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SALT LAKE CITY — After dropping its third straight game following a lackluster offense, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said everything would be in review over the next 48 hours following Saturday's loss to TCU.
"Everything's up in the air right now, everything's up for evaluation," Whittingham said Saturday night. "And we will evaluate."
On Sunday night, Whittingham announced that longtime offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig decided to "step down" from his role with the Utes.
"Andy is the consummate professional and we want to thank him for his complete dedication to our program during his 10 total seasons with us," Whittingham said in a statement, in part. "Coach Ludwig has been instrumental to our success here at Utah and personally, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Andy as both a coach and a person. We wish him nothing but the best in all of his future endeavors."
In Utah's three losses this season, the offense managed a combined 36 points and struggled to manufacture any production for much of that time. But Whittingham said it was "no mystery" as to what the team's issues were, and that "some tough decisions" were going to need to be made.
Whether Ludwig leaving his post as offensive coordinator — a position he held for the second time at Utah, with the most recent beginning in 2019 — is the only change needed remains to be seen.
Though not official, offensive analyst Mike Bajakian, who has been helping with the quarterbacks this season, is expected to be promoted to help with the team's play-calling and provide some consistency. Offensive line coach has shared duties with Ludwig over the year and has been responsible for the run game.
Utah ranks 72nd in total offense this season, but struggled most in the red zone, where the Utes offense scored on just 80.8% of all trips inside the 20-yard line — and only 46.2% of those successful trips resulting in a touchdown.
Though Ludwig's system didn't produce as of late, he was credited for turning around Utah's offensive system in his return to Utah in 2019. Ludwig became an instrumental asset to then-quarterback Tyler Huntley in Utah's second straight Pac-12 championship game appearance.
That system only grew with the emergence of Cam Rising under center, culminating with back-to-back Pac-12 championships in 2021 and 2022. In those two seasons, Utah averaged 36.1 and 38.6 points, respectively, as one of the top offenses in the country.
Coming into the 2024 season, Utah was expected to have arguably its deepest and most talented offensive roster, but once Rising suffered an injury to his throwing hand, the tone of the season changed as the offense became a shell of itself.
