UTAH DC Morgan Scalley → UTAH HC
+UTAH STATE Kevin McGiven → UTAH OC
Long-time stalwart Kyle Whittingham was relinquished this offseason (now at Michigan), after being with the program since 1994 (!). No doubt it’ll be an odd sight early in the season to see the Utes without the old silver fox. The man replacing Whittingham is DC Morgan Scalley, who had apparently been the head coach in waiting for several seasons and the reason why the Utes wanted to move on from Whitt. Scalley does not have any history of calling plays on offense, so, like Hartline, his system is a complete unknown at the moment.
What is known is who Utah’s best players are on offense: QB Devon Dampier and RB Wayshawn Parker.
Parker was sort of a bust, and then a hit, throughout the 2025 campaign. He was assumed to be the workhorse under Whittingam for the full duration of the season, but opened the year in a timeshare with Na’Quari Rogers, who is out of eligibility.
Then, in October, he began handling a full workload and ascended to CFF asset status at RB. Despite the inconsistent usage, he still finished the year with over 1,000 total yards (980 rushing) and averaged 14 PPG.
Him returning is huge for the Utes in my mind. They do bring in Steve Chavez Soto from SJSU, who had a quietly stellar true freshman season running for 448 yards on 87 carries (note that he didn’t handle a carry until October with the Spartans), but outside of Parker, there is not really a proven player in this room.
I think Soto has the capacity to push Parker and settle in as one of the top backs on this team, but I’m giving the benefit of the doubt to the former Wazzou transfer until I hear otherwise.
Unfortunately, replacing Jason Beck is former Utah State OC Kevin McGiven, who has been working as an OC at the FBS level since 2013, but has only had two RBs surpass 1000 yards rushing.
Kairee Robinson in 2023 with SJSU was a stud, and then we have to go all the way back to 2013 with Utah State when Joey DeMartino ran 221 times for 1,221 yards and 13 scores.
Where McGiven may come in handy, however, is in his usage of dual-threat QBs. Bryson Barnes was a gamer last year with the Aggies under McGiven, and that style of play calling suits Dampier well.
McGiven also had a strong WR in Braden Pegan at Utah State, and was the WRs coach/Pass Game Coordinator at SJSU when Nick Nash was targeted 181 times, and the OC when Elijah Cooks saw 109 targets, catching 69 for 1,076 yards and 10 scores.
Utah receiver Ryan Davis is moving on due to expired eligibility, but Pegan followed McGiven from Utah State, and Kyri Shoels came over from SJSU. Converted QB Nate Johnson is also still on the roster. And finally, the Utes somehow managed to retain backup QB Byrd Ficklin.
His situation is harder to read. On the one hand, he is presumably coming back to play more. On the other, Dampier also chose to come back and I don’t see him doing so without some assurances that the Utes aren’t going to tank his draft stock with a two-QB system. Something will have to give (and I expect it will be Byrd). ◾
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