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SALT LAKE CITY — The door has closed ... finally.
Fans of college football can breathe a sigh of relief (assuming one's tears are already dried up from the hurt already caused) now that the 20-day transfer portal period came to a close Saturday at 11:59 p.m.
After a wild and active portal season, in which more than 2,300 players (according to various tracking services) across the country entered their name into the transfer portal in hopes to find a better landing spot for the 2025 season, the dust has finally settled.
Less than 800 players have already found a new home, but many others still seek a new team.
For Utah football, the portal season was as busy as ever. At least 21 scholarship players entered the portal and are presumably leaving Utah for good, while the coaching staff restocked the roster with 15 players so far — including quarterback Devon Dampier (New Mexico) and four-star running back Wayshawn Parker (Washington State).
The work continues, though, as Utah looks to finalize more open roster spots ahead of the start of school in January. Though players had to enter their name into the portal by Dec. 28 (plus a 48-hour grace period for schools after the deadline to get all names in), athletes can continue to be added to the roster whenever.
Assuming someone in the portal wants to be eligible for spring practices, they must enroll at the University of Utah by Jan. 10, though exceptions could be made for a week after. So any new additions will likely be concluded in the coming days to be ready ahead of spring camp.
A second and shorter transfer portal window will open up on April 16 and go through April 25, but that window is generally quieter as most of the roster positions are set ahead of the 2025 season.
And though Utah lost a few key contributors — notably defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa (Utah is continuing to work to keep him), cornerback Cam Calhoun and quarterbacks Brandon Rose and Sam Huard — the bulk of the transfers were depth pieces who didn't see the field much or were part of a full reset on the offensive side of the ball.
That reset was a necessary byproduct of an offense that failed to produce at a high level during a year in which Utah was picked to win the Big 12.
Anything less wasn't going to benefit Utah.
As such, 11 of the 21 scholarship players that entered the portal came from the offensive side of the ball. Utah depleted both its quarterback (freshman Isaac Wilson originally entered the portal before returning) and running back rooms, and worked to rebuild a roster from scratch.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham and staff went to work immediately after Utah closed out the season with a win over UCF in Orlando. For the full week after, Whittingham and head coach in-waiting Morgan Scalley worked to hire an offensive coordinator before settling on Jason Beck.
From there, Utah had an offensive game plan and went portal shopping (while also adding running back coach Mark Atuaia and wide receiver coach Micah Simon). And the biggest areas of need were at quarterback and running back — two of the least productive position groups last season.
Two weeks after Beck's hire, Utah signed the No. 2 overall running back in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports, in Parker. Outside of quarterback Devon Dampier following Beck to Utah from New Mexico, Parker was Utah's No. 1 priority.
Parker's signing signaled a busy few weeks in which the coaching staff upgraded the talent on its roster.
So far, Utah has brought on nine offensive players from the portal out of the 15 players that have committed. How it all comes together remains the biggest question, but it would be difficult to be much worse than the 2024 season production.
Utah added Dampier, who was a highly-productive dual-threat QB at New Mexico under Beck's tutelage, as the projected starting quarterback, while adding backup former Oklahoma QB Brendan Zurbrugg to a room that includes Wilson and two recently-signed freshmen.
Parker, who rushed for 735 yards and four touchdowns on 137 carries with the Cougars as a freshman, now follows Atuaia to a system that should benefit him well to add to that number in 2025. As the presumptive starter, he'll get help from Na'Quari Rogers (New Mexico) and Devin Green (UNLV), and two-recently signed freshman as depth pieces.
Hunter Andrews may figure into the equation in the running back, too, but it's still a question whether the coaching staff wants him at linebacker or running back.
On the outside, Utah added veteran receivers Otto Tia (Utah State), Ryan Davis (New Mexico) and Creed Whittemore (Mississippi State), while keeping tight end Landen King, and receivers Daidren Zipperer and Zach Williams, among others.
But the work continues as Utah looks to add more pieces in the receiving game.
Defensively, if Utah can't convince Tanuvasa to return, adding a veteran lineman is paramount, while continuing to add pieces in the secondary (though Utah did well to add talent there already).
The window is closed — locking up Utah's current roster — but the coaching staff will continue to be busy over the coming weeks to finalize a few additional spots.
To see how the Utah roster has come together — who left and who's coming — click here.
