley will take the main podium at The Star at noon MDT for a 15-minute press conference that will be streamed on the Big 12’s YouTube page and broadcast on ESPNU, and he’ll also have a separate interview on ESPNU before having another scrum with the media at 2 p.m. MDT.
Expect Scalley to talk a lot about the team’s RSNB (relentless, smart, nasty, ballhawks) culture, his vision for the program and Utah’s new offense led by coordinator Kevin McGiven.
Of course, he’ll also be asked about filling Whittingham’s shoes — and the transition that took place — over the course of the day.
While the Big 12 no longer releases a preseason poll, Phil Steele’s annual preseason magazine has the Utes finishing No. 3 in the 16-team conference, while Athon Sports’ magazine pegs the Utes at No. 4.
Vegas odds line up with those projections, with Utah generally having the third-best odds to win the conference behind Texas Tech and BYU.
The Utes have proven players at some of the most important positions on the field, including Dampier, backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin, Parker, Hall and safety Jackson Bennee, but will have new starters on both the offensive and defensive lines.
While Scalley himself will be one of the key Utah storylines Wednesday, here are two others to keep an eye on.
The trenches
Last year, Utah’s offensive line was a big topic of conversation for a different reason than this year. The Utes brought offensive tackle Spencer Fano to last year’s media days, where there was plenty of conversation about how good Utah’s offensive line would be.
That group lived up to the preseason hype, powering one of the nation’s top rushing attacks and breaking school records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in a season along the way.
Fano and fellow tackle Caleb Lomu were both selected in the first round of the NFL draft.
With all five starters having either graduated or moved onto the NFL, new offensive line coach Jordan Gross essentially has a blank starting slate, though that doesn’t mean inexperienced.
Keith Olson, Alex Harrison, Zereoue Williams, Solatoa Moea’i and Roger Alderman all played at least 130 snaps last season. Four of Utah’s projected starting five in Harrison, Olson, Williams and Montana State transfer Cedric Jefferson are veterans, while senior Moea’i and five-star true freshman Kelvin Obot will battle for a guard spot.
On the other side of the ball, the Utes also lost all of their starters in the trenches.
In the middle, Karson Kaufusi and Pupu Sepulona, two freshmen who earned a lot of playing time last season, will need to take the next step forward, and the Utes brought in San Jose State transfer Jireh Moe for reinforcement.
On the ends, senior Holtzclaw and redshirt sophomore Kash Dillon will step into starting roles after playing 682 combined snaps a season ago.
Scalley told the Deseret News earlier this summer that one of the biggest spring camp surprises was the play of both of the lines.
“Because a lot of question marks losing five guys, two first round draft picks, I’m really excited about our offensive line, really excited about our defensive line,” Scalley said,
“And if you’re going to win championships, you have to have great offensive, defensive lines. Higher levels of competition expose soft play, expose poor line play, and so that’s what I’m excited about and probably the two biggest pleasant surprises is the development already of the offense and defensive line.”
A new offense … but just how new?
Offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s helped reverse the Utes’ offensive fortunes last season as Utah put up 41.2 points per game and 482.9 yards per game.
Now, the mastermind of last year’s successful offense is off to Michigan with Whittingham.
Scalley hired McGiven from Utah State to run the offense, and while McGiven will bring his own ideas and own offense, it could be similar to Beck’s, which utilized Dampier’s skill set in the RPO and also played to Utah’s strengths up front. He’s even incorporated some of the verbiage from the last regime to make things smoother.
“That’s the beauty is you pull that film up and go, ‘Look boys, doesn’t that look similar?’” Scalley said.
Like any good offensive coordinator, McGiven’s offense will be designed around the strength of the team, and with Dampier at quarterback, that means utilizing him, and Ficklin, in the run game.
“I’ve always wanted a system that has that type of versatility to be able to cater it to the personnel group, to the personnel that you have,” McGiven said.
“I would say multiple, first and foremost, just in trying to change up the looks, and again, just in an attempt to create as much conflict for the defense as possible, reducing and expanding with your formations, shifting in motion and just different layers any way you can to attack a defense and trying to be able to dictate a game that way.”
While the run game could be the focus of this year’s offense again, especially with Parker, Utah has also upgraded Dampier’s passing options.
Utah State transfer receiver Braden Pegan, who caught 60 passes for 926 yards and five touchdowns in McGiven’s offense last season, is the favorite to lead the Ute receivers, and Utah also added Kyri Shoels, who caught 59 passes for 768 yards and two touchdowns last season for San Jose State.
Another addition who drew buzz this season is Mississippi State transfer Ricky Johnson. Returners Creed Whittemore, Larry Simmons and Tobias Merriweather round out the room, which should be better than last season.
In case you missed it
I sat down with Utah head coach Morgan Scalley for a wide-ranging interview covering everything from his leadership to NIL ahead of his debut season as the Utes’ head coach.