Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Jordan Wynn on the Utah Spring FB, Scalley in charge, New offense for Utah + more

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Jordan Wynn on the Utah Spring FB, Scalley in charge, New offense for Utah + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:03
Speaker 1: You are listening to a Sean O'Connell show, your source
0:06
Speaker 1: for the best youths football coverage.
0:08
Speaker 2: Here's oc from the Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven.
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Speaker 1: Hundred at ninety two to one half.
0:14
Speaker 2: Am Riley in for O'Connell today on a Thursday. Sean's
0:18
Speaker 2: out doing some fighting stuff. He'll be back next week.
0:21
Speaker 2: Appreciate him allowing me to sit in today for him.
0:24
Speaker 2: Two hours down, one hour Togo. We're gonna talk some
0:26
Speaker 2: playoff hockey coming up as a Mammoth will play the
0:29
Speaker 2: gold Knights in the opening round of the NHL Stanley
0:31
Speaker 2: Cup Playoffs beginning Sunday in Las Vegas. Play by play
0:34
Speaker 2: man Mike Fulta of the Mammoth will join us. Coming
0:37
Speaker 2: up here at about twenty twenty five minutes or so
0:39
Speaker 2: here on Utah's number one Sports Talk. Spring football winding
0:43
Speaker 2: down at the U final week of practice. No spring
0:46
Speaker 2: football game, just some extra practices. Fan fester kind of
0:50
Speaker 2: what is it? The twenty two for you fan Experience
0:52
Speaker 2: Fan Day coming up on Saturday four fans for the
0:55
Speaker 2: Spence ecles Field House from four thirty to six. You
0:58
Speaker 2: can go up there, get autographs, meet the team, meet
1:00
Speaker 2: the staff, all that good stuff, and have some fun
1:03
Speaker 2: with that coming up on Saturday. Our next guest, he's
1:06
Speaker 2: probably happy that there's no spring football game. Probably has
1:10
Speaker 2: a little PTSD from spring football games. Friend of the
1:13
Speaker 2: program when I used to host this thing. Friend in general.
1:16
Speaker 2: Former Utah quarterback Jordan Winn joining us here to talk
1:19
Speaker 2: a little Utah football.
1:20
Speaker 1: What's up, Jordan?
1:21
Speaker 3: How are you? I don't want to talk about spring
1:23
Speaker 3: football games.
1:24
Speaker 2: I didn't figure you probably did because there's probably a
1:28
Speaker 2: little PTSD there, But so you're probably not anti Morgan Scalley,
1:32
Speaker 2: just going let's give us an extra practice, not worry
1:34
Speaker 2: about the game, right, Yeah.
1:36
Speaker 3: I think that's a great idea. Scali Yeah, obviously not
1:39
Speaker 3: a great memory for me, but no issue there. With
1:43
Speaker 3: an extra practice, I think that would be great.
1:45
Speaker 2: Well, No, And to be very fair, Jordan, you know
1:47
Speaker 2: this the last probably seven, eight, nine, even maybe ten years,
1:51
Speaker 2: the spring football game. You know, some of your better
1:53
Speaker 2: players probably aren't even playing anyway. Most they're holding out
1:56
Speaker 2: half the roster anyway, So if you can get an
1:59
Speaker 2: extra practice in, they'll still have a fan fast day
2:01
Speaker 2: for the fans on Saturday.
2:02
Speaker 1: It's it's it's a win for everybody, I think, Yeah.
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Speaker 3: That's so. Yeah, I went across the board, Like you said,
2:07
Speaker 3: a lot of the guys don't even play, and as
2:10
Speaker 3: long as the fans get to hang out and interact
2:12
Speaker 3: with the players after, yeah, it's good for everybody there.
2:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, you and I haven't talked much at all since,
2:18
Speaker 2: you know, kind of the off season and the coach
2:20
Speaker 2: coaching changed. Obviously I don't I don't do the radio
2:22
Speaker 2: show anymore. We haven't bumped into each other. But as
2:25
Speaker 2: you've watched this kind of locally but from a distance,
2:29
Speaker 2: how have you made what have you made of the
2:31
Speaker 2: change and how Morgan's kind of brought the new staff
2:33
Speaker 2: in and added in the portal and kind of put
2:36
Speaker 2: his own spin on things this spring.
2:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, you know, with a situation, how it is,
2:43
Speaker 3: there's never a perfect, you know, scenario, and so from
2:47
Speaker 3: an outside perspective, I thought everything was handled about it
2:51
Speaker 3: as well as it could be. You know, there's continual
2:53
Speaker 3: information that comes out and it is what it is.
2:56
Speaker 3: But I think it's it's another you know, it's a
2:58
Speaker 3: win across the board. I think gets to go to
3:00
Speaker 3: a program where there's certainly no shortage of gosh, tradition, resources,
3:06
Speaker 3: things of that nature and kind of continue on with
3:09
Speaker 3: his passion, and you know, Morgan gets a fresh you know,
3:12
Speaker 3: it's a clean, new, fresh start for Utah football. And
3:14
Speaker 3: I think what he's been able to do so far,
3:17
Speaker 3: and I mean, gosh, I'm reading about him putting up
3:20
Speaker 3: his own money into the program and things like that.
3:23
Speaker 3: I mean, he's a Utah man through and through, and
3:25
Speaker 3: it's exciting to see, you know, the impact he's already making.
3:28
Speaker 3: And you know, I'm again excited for the fall to
3:31
Speaker 3: see how he does.
3:31
Speaker 2: There's a real energy about the program this spring. Not
3:34
Speaker 2: that there was anything wrong with the energy before, but
3:36
Speaker 2: it's just kind of a new, different vibe and energy.
3:40
Speaker 2: And I've said this before, I said, you know, new
3:44
Speaker 2: and change. People always fight against change until you kind
3:47
Speaker 2: of experience it and say, oh okay, that's okay.
3:49
Speaker 1: But being up there and being around this.
3:52
Speaker 2: Coaching staff, he's got about a lot of famous and
3:54
Speaker 2: famous in familiar names coming back, Jordan Gross, Derek Odom,
3:59
Speaker 2: guys that have been part of the program before, and
4:01
Speaker 2: some new faces too. There's a real good energy and
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Speaker 2: vibe about things. I'm not sure if you've gone up
4:06
Speaker 2: to a practice or if you've been around to the
4:07
Speaker 2: alumni any of alumni stuff. But it's it's, it's it's really,
4:11
Speaker 2: it's been a fun spring so far.
4:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I haven't had a chance to get up there,
4:16
Speaker 3: but i've been here. You know, I've heard nothing but
4:17
Speaker 3: good things. And look, yeah, everyone's a little resistant to
4:20
Speaker 3: change and what's new in the unknown. But look, I
4:24
Speaker 3: was around Scaley for a long time. Still talk to him.
4:27
Speaker 3: He's he's it's funny because Kyle has just been he
4:30
Speaker 3: had been there for so long, right, like everybody knew
4:33
Speaker 3: how Kyle was going to run the program. And so
4:36
Speaker 3: you know, Morgan brings in a fresh face. Obviously he's
4:39
Speaker 3: younger than Kyle, so you know, a younger individual that's
4:44
Speaker 3: coming in with a lot of passion, excitement. It's a
4:46
Speaker 3: fresh starter, it's a whole news, it's new, it's fun.
4:49
Speaker 3: So it's not surprising to hear that the environment up
4:52
Speaker 3: there is you know, falling suit in that nature. And
4:55
Speaker 3: again it's exciting to see. And you know, you've got
4:58
Speaker 3: a guy that played like his whole life is here.
5:00
Speaker 3: He grew up here, he played there like he and
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Speaker 3: not that Kyle didn't bleed red Kyle's a the Utah
5:06
Speaker 3: guy threw it through, even though he played for the
5:08
Speaker 3: Blue team a long time ago. But I mean, Morgan's
5:11
Speaker 3: as Utah as it gets. So I can't imagine that
5:14
Speaker 3: it not being high energy all the time in that
5:16
Speaker 3: building right now.
5:16
Speaker 2: Well, because you know him and he was on staff
5:19
Speaker 2: when you played there. Anybody that's been around Morgan knows
5:22
Speaker 2: how organized, how meticulous, how detail oriented he is. And
5:27
Speaker 2: the fact that he's known this was going to be
5:29
Speaker 2: his job at some point in time, you know he's
5:31
Speaker 2: been planning for it. So as you kind of alluded
5:33
Speaker 2: to earlier, and I've said multiple times, this is as
5:37
Speaker 2: smooth a transition as you could have after a long
5:40
Speaker 2: time coach was there, and now you've got a guy
5:43
Speaker 2: that's not only knows the program inside now was part
5:45
Speaker 2: of the program, his DNA's part of the programs. He's
5:49
Speaker 2: been working towards this and preparing for this for a
5:51
Speaker 2: long time.
5:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I mean you said it, I don't know
5:56
Speaker 3: if there's a I can't imagine many people being more
6:00
Speaker 3: meticulous and detail oriented than Morgan. I mean, the guy is,
6:05
Speaker 3: you know, a savant when it comes to football, when
6:07
Speaker 3: it comes to defense, and it's you know, anybody that's
6:10
Speaker 3: paid close attention, that guy dials it up exactly at
6:14
Speaker 3: the right time more often than not. And that all
6:16
Speaker 3: comes from, you know, the being detail oriented and being
6:19
Speaker 3: able to study and then have the confidence to kind
6:23
Speaker 3: of match that and all those things are you know
6:27
Speaker 3: why he was named the coach in waiting And gosh,
6:31
Speaker 3: like you said, you give a guy a couple of years.
6:33
Speaker 3: I know it kept kind of getting dragged on because
6:35
Speaker 3: Kyle kept coming back, But you give a guy a
6:37
Speaker 3: couple of years to really process and think about how
6:41
Speaker 3: he wants to do things and who he wants to
6:43
Speaker 3: bring in and how he wants to go about it.
6:45
Speaker 3: And and then couple that with it's a guy like
6:48
Speaker 3: Morgan Scalley. I mean, gosh, it's it's it's going to
6:51
Speaker 3: be exciting to see and I can't imagine this isn't
6:54
Speaker 3: you know, almost exactly how he had it, you know,
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Speaker 3: in his head, going like working the plan out exactly
7:00
Speaker 3: how he thought it would be.
7:01
Speaker 2: Or but you taught quarterback Jordan win With this year.
7:03
Speaker 2: On the Shan O'Connell Show today on ESPN seven hundred,
7:06
Speaker 2: Bill Riley sitting in for OC today. So you're a fan,
7:10
Speaker 2: but you're also in a lum and a guy that
7:13
Speaker 2: bled in that program too. Just as you sit back
7:17
Speaker 2: and kind of see some of the reports and talk
7:19
Speaker 2: to some people, what what has you most kind of
7:22
Speaker 2: intrigued or interested about where the program is and where
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Speaker 2: it's going this spring and heading toward the fall.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I just I think the buzz really
7:31
Speaker 3: is what's most interesting, And not that it was stagnant
7:34
Speaker 3: with Kyle and or anything, but it's just I'm not
7:39
Speaker 3: super resistant to change. I think change is a good thing.
7:42
Speaker 3: I think change is exciting and gives you a fresh
7:44
Speaker 3: start and a fresh look at things. And so you know,
7:47
Speaker 3: Kyle's way was proven to be successful, you know, year
7:51
Speaker 3: in and year out for the most part, and so
7:54
Speaker 3: you couple that kind of consistency Morgan being able to
7:57
Speaker 3: be a part of all that time, and now with
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Speaker 3: a fresh start, fresh face, you know, bringing in an
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Speaker 3: offensive staff like how he has. I mean, it's it's
8:09
Speaker 3: going to be fun to watch, you know, I think
8:11
Speaker 3: from a fans perspective, and even though Alumnia's perspective, you know,
8:16
Speaker 3: we all anybody that knows Morgan is rooting for him,
8:19
Speaker 3: Like I don't think there's a single that that's not
8:21
Speaker 3: rooting for Morgan Scalley that that knows them. The guys, uh,
8:24
Speaker 3: you know, as good as it gets, you know, not
8:27
Speaker 3: only as a coach, but but as a person. And
8:30
Speaker 3: so I know he's going to put everything into this
8:33
Speaker 3: and you know, again, I feel like it's going to
8:36
Speaker 3: be similar some similar talking points like we've had in
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Speaker 3: the past, Bill like what's the offense going to look like?
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Speaker 3: Are they going to stretch the field? Finally, are we
8:42
Speaker 3: going to see the scoreboard lit up? Because God knows
8:45
Speaker 3: they could play defense, So it's just you know, getting
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Speaker 3: that other side squared away. And that's also we'll be
8:52
Speaker 3: new to see how how Morgan handles the offense, you know,
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Speaker 3: if he wants more control or less control, and how
9:00
Speaker 3: he plays that out and how it goes. So again,
9:02
Speaker 3: a lot of things that are new, but they're exciting
9:04
Speaker 3: to watch.
9:05
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, Kevin mcgivern's a new offensive coordinator and
9:09
Speaker 2: talking to Kevin and talking to people that have played
9:12
Speaker 2: for or with Kevin. I had Bryson Barnes on the
9:16
Speaker 2: radio last week when I filled in for Sean. Everybody
9:19
Speaker 2: speaks glowingly about Kevin and one thing that's very similar
9:23
Speaker 2: to me between he and even Jason Beck, who was
9:25
Speaker 2: here a year ago, is Jason was very malleable with
9:29
Speaker 2: his offense, and that's what Kyle wanted when he hired
9:31
Speaker 2: him on. Wanted somebody who was pretty malleable with that
9:33
Speaker 2: offense because, as you know, Jordan, keeping guys for three
9:37
Speaker 2: or four years just doesn't happen as often anymore in
9:40
Speaker 2: collegiate athletics. But it kind of feels when I talk
9:43
Speaker 2: to people about Kevin McGivern, he's very much the same way.
9:47
Speaker 2: He's very much adjust his offense. He knows what he
9:50
Speaker 2: wants to do, indeed, but he tweaks it to the
9:53
Speaker 2: personnel that he has. He turned Bryson Barnes, and you
9:56
Speaker 2: watch Bryson play here into an All conference quarterback in
9:59
Speaker 2: the Amount West last year at Utah State. I'm really
10:02
Speaker 2: excited to see what he can do with Devin Dampierre
10:05
Speaker 2: and Bird Ficklin.
10:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean yeah, I saw what Bryson was able
10:10
Speaker 3: to do up there, so for gosh, for like a
10:12
Speaker 3: million yards and ran around and made plays, and so
10:15
Speaker 3: you give a coordinator some talent like it there is
10:19
Speaker 3: in dam Pier and Fickland and let them roll with it.
10:23
Speaker 3: You know, it'll be exciting to watch again. I think,
10:27
Speaker 3: you know, not to take away from what Beck did.
10:30
Speaker 3: I think he was doing the best. You know, he
10:31
Speaker 3: was calling the game the best he could with, trying
10:33
Speaker 3: to maximize the talent he had. And and you know,
10:37
Speaker 3: again we've we've grown used to these discussions where it's like, well,
10:40
Speaker 3: like can we put up points? They put up points
10:42
Speaker 3: last year. You know, they had a couple of games
10:43
Speaker 3: where they didn't, but they put up points last year.
10:45
Speaker 3: I don't know if it was quote unquote pretty points.
10:49
Speaker 3: They ran the ball down people's throat is what they did,
10:51
Speaker 3: and gash people in the run game, and dam Pier
10:54
Speaker 3: was making plays with his legs and so it was
10:56
Speaker 3: bird Ficklin these guys. But it'll be interesting, you know
11:00
Speaker 3: what they do with the offense. And again Utah State,
11:04
Speaker 3: I mean I see their scores and you know, follow
11:08
Speaker 3: the box scores and see what they're doing on offense,
11:09
Speaker 3: Like it seems like they were lying people up. And
11:13
Speaker 3: I can't imagine it's not a fairly significant talent upgrade
11:16
Speaker 3: coming down here. That's not a shot against Utah State.
11:19
Speaker 3: It just is what it is, but so yeah, all
11:22
Speaker 3: those things. You know, I'm excited to see what the
11:25
Speaker 3: offense looks like.
11:26
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, me to me. Same here me too.
11:29
Speaker 2: From a quarterback standpoint, you watched Devon play last year
11:33
Speaker 2: and we you know, we found out after the season
11:35
Speaker 2: he wasn't one hundred percent, not that many quarterbacks are
11:38
Speaker 2: completely but he was dealing with some pretty significant injuries
11:41
Speaker 2: that he was playing through last year and was still
11:43
Speaker 2: able to put up really good numbers and leave Utah
11:46
Speaker 2: to eleven wins. Bert Fickland certainly helped that too. But
11:50
Speaker 2: from a quarterbacking standpoint, what would you like to see
11:53
Speaker 2: in the evolution of Devon this year as he goes
11:55
Speaker 2: from his junior to senior year And you know, last
11:58
Speaker 2: year we saw him, you know that the interceptions were
12:01
Speaker 2: way down from where he was at New Mexico. What's
12:04
Speaker 2: the step you'd like to see him take this year?
12:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think his ability to take care
12:10
Speaker 3: of the football, well, he does a really good job
12:13
Speaker 3: of that, right, And I think that also was part
12:15
Speaker 3: of the DNA of the program with Kyle. I mean,
12:17
Speaker 3: that was like planning a wain. Number one was to
12:19
Speaker 3: take care of the football. But we'll play great defenses,
12:23
Speaker 3: planning wain number one. No. I think, Look, I think
12:27
Speaker 3: the only thing I'd like to see built upon is
12:30
Speaker 3: just some more shots down the field. Like and I
12:32
Speaker 3: feel like a broken record. I feel like every year
12:34
Speaker 3: we kind of talk about this, but just the ability
12:38
Speaker 3: to take the top off the coverage. I think you
12:39
Speaker 3: look at some of these you know, prolific offenses in
12:43
Speaker 3: college football, what do they all do? They all take
12:46
Speaker 3: shots down the field. And you know, you look at
12:48
Speaker 3: like what Hypel does at Tennessee spreading people out and
12:51
Speaker 3: taking shots. I mean they throw four verts like it
12:54
Speaker 3: seems like every other play you don't see. You don't
12:57
Speaker 3: need to see that at Utah. But just the ability
13:00
Speaker 3: to stretch the field. I think what's been built in
13:04
Speaker 3: the program in terms of like recruiting the front five
13:08
Speaker 3: and getting these you know, highly talented running backs in
13:11
Speaker 3: the building and the evolution of the dual threat quarterback.
13:15
Speaker 3: Utah knows how to run the football and take care
13:20
Speaker 3: of it and you know, play smart football and all
13:23
Speaker 3: of those things. I think from a fans perspective, we're
13:26
Speaker 3: just waiting to see, you know, fifty yard touchdown, throws
13:30
Speaker 3: the ball traveling down the air, I mean, that was
13:32
Speaker 3: all I wanted to do when I was nineteen, is
13:35
Speaker 3: I'd walk in, I'd walk into meetings with Dave Shram
13:37
Speaker 3: and say, how many times can you call for vers today?
13:39
Speaker 3: Because that's all that I want to throw out, to
13:41
Speaker 3: throw the ball as far as I can and throw touchdowns,
13:43
Speaker 3: and that's that's the schoolyard football that I think most
13:47
Speaker 3: fans love to watch. Like they were eleven games last year,
13:52
Speaker 3: I still think there's a little bit left to be
13:54
Speaker 3: desired from some of the fan base in terms of
13:56
Speaker 3: the offense. And I think it's just the like electrical
14:00
Speaker 3: feel of taking shots down the field. If they can
14:02
Speaker 3: put that together, whether it's Stampire Ficklin, however that looks.
14:05
Speaker 3: I mean, God, they're talented enough. You know. Again, sky's
14:09
Speaker 3: the limit. I don't know. It's the Big twelve conference,
14:13
Speaker 3: you know, is as strong as conferences have been in
14:15
Speaker 3: the past that Utah has been in, right, I think
14:16
Speaker 3: it's pretty top heavy, and so you have passed the
14:20
Speaker 3: Texas tex and those guys down in provo like a
14:24
Speaker 3: queer path to the postseason.
14:28
Speaker 2: Hey, Jordan, speaking of the deep shots because you played
14:32
Speaker 2: for Kyle Whittingham, how much Because he liked to run
14:37
Speaker 2: the ball, he liked to protect the ball, and when
14:39
Speaker 2: you had offensive lines like he did and things like that,
14:41
Speaker 2: that's fine. But today's day and age, we see a
14:44
Speaker 2: lot more of the aired out game of college football.
14:48
Speaker 2: How much do you think Utah's lack of deep shots
14:51
Speaker 2: in those four verts or three verts, or just taking
14:54
Speaker 2: taking shots down the field through the years, was personnel
14:59
Speaker 2: or was it philosophy or you know, it's probably a
15:02
Speaker 2: little bit. I mean, I know it's not one or
15:03
Speaker 2: the other, but if you had to break it down
15:06
Speaker 2: percentage wise, was it more the coach saying I don't
15:09
Speaker 2: want to do that, let's just take short shots and
15:11
Speaker 2: run it. Or do you think Utah hasn't necessarily had
15:13
Speaker 2: the personnel over the years to take those shots.
15:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's a good question. Again, probably
15:20
Speaker 3: probably a little of both. I don't I go back
15:22
Speaker 3: like my first two years, in particular with with Dave
15:26
Speaker 3: Taman Aaron Roderick, we were throwing the ball downfield to
15:29
Speaker 3: Jeremy Brooks and David Reid, and we were taking shots,
15:32
Speaker 3: and again I was sitting back saying how far can
15:35
Speaker 3: I throw this ball? How many people can I get out?
15:38
Speaker 3: Of their seats and get people excited, right, and you know,
15:42
Speaker 3: you look as the progression has has gone, like we
15:45
Speaker 3: had clear I had a clear number one. Always it
15:47
Speaker 3: was it was David Reid, Jeremy Brooks, and then it
15:49
Speaker 3: was Devonte Christopher. All those guys could take the top
15:52
Speaker 3: off the coverage and could get downfield. Dres Anderson another
15:55
Speaker 3: guy that could take the top off and get downfield.
15:58
Speaker 3: I don't know if they've had a guy like similar
16:02
Speaker 3: to that in a while, and and maybe they haven't.
16:04
Speaker 3: It just hasn't. That's where like partially some of the
16:06
Speaker 3: scheme and what Kyle would want it to be done, like,
16:10
Speaker 3: we just haven't seen that. And so I think if
16:14
Speaker 3: they can find that guy that's you know, a true
16:16
Speaker 3: like a true number one, like we called him the
16:18
Speaker 3: X receiver when I was playing, like a true ex
16:20
Speaker 3: a guy that's like anytime this guy is one on
16:23
Speaker 3: one coverage, you're throwing, you're taking a deep shot to
16:26
Speaker 3: this guy. If they have that, and then you couple
16:29
Speaker 3: it with, you know, if Morgan can you know, find
16:33
Speaker 3: his his niche in terms of how he wants the
16:36
Speaker 3: offense to be ran and allow you know, the players
16:40
Speaker 3: to make plays and not that Kyle didn't do that,
16:42
Speaker 3: but we all know Kyle wanted to run football and
16:45
Speaker 3: win football games that way. I think if they can
16:48
Speaker 3: put that together, like that's the only thing I see
16:50
Speaker 3: missing from these teams, you know, even like the Rose
16:54
Speaker 3: Bowl teams, like it was so tight end heavy with
16:58
Speaker 3: Keithy and Kincaid and running the full you know, it's
17:02
Speaker 3: like and partially probably because Cam had some injuries as well,
17:06
Speaker 3: but it's like, if you the guy that's healthy and
17:08
Speaker 3: then you have a receiver that can get down the field,
17:10
Speaker 3: like that's all that they need, and then this offense
17:13
Speaker 3: is so wide open because you pair that with the
17:15
Speaker 3: running game, it's really hard to defend.
17:18
Speaker 2: Well, they appear to have that personnel. They added Brayden
17:22
Speaker 2: Pagan from Utah State. Began at UCLA last year, played
17:26
Speaker 2: with Kevin mcgiven. Had sixty catches for nine hundred and
17:29
Speaker 2: twenty six yards. It was averaging fifteen yards to catch.
17:34
Speaker 2: They added a kid from Mississippi State that came back
17:36
Speaker 2: which he had bumpus who was a speed guy, Ricky
17:38
Speaker 2: Johnson who can get down the field. Kylie Scholz was
17:42
Speaker 2: a kid at San Jose State that had over seven
17:44
Speaker 2: hundred yards receiving, was getting fifteen sixteen yards to catch
17:47
Speaker 2: last year, and then they bring back Larry Simmons, who
17:50
Speaker 2: at the end of the year last year was kind
17:51
Speaker 2: of turning into a big play guy. So it kind
17:54
Speaker 2: of feels like, right now, Jordan, they've got some of
17:57
Speaker 2: those guys that in theory can stretch that defense.
18:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's I mean then so now it just becomes, hey,
18:04
Speaker 3: let's use them right Like that's I think the best
18:08
Speaker 3: mark of an offensive coordinator is is using all eleven
18:12
Speaker 3: and using the entire field. If you can do that consistently,
18:17
Speaker 3: I mean, that puts a lot of strain on a defense.
18:20
Speaker 3: And I think Morgan would even be the first to
18:23
Speaker 3: tell you that as a as a defensive coordinator, like
18:25
Speaker 3: what'll keep you up and I will drive you nuts?
18:27
Speaker 3: Is the best eleven A on the field, and they're
18:30
Speaker 3: using the entire field. That gets really hard to defend.
18:33
Speaker 3: And so those guys you mentioned all it sounds like
18:36
Speaker 3: have the capability and so now it's just a matter
18:40
Speaker 3: of like put them in the best situations. Now you
18:42
Speaker 3: can say that and you can call for verts all
18:44
Speaker 3: day and if it's not open or you know, the
18:47
Speaker 3: protection breaks down or what have you. That's another discussion.
18:50
Speaker 3: Right then it's hey, we're trying to manufacture the ball down.
18:53
Speaker 3: The field just isn't there right now. But if the
18:56
Speaker 3: players are being dialed up, it's just a numbers game
18:59
Speaker 3: of that point. Eventually it's going to pop open and
19:01
Speaker 3: it's going to be there. And again, if you're able
19:04
Speaker 3: to stretch the field vertically, paired with the running game
19:06
Speaker 3: they have and the guys they're able to recruit up front,
19:09
Speaker 3: like this offense gets you know, pretty scary pretty quick.
19:12
Speaker 1: You know what's crazy.
19:13
Speaker 2: Jordan Utah hasn't had a one thousand yard wide receiver
19:18
Speaker 2: in thirteen years.
19:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's crazy. That is crazy.
19:21
Speaker 2: Dres Anderson one yards in twenty thirteen was the last
19:28
Speaker 2: thousand yard wide receiver.
19:31
Speaker 3: That's wild. I mean, that's the piece that's missing, right
19:33
Speaker 3: if you have a i mean even just getting close
19:35
Speaker 3: to that, right, Like if you can get a guy
19:37
Speaker 3: that's even upwards of like eight nine hundred yards and
19:41
Speaker 3: you know, eight to ten plus touchdowns, like that's a
19:43
Speaker 3: true number one receiver. You have a true number one
19:46
Speaker 3: Like it's hard to defend. You can't you effectively can't
19:50
Speaker 3: leave that guy on an island at all or he's
19:52
Speaker 3: going to beat you. And again that was that was
19:53
Speaker 3: dres Anderson, that was Devonte Christopher. For me, that was
19:56
Speaker 3: David Reed, that was Jeremy Brooks. And then you know
20:00
Speaker 3: coach Ram and Rodd were dialing it up and letting
20:03
Speaker 3: us throw the ball all over the place. And so
20:06
Speaker 3: I'm hoping they can, you know, find that again because
20:08
Speaker 3: I think, gosh, it seems like thirteen years been thirteen
20:11
Speaker 3: years since we've had it, and if that's there, that
20:14
Speaker 3: piece is there, it's it just creates problems for opposing defenses.
20:18
Speaker 2: Well, I'll say this, if they got similar production out
20:23
Speaker 2: of Pagan and Shoals that they put up last year,
20:27
Speaker 2: if you've got a nine hundred and fifty and a
20:28
Speaker 2: seven hundred and fifty yard receiver, that's to me, that's
20:32
Speaker 2: just as good because you're getting two guys that are
20:34
Speaker 2: uber productive.
20:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent. I mean, if you have two
20:38
Speaker 3: guys with that kind of production, Again, that's using the
20:42
Speaker 3: whole field, right, stretching the field both vertically and horizontally.
20:45
Speaker 3: And you know, it's just a football is just a
20:48
Speaker 3: numbers game. There are a lot of people that like
20:50
Speaker 3: to over complicate it. It's like, are there more guys
20:52
Speaker 3: than coverage than run the ball? Are there more guys
20:54
Speaker 3: in the box than throw the ball? If there are
20:56
Speaker 3: two good guys that are good at catching the ball
20:57
Speaker 3: and running routes and they're one of them has one
21:00
Speaker 3: guy on him, then you like, go to that guy.
21:03
Speaker 3: You know, it's not it doesn't need to be this
21:05
Speaker 3: crazy thing. It's like, just put the guys in the
21:08
Speaker 3: right spaces, find the one on one matchup, and let
21:11
Speaker 3: them go play. Like you know, anybody that's played football
21:14
Speaker 3: from when they're a little kid and you go out
21:16
Speaker 3: with your friends and play one on one. It's like
21:18
Speaker 3: the guy's one on one and he's a good athlete.
21:19
Speaker 3: You get them. The football doesn't need to be any
21:22
Speaker 3: more complicated than that.
21:23
Speaker 2: Well, it's hard to get the football to the guys
21:24
Speaker 2: downfield if you're running for your life. And I'm not
21:27
Speaker 2: saying it, Well, that's why I wanted to ask you
21:30
Speaker 2: about the offensive line, and I'm not inferring that. But
21:32
Speaker 2: there's gonna be five new guys. I mean, Utah was
21:35
Speaker 2: blessed the last two years to have five guys that
21:37
Speaker 2: all started together for back to back years. That's pretty
21:40
Speaker 2: unheard of. And all those guys may end up on
21:42
Speaker 2: NFL rosters. We know two of them will be drafted
21:45
Speaker 2: next week. So you tell me Jordan Gross has got
21:48
Speaker 2: a lot of good pieces guys that have been in
21:49
Speaker 2: the program. By the way, the thing that told me
21:52
Speaker 2: a lot about Jordan as a coach and a person,
21:54
Speaker 2: not a single one of those guys in the offensive
21:56
Speaker 2: line room hit the portal. They all stayed to play
21:58
Speaker 2: for him. Plus he brought his live star kid in.
22:00
Speaker 2: Plus he added some kids in the portal. So tell
22:03
Speaker 2: me a little bit about your thoughts on Jordan putting
22:05
Speaker 2: that line together and figuring things out this spring.
22:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think one it was a slam dunkier. You know,
22:13
Speaker 3: you talk about not only the career he had both
22:16
Speaker 3: in college and the NFL, but you bring back a
22:19
Speaker 3: guy that's, you know, through and through, a Utah guy
22:22
Speaker 3: loves cares about the program, is proven he can play
22:26
Speaker 3: at the highest level. You know, I haven't had an
22:30
Speaker 3: opportunity to talk to him, you know, directly about his
22:34
Speaker 3: philosophy or anything like that, but gosh, the guy played
22:36
Speaker 3: the highest I can't imagine he's anything but a high
22:39
Speaker 3: level tactician, right, So couple that with you have a
22:43
Speaker 3: guy that played here and has a passion for the
22:45
Speaker 3: university and for the state of Utah. Like those are
22:48
Speaker 3: guys that go recruit and recruit really well and with
22:51
Speaker 3: a name like his, yeah, his, I mean, his job
22:56
Speaker 3: might be the hardest of anyone on that staff, just
22:59
Speaker 3: replacing you know, all those guys from the last couple
23:02
Speaker 3: of years and the continuity. But to your point, like
23:06
Speaker 3: having no one entered the portal is impressive and especially
23:10
Speaker 3: in today's day and age, like that doesn't really happen.
23:13
Speaker 3: So he, you know, again obviously has the name, but
23:17
Speaker 3: for him to come in and uh, you know, relate
23:19
Speaker 3: and get into it with with the guys that are
23:22
Speaker 3: on campus and then bring in the guys that he's
23:24
Speaker 3: had come in with him, Yeah, I mean, there's probably
23:27
Speaker 3: gonna be a little bit of a curve there to
23:29
Speaker 3: pick up. You know. It's not the same five like
23:32
Speaker 3: you mentioned from the last couple of years, which is
23:33
Speaker 3: rare anyway, but gosh, I can't think of a better
23:36
Speaker 3: guy really to be in that position. And you know,
23:40
Speaker 3: again another hire where you know, Morgan, I think hit
23:43
Speaker 3: it out of the park.
23:45
Speaker 1: I think so too. And it's been fun talking to him.
23:47
Speaker 2: He's really excited to be back at his alma mater
23:49
Speaker 2: as well. From Jordan Gross to Jordan Win. Jordan, thanks
23:53
Speaker 2: for doing this today. It's great catching up with you.
23:55
Speaker 2: Let's do it again soon.
23:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, anytime, Bill
23:58
Speaker 1: Jordan will win with us here on the shatt O'Connell
24:01
Speaker 1: showed