- Utah football faces upheaval as longtime coach Kyle Whittingham resigns Dec. 12.
- Whittingham joins Michigan Dec. 26 causing staff and player departures at Utah.
- Morgan Scalley, new head coach, aims to lead Utah to Big 12 success.
SALT LAKE CITY — Forgive shellshocked Utah football fans for wondering if the steady stream of departures will stop any time soon.
From coaches to players and staff members, a program built on two decades of stability has experienced a massive amount of upheaval during the holiday season. So much for the anticipated smooth transition from one head coach to another.
The point of designating Morgan Scalley as the coach in-waiting to succeed Kyle Whittingham was to avoid a regime disruption that often hinders college programs. But that plan went awry from the time the university issued a press release on Dec. 12 announcing Whittingham's resignation.
"The program's in a good place right now," Whittingham said on Dec. 19 after practice in preparation for the Las Vegas Bowl on New Year's Eve.
"As I've said many times after last season (during which the Utes went 5-7), it just didn't sit with anybody, particularly me, and so came back, and fortunately we were able to get the ship righted and everything's on track."
Two days later, as he has since said in national interviews, Michigan contacted Whittingham about taking over the scandal-plagued program. His decision to lead the perennial powerhouse set in motion a string of events that have created nearly two weeks of flux.
Staying with Whittingham's ship analogy, don't call Utah the Titanic but it also isn't the Good Ship Lollypop, either. As the university prepares to officially introduce Scalley Tuesday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the waters are choppy.
Once Michigan announced Whittingham as the new coach on Dec. 26, he essentially became a Utah adversary. The 21 years he toiled to become the program's all-time winningest coach took a backseat to going about restoring Michigan's creditability and stature.
Practically even before the Utes arrived home after demolishing Nebraska in the bowl game, Whittingham had hired all but one of Utah's coaches on offense. He also put a serious dent in BYU's continuity by taking defensive coordinator Jay Hill, who brought along cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford.
In between all the coaching moves, multiple starters put their names in the transfer portal with the intent to play for another program. More change is possible.
Along the way, hard feelings developed between Whittingham's camp and Utah. He will return eventually to get honored for all those impressive accomplishments, but don't expect it any time soon.
Assigning blame is pointless now. Whittingham is gone, part of the annual coaching carousel that dominates the sport after the season.
The torch has been passed to Scalley, who's charged with getting Utah to consistently compete for the Big 12 championship and a spot in the national playoffs. As with any coach at every level, predictions on him are nothing more than opinions and guesses.
"I'm confident in the future," he said after the bowl win.
Like Whittingham, the qualifications are there. At 46 years old, one year older than when Whittingham got the job, Scalley worked his way up the ladder before serving for a decade as the defensive coordinator — mirroring the career path of his former boss.
Scalley exemplifies the "Utah Man" term, dating back to his childhood up through playing at Highland High and as a stalwart defensive back for the Utes that included serving as a captain. He was a diehard first, a fact no other Utah coach in modern times can claim.
"My dream has always been to take it to the highest level," Scalley said. "The one thing that I'm so grateful for is that my logo has never changed nor will it."
Scalley also doesn't have to fake hatred for BYU, unlike what Whittingham will generate for Ohio State. He said as much in a video that got out of him as a player talking to teammates.
And don't worry about the admitted racial slur he mistakenly sent to a recruit in 2013. The horrendous lapse in judgment, for which there was no excuse, was completely out of character. The temporary loss of his coach in-waiting status and significant pay cut paled in comparison to his remorse.
None of it matters now, anyway. For Scalley, the future has turned into the present.
