The end of an era. Kyle Whittingham, a legendary football coach at the University of Utah, has stepped aside after 21 seasons at the helm.
While the rest of the world might be finding this out, the Utah Utes named Morgan Scalley as Whittingham's successor nearly a year and a half ago, and it was time to promote him before other schools took notice, especially with all of the coaching openings this season.
Scalley taking over for Whittingham, draws on parallels from Whit's own rise to the head job, back in December 2004. At the time, Urban Meyer was a rising star, and the Florida Gators came calling with an offer he couldn't refuse, which threatened to derail a Utah team ready for its first BCS appearance.
Similarly, Scalley will be taking over while the Utes are in bowl preparation, with a New Year's Eve tilt against Nebraska on tap in the Las Vegas Bowl. While the stakes aren't as high as that BCS game against Pittsburgh years ago, Scalley is expected to run most aspects of the team in the meantime, much as Whittingham did two decades ago for Meyer.
As a defensive coach, Scalley will continue to draw recruits to "Sack Lake City", with the promise of NFL opportunity, with 33 former Utes sent to the NFL ranks during his time in Utah.
Also, as the coach in waiting in 2024, Scalley was heavily involved in the hiring of current offensive coordinator Jason Beck, whose schemes helped revitalize a Utes offense that ranked 6th in points per game, 5th in Yards per game, 5th in 3rd-down conversions, and 31st in red-zone scoring.
What can Utes fans expect from Morgan Scalley as the head coach?
Scalley will remain heavily involved with the defense, like Whittingham was before him. He will need to promote or hire a solid coordinator who aligns with the way he wants his defense to operate, but also brings their own flavor to Utah as well.
Jason Beck is likely to be retained as the offensive coordinator, and Scalley will entrust him to manage that side of the ball as he did all season. Some changes are likely, but for now, Scalley is likely to retain most of the staff at Utah, who were all aware he would someday be the head coach.
Scalley likes hard-hitting safeties and will likely continue to recruit the secondary heavily in the portal in January, as well as top-flight defensive linemen and versatile linebackers.
While Kyle Whittingham will be the figurehead coach for the Las Vegas bowl, Scalley will undoubtedly begin to put his stamp on things over the next few weeks, in preparation, hiring, and recruiting as the transfer portal opens just days after the Utes' bowl game ends.