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Morgan Scalley on Utes Spring FB, Applying the RSNB culture to all phases on the game + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:00
Speaker 1: We're gonna start the show today as promised on social
0:02
Speaker 1: media and yesterday with the head coach of your Utah
0:06
Speaker 1: Youtes football team, Morgan Scally. Right off the top, Morgan coach.
0:11
Speaker 1: I don't know which one I want to call you,
0:13
Speaker 1: but welcome to the show.
0:15
Speaker 2: Well, dude, whatever you want to call me.
0:18
Speaker 1: Man, you know what, I'm gonna call you, coach because
0:22
Speaker 1: I think it's awesome that you're the head coach of
0:24
Speaker 1: the Utes, So I'm gonna call you coach. Is it
0:27
Speaker 1: weird being Jordan Gross's boss and Bonagai's boss and the
0:32
Speaker 1: boss of some of the guys that were either your
0:36
Speaker 1: direct equals and peers or like I'm sure at some
0:39
Speaker 1: point on that Utah football roster Jordan Gross was higher
0:42
Speaker 1: on the player food chain than you were.
0:45
Speaker 3: Is it weird being their boss?
0:46
Speaker 2: Now? Well, I don't. I don't know that. I see
0:50
Speaker 2: it like I'm their boss. I think we're just we're coworkers,
0:54
Speaker 2: you know, or yeah, they report to me, but we
0:58
Speaker 2: all have our job and our responsibilities, and I think
1:03
Speaker 2: we're all wanting the same thing and that success for
1:07
Speaker 2: the program for our players. So I mean, yes, I
1:13
Speaker 2: guess I don't think that I'm your boss. I'm just
1:17
Speaker 2: we're working together for the same goal.
1:20
Speaker 1: Well, I'm a little disappointed by that because it would
1:22
Speaker 1: be a lot funnier if it matched my mental picture
1:24
Speaker 1: of you like berating them all the time, you know, really.
1:28
Speaker 2: Well, you'll have to ask them that, you know, maybe
1:32
Speaker 2: I will.
1:34
Speaker 3: James, my producer, brought up something yesterday.
1:36
Speaker 1: I thought it was a good question because your mantra
1:40
Speaker 1: RSNB relentless, smart, nasty ballhawks is obviously applied to your defense,
1:45
Speaker 1: your defensive style.
1:48
Speaker 3: How do you be a nasty ballhawk on offense?
1:52
Speaker 2: Well, nasty is an acronym for no excuses attack. The
1:57
Speaker 2: problem starts with me first mentality and yes, their communication.
2:02
Speaker 2: So that's that's applicable to anyone. And nasty mentality is
2:09
Speaker 2: is you know, not just side of the ball specific
2:15
Speaker 2: that you know is what the whole team should be.
2:18
Speaker 2: And then in terms of ballhawks, that's just you know,
2:21
Speaker 2: it's our job to keep the ball. On offense, it's
2:24
Speaker 2: our job to get the ball. On defense, the ball
2:27
Speaker 2: is the issue, and that's applicable to both sides as well.
2:31
Speaker 2: I in fact talked to our staff about it's like,
2:35
Speaker 2: you know, we have the ballhawks and do we make
2:38
Speaker 2: it different for the offense and you know, does it
2:41
Speaker 2: ball hogs? What is it? And every single offensive staff
2:44
Speaker 2: member said, no, we keep it the same. That's who
2:48
Speaker 2: we are. And that was that was pretty cool. So
2:50
Speaker 2: I was like, all right, let's go.
2:52
Speaker 3: That's awesome.
2:52
Speaker 1: I'm sure it's great to get buy in on an
2:55
Speaker 1: idea like that from your staff. Do you feel like
2:58
Speaker 1: the players have been enthusiastic with their buy in as well?
3:03
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and you're seeing it. I mean, them living
3:07
Speaker 2: the culture more and more every single practice, and you
3:13
Speaker 2: know they want to do it because they see the
3:16
Speaker 2: beauty of it, they see the results and us improving
3:22
Speaker 2: as a team and the behavior is actually making us
3:26
Speaker 2: a better football team. So the buy in is there,
3:30
Speaker 2: you know, simply because the experience is awesome right now.
3:33
Speaker 2: So when it's hard, and really where culture is exposed
3:40
Speaker 2: for good or bad is not when things are going great.
3:44
Speaker 2: It's when things are difficult and it's hard to behave
3:49
Speaker 2: the way that we're asking them to behave. So, you know,
3:52
Speaker 2: we've yet to face a ton of adversity, but that's
3:56
Speaker 2: going to come and that's where, you know, really find
4:00
Speaker 2: out what type of culture we have. You can try
4:03
Speaker 2: and manufacture that simulate as much as you can and
4:08
Speaker 2: practice situations, but ultimately, you know, when the season hits
4:12
Speaker 2: and the pressure's there and things may not be going
4:16
Speaker 2: your way, that's when you know cultures really revealed.
4:23
Speaker 1: Well, I was going to ask you how you try
4:25
Speaker 1: to coach up that sort of mental fortitude aspect, And
4:28
Speaker 1: I know a lot of that is done in the
4:30
Speaker 1: weight room, or historically has been done in the weight room,
4:33
Speaker 1: But the science these days sometimes points to like, maybe
4:37
Speaker 1: don't grind everyone down too much as you're going through
4:40
Speaker 1: you know a bunch of practices and whatnot. So as
4:43
Speaker 1: you're in this first spring period, coming off of your
4:46
Speaker 1: first winter conditioning period and heading into your first summer
4:50
Speaker 1: speed school and all that kind of stuff, Like what
4:53
Speaker 1: is the Morgan Scalley philosophy on making sure that these
4:57
Speaker 1: guys face adversity before you do get to a season.
5:02
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's helping them understand the why and
5:06
Speaker 2: everything that you're doing. You know, nothing frustrated me more
5:12
Speaker 2: as a player than doing things drills, exercise, whatever it
5:17
Speaker 2: is that didn't translate on the field or wasn't making
5:22
Speaker 2: me a better football player. And I understand that there's
5:24
Speaker 2: things that you can be doing in the weight room
5:26
Speaker 2: or during the off season that are trying to, you know,
5:31
Speaker 2: strengthen your mind and get you mentally tough. But I'm
5:35
Speaker 2: a firm believer that if you want to make good
5:37
Speaker 2: football players, you help them become elite in the behaviors
5:42
Speaker 2: that make good football players. And you know, if you
5:48
Speaker 2: want to be a physical football player, guess what you're
5:50
Speaker 2: going to have to tackle? How do you tackle? What's
5:53
Speaker 2: the best way to tackle, what's the best way to
5:55
Speaker 2: take on a block, and don't shy away from it
5:58
Speaker 2: in your practice. I think, uh, this is one of
6:01
Speaker 2: the highest ratios from crossover team reps to to live
6:06
Speaker 2: tackling that we've done over the past six or seven years.
6:10
Speaker 2: And it's because if you do it, and you do
6:15
Speaker 2: it in in a control environment and you're you know,
6:19
Speaker 2: you're making sure that you divvy out those those reps,
6:24
Speaker 2: you know you can do it and still stay healthy.
6:26
Speaker 2: It's you know, a lot of the injuries come from
6:29
Speaker 2: a thud temple where you're you're learning bad technique, you're
6:33
Speaker 2: you know, you're you're doing things that you wouldn't do
6:37
Speaker 2: when you're live tackling. That's when the injuries occur. So
6:41
Speaker 2: it's been really neat for these guys to to be
6:45
Speaker 2: able to practice physical and you know, show us who
6:49
Speaker 2: can tackle, who's going to take the proper angles, versus
6:53
Speaker 2: you get to the season and it's say, okay, well
6:54
Speaker 2: I hope, I hope we're there. You know, it doesn't happen.
7:00
Speaker 1: It seems to me in my experience that you've got
7:04
Speaker 1: certain tone setters on a roster on a team, right,
7:08
Speaker 1: and I know you've voted on your leadership council and
7:10
Speaker 1: will eventually have captains and things like that, and oftentimes
7:13
Speaker 1: it is those guys that are your tone setters. But
7:16
Speaker 1: I think you know, there's like the energy tone setter types,
7:19
Speaker 1: the guys that are loud and maybe getting people pumped up,
7:21
Speaker 1: the guys that hold their teammates accountable. There's also the
7:25
Speaker 1: physicality tone setters that maybe aren't always as verbal. I'm
7:29
Speaker 1: thinking like the Chris kim Oyatu types who never had
7:32
Speaker 1: to say a word, but you knew that when the
7:35
Speaker 1: lights were on and even when it was a hard
7:37
Speaker 1: period in practice, that guy was going to be a
7:40
Speaker 1: problem if you didn't come full speed. Do you have
7:42
Speaker 1: you identified who your physicality. Tone setters are who are
7:46
Speaker 1: like really carrying that torch for you on this team.
7:48
Speaker 2: Yet that's still coming. I mean, we've got a bunch
7:54
Speaker 2: of physical football players. But it doesn't matter how loud
7:59
Speaker 2: you are. You want energy, you want, but it can't
8:04
Speaker 2: be fake. I can be loud and I get people
8:09
Speaker 2: juiced and pumped up and then you get the crap
8:13
Speaker 2: kicked out of you at the on the line of scrimmage.
8:15
Speaker 2: And it doesn't matter where we have to be, you know,
8:19
Speaker 2: and I've always said this, your offensive line, your defensive line.
8:22
Speaker 2: They bring the weather and how they go, we go.
8:25
Speaker 2: Because if you're just getting dominated the line of scrimmage
8:28
Speaker 2: on either side of the ball, it's going to be
8:29
Speaker 2: a rough day, tough sledding. So it's getting the O
8:34
Speaker 2: line and the D line in that mindset of you
8:37
Speaker 2: guys set the tone in terms of that nasty mentality.
8:40
Speaker 2: And I feel like we're making a ton of progress
8:45
Speaker 2: in that area. I love what Jordan Gross and Alex
8:47
Speaker 2: Kirky you've been doing with the offensive line, you know, okay,
8:50
Speaker 2: and Luther with the defensive line. It's getting very very competitive.
8:55
Speaker 2: It's getting chippy. You know, you have to be able
8:57
Speaker 2: to be competitive and not bad is. But you're always
9:01
Speaker 2: trying to push that envelope a little bit because because
9:05
Speaker 2: you can't have soft it will be exposed. And the
9:11
Speaker 2: highest levels of competition, well that's where it gets exposed
9:16
Speaker 2: the most. You know, you may be able to get
9:19
Speaker 2: away with it when you're facing less competition, but the
9:21
Speaker 2: better teams you go against, you that physicality is going
9:27
Speaker 2: to be exposed, for good or bad.
9:30
Speaker 1: A lot of conversations surrounding the offensive line for obvious reasons.
9:33
Speaker 1: You lose five starters, you got to replace some high
9:36
Speaker 1: level guys that are hopefully going to have their names
9:39
Speaker 1: called even in the first round of this upcoming NFL draft.
9:42
Speaker 1: And I've I've had the opportunity to talk to some
9:45
Speaker 1: of your offensive linemen to try to pick the brain
9:47
Speaker 1: of your assistant coaches. And we talked with Jordan Gross
9:50
Speaker 1: not sure not long after you hired him about you know,
9:53
Speaker 1: how you how you make up a gap in such
9:56
Speaker 1: an important position group. The interesting dynamic for me is
10:00
Speaker 1: that you have a lot of guys who have played
10:02
Speaker 1: a lot of reps, and I know it's different when
10:04
Speaker 1: you're a starter. They weren't starter reps in most cases,
10:08
Speaker 1: But a lot of your guys are maybe first year starters,
10:12
Speaker 1: but with like a ton of game snaps. And I
10:16
Speaker 1: asked Zaraway Williams the other day, if you know there
10:18
Speaker 1: was a sense of like, yeah, we're new starters, but
10:21
Speaker 1: we have paid our dues or I individually maybe have
10:24
Speaker 1: paid my dues. Does that change the dynamic at all
10:28
Speaker 1: with this offensive line battle?
10:33
Speaker 2: You definitely want guys with experience that have played on
10:37
Speaker 2: game day under the lights, but we're focused a whole
10:43
Speaker 2: lot more on becoming who we need to become in
10:46
Speaker 2: the trenches. The you know, what makes a great offensive line? Expectations,
10:52
Speaker 2: all that stuff, star rankings, that crap means nothing. What
10:59
Speaker 2: matter is or where they strong, where they deficient, and
11:03
Speaker 2: how can we get them where we need them. You know,
11:07
Speaker 2: if you want to be able to push weight on
11:09
Speaker 2: the football field, you got to be able to push
11:10
Speaker 2: weight in the weight room. And so how do they
11:13
Speaker 2: attack the weight room? And we saw awesome gains this
11:18
Speaker 2: off season and the weight room from those guys, and
11:21
Speaker 2: you know they're they're putting on the right type of weight.
11:26
Speaker 2: You know, their lean muscle masses and their body makeup
11:30
Speaker 2: is much better than it was heading into the off season.
11:33
Speaker 2: So Jordan and Alex, our strength staff, our nutrition staff,
11:39
Speaker 2: it takes the entire program to build up a player,
11:44
Speaker 2: and that's what we've done and we're seeing progress every
11:47
Speaker 2: single practice. But you know that everyone knows they're competing
11:52
Speaker 2: all the way. The only depth chart that matters is,
11:56
Speaker 2: you know, once we get the week one, you know,
11:59
Speaker 2: preparing fried house. So that's the only thing that we're
12:02
Speaker 2: telling those guys is you just keep competing, keep getting
12:06
Speaker 2: that feedback as to where you can improve, where you
12:08
Speaker 2: need to get better. And you know, with our culture,
12:12
Speaker 2: be tenaciously persistent in pursuit of elite. Your behavior will
12:17
Speaker 2: tell me everything I need to know about what your
12:21
Speaker 2: goals are, about what matters to you, because you talking
12:25
Speaker 2: really means doesn't do much.
12:28
Speaker 1: Morgan Scalley's our guest here, head coach of Utah football
12:31
Speaker 1: on the Shot O'Connell's show. You mentioned something similar in
12:35
Speaker 1: Tuesday's media availability, like, hey, we'll worry about the depth
12:38
Speaker 1: chart when we get to week one, And I had
12:42
Speaker 1: an immense appreciation for that sentiment because it feels like
12:47
Speaker 1: that's where the players are at too, like the guys.
12:51
Speaker 3: It doesn't seem like guys know.
12:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, you and the media are not going to get
12:55
Speaker 1: a depth chart, but I know my place, I know
12:56
Speaker 1: exactly how many reps I'm going to get.
12:58
Speaker 3: I know what's been problem to me.
13:00
Speaker 1: I know that I'm the starter, and I know that
13:04
Speaker 1: position battles are sometimes overplayed. But it would appear that
13:08
Speaker 1: you have created an atmosphere up there where everyone does
13:12
Speaker 1: feel like they're competing for their job right now, even
13:14
Speaker 1: guys with returning starter type experience.
13:18
Speaker 3: Is that deliberate?
13:23
Speaker 2: I don't know. You try and recruit and develop, and
13:32
Speaker 2: you try and recruit enough that competitions a byproduct of
13:37
Speaker 2: having a bunch of good football players. You know, what
13:41
Speaker 2: we are focus is on the feedback. Coaches are to
13:45
Speaker 2: give players clarity, accountability, and support. Be very clear about
13:51
Speaker 2: what you're asking your players to do. Don't yell at
13:53
Speaker 2: them for something that you haven't really taught or coached
13:55
Speaker 2: them to do, because you get a lot of that
13:57
Speaker 2: sometimes people trying to say a face. Very clear about
14:00
Speaker 2: what you're asking of them, Hold them accountable to it,
14:03
Speaker 2: don't don't let them get away with counterculture behavior, and then,
14:08
Speaker 2: you know, give be on the cutting edge of giving
14:10
Speaker 2: them all the support you can give. Them, whether that's
14:13
Speaker 2: drill work, whether that's you know, cutups, whatever that is.
14:16
Speaker 2: They need to feel like you're doing everything you can
14:18
Speaker 2: to make them elite. And then that accountability piece. All
14:23
Speaker 2: that is is feedback and it can't just be a
14:25
Speaker 2: once a year deal. It's got to be an everyday deal,
14:30
Speaker 2: so that you know, if their parents are hey, what
14:34
Speaker 2: were you in, you know, in the room, and are
14:37
Speaker 2: you playing? Well, yeah, I am, and here's why. No,
14:40
Speaker 2: I'm not. Here's why it's If they not they're not
14:45
Speaker 2: understanding why they're not getting reps, that's an issue because
14:49
Speaker 2: that means that feedback's not happening. So we just tell
14:54
Speaker 2: our guys, hey, seek feedback. You know, you're going to
14:57
Speaker 2: know why you're getting reps. Well you're not getting reps,
14:59
Speaker 2: what you need to do to get more reps. That
15:01
Speaker 2: is a feedback thing, and that's all coaching. And so
15:05
Speaker 2: I think our coaches do a really good job of
15:07
Speaker 2: helping our guys understand what it takes to be elite,
15:10
Speaker 2: and we're getting there day by day with the behaviors
15:14
Speaker 2: that we're asking from our guys.
15:16
Speaker 1: I don't know how much you've talked about this already,
15:18
Speaker 1: So forgive me if you've already explained it. But in
15:21
Speaker 1: the media availability we get it seems like you have
15:25
Speaker 1: sometimes the offense is cheering for the offense, and sometimes
15:28
Speaker 1: the offense is cheering for the defense when you're in
15:32
Speaker 1: these team periods and I don't know what the competition
15:34
Speaker 1: structure is like, or if someone's got a run extra
15:37
Speaker 1: on a win or a loss. But like I was
15:40
Speaker 1: out there the other day and I was like, wait
15:42
Speaker 1: a second, I think the defense just cheered for an
15:45
Speaker 1: offensive touchdown and that doesn't make a ton of sense intuitively,
15:50
Speaker 1: Am I misreading what's going on there?
15:53
Speaker 2: Well, it's nothing more than trying to simulate in an
15:56
Speaker 2: environment where it's everyone against you know, in a way
16:00
Speaker 2: environment where your offensive defense are all cheering for one
16:04
Speaker 2: side of the ball, and the eleven that are on
16:06
Speaker 2: the offense side of the ball, you know, no one's
16:09
Speaker 2: cheering for them. Okay, So in in a way environment
16:12
Speaker 2: you know, very similar, it's you against the entire stadium.
16:18
Speaker 2: So it's just trying to get a little bit more
16:20
Speaker 2: of that in in what we're doing.
16:22
Speaker 3: Oh, I like that. That's cool.
16:26
Speaker 1: If you had to characterize relative to your expectations, whether
16:30
Speaker 1: or not your offense is on schedule, ahead of schedule,
16:34
Speaker 1: behind schedule.
16:35
Speaker 3: Would you be able to give me a characterization.
16:40
Speaker 2: I would say, our offense is on schedule and our
16:46
Speaker 2: defense is on schedule. You know, and primarily and you
16:51
Speaker 2: talk to the coordinators. It is a behavior first scheme. Second,
16:55
Speaker 2: are we great the behaviors that make you know great
16:59
Speaker 2: offensive of lineman and defensive linemen? Are we practicing inside hands,
17:05
Speaker 2: vertical average or we breaking driving the right way? It's
17:08
Speaker 2: it's it's behavior over scheme and and never the opposite
17:14
Speaker 2: or the all you're worried about is install, install, install, installed,
17:19
Speaker 2: Then people aren't going to be getting great at what
17:22
Speaker 2: make good football players. So that's what I'm pleased with
17:25
Speaker 2: is the culture is showing up and improving every single
17:28
Speaker 2: day and that we're not trying to get too cute.
17:32
Speaker 1: You're probably going to get sick of questions about, you know,
17:35
Speaker 1: your firsts because you are a first time head coach.
17:37
Speaker 1: You've though you've been coaching and you've been here for
17:39
Speaker 1: your entire career. Uh, but does it feel like you
17:43
Speaker 1: thought it was going to feel running through your first
17:45
Speaker 1: spring camp? Does the workload is it kind of close
17:50
Speaker 1: to how you expected it?
17:51
Speaker 3: To be.
17:52
Speaker 1: You took this job, you got your first winning the
17:55
Speaker 1: Bowl game, You've been preparing for it for a long time.
17:59
Speaker 1: Now that you've settled into it a little bit and
18:01
Speaker 1: you're really in the meat and potatoes of developing this team,
18:06
Speaker 1: how does it compare to what you thought.
18:08
Speaker 3: It was going to be.
18:12
Speaker 2: I miss having a position group to coach, you know,
18:15
Speaker 2: but I also enjoy going from position to position just
18:20
Speaker 2: giving feedback along the way. So I you know, I
18:25
Speaker 2: think I mentioned early on it gets it can be
18:28
Speaker 2: boring just not having a group to always be coaching.
18:32
Speaker 2: But you're just making sure that the periods are run correctly,
18:36
Speaker 2: that everyone's moving around, and and the how we do
18:39
Speaker 2: things is what you want. So I'm getting more used
18:44
Speaker 2: to that. I don't like to hover. I don't like
18:47
Speaker 2: to I just like to observe and and and give
18:52
Speaker 2: coaches tips, give players tips along the way. But as
18:56
Speaker 2: long as you know, our coaches are coaching and the
18:58
Speaker 2: culture is what it needs to be. Uh, you know,
19:02
Speaker 2: I'm just a fan, just helping out where I can.
19:05
Speaker 2: But but you know, the majority of stuff I give
19:10
Speaker 2: is after watching film. In terms of feedback stuff like that,
19:15
Speaker 2: it's a lot more managing than it is coaching. I'll
19:22
Speaker 2: tell you that.
19:24
Speaker 3: Well, I like what I've seen of your leadership style.
19:28
Speaker 1: I could envision you being a manager here at the
19:31
Speaker 1: radio station, or at the Costco downtown or for a
19:34
Speaker 1: fortune five hundred company. But when I hear you say
19:37
Speaker 1: it's a lot more managing the coaching, is that a
19:39
Speaker 1: pejorative or you like, I don't want to be the manager.
19:42
Speaker 3: I want to be the coach. Is it like? Are
19:44
Speaker 3: you enjoying that I.
19:47
Speaker 2: Love what I do? I'm not gonna I absolutely love it.
19:51
Speaker 2: Are there aspects that that I miss about being a coordinator?
19:55
Speaker 2: You bet? Are there aspects I miss about being a
19:58
Speaker 2: position coach one hundred percent. But you know, there's also
20:03
Speaker 2: a lot of things that I've got gained on my
20:06
Speaker 2: plate that I'm enjoying that I appreciate about the job.
20:12
Speaker 2: And just the connection with everyone in the building has
20:19
Speaker 2: been awesome. Everyone pulling the same direction and talking our
20:23
Speaker 2: culture using the same language, the everyone pulling the same direction,
20:29
Speaker 2: the just the imprint you have on the different areas
20:35
Speaker 2: in the facility that you hadn't had before. That's that's
20:39
Speaker 2: what I'm having a blast with.
20:42
Speaker 1: How many times has coach mcgiven dialed up something that
20:45
Speaker 1: scores a touchdown, and you have to go over to
20:48
Speaker 1: Colton Swan and be like, if I was calling the defense,
20:50
Speaker 1: that wouldn't happen.
20:51
Speaker 2: Oh, never, never. But what I have to do is
20:55
Speaker 2: keep reassuring Swan that I'm not like, you know, oh,
20:58
Speaker 2: he's over there giving him all our tendancies, and you know,
21:02
Speaker 2: it's like, dude, come on now, you know, but there
21:06
Speaker 2: are days like it's like a Scally play of the
21:10
Speaker 2: day that I'll give him a given and then he'll
21:13
Speaker 2: dial up and you'll see me getting giddy when it
21:18
Speaker 2: has success, and Swann to look over at me and
21:21
Speaker 2: give me that face.
21:23
Speaker 3: We uh.
21:24
Speaker 1: We talked to Byrd after practice and I asked him, Hey,
21:28
Speaker 1: what what defender is causing you the most problems right now?
21:31
Speaker 1: And I thought he was gonna tell me one of
21:33
Speaker 1: his teammates or a couple of his teammates, and he said, man,
21:37
Speaker 1: it's Swan. He is throwing everything at me right now.
21:40
Speaker 1: And you know that he's a young player. He's still
21:43
Speaker 1: you know, growing into whatever his role is going to be.
21:46
Speaker 1: But at least in his perspective, it's like the governor
21:50
Speaker 1: Chip is off the defense you're not doing any him
21:52
Speaker 1: any favors when it comes to uh to making sure
21:55
Speaker 1: he's got easy looks.
21:56
Speaker 3: Is that how it's playing out?
21:59
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, the more of that then the easier it
22:01
Speaker 2: is for Bird and he gets those situations that people
22:04
Speaker 2: aren't as aggressive or they aren't showing, you know, the
22:08
Speaker 2: pressure that we that we show, and so I'm all
22:13
Speaker 2: for it. We get to the threes and down the
22:17
Speaker 2: line guys on our Saturday last week and Swan's briefing
22:23
Speaker 2: seven man pressure like you are you are showing no
22:27
Speaker 2: mercy to these young quarterbacks anyway. It's probably a little
22:32
Speaker 2: bit of me too, just loving it. But anyway, it
22:38
Speaker 2: makes them better for sure.
22:41
Speaker 1: So you've got this two quarterback situation, two great quarterbacks
22:47
Speaker 1: on the roster, and I know you've asked about it
22:49
Speaker 1: a lot, and I don't know you. You know, just
22:52
Speaker 1: the other day you were asked like, how did you
22:54
Speaker 1: make that happen? It's like a faith restoring thing in
22:58
Speaker 1: the state of college football, in the mindset of young
23:02
Speaker 1: athletes these days, to have somebody like Devon Dan Pierre
23:06
Speaker 1: come back and also to have somebody like Bird Fickland
23:10
Speaker 1: come back, especially when there is coaching turnover and there
23:13
Speaker 1: is a change potentially at least an adjustment in the
23:17
Speaker 1: culture and things like that, And I think it's a
23:19
Speaker 1: testament to you.
23:21
Speaker 3: It's also a testament to the character.
23:23
Speaker 1: Of those young men and the teammates around them that
23:26
Speaker 1: made them believe that this was the best situation for them.
23:28
Speaker 1: And I know it's belaboring a point that probably has
23:31
Speaker 1: already been made, but man, it's such an interesting thing
23:36
Speaker 1: in the modern context of the transfer portal and nil offers,
23:40
Speaker 1: because we know they had other chances and they still
23:43
Speaker 1: decided to do this and to do it together.
23:45
Speaker 3: It's pretty remarkable, it is.
23:49
Speaker 2: And I'm you know, I'll be the first to tell
23:53
Speaker 2: you it was making sure that we did everything we
23:56
Speaker 2: could to help them understand how valuable they were to us.
24:00
Speaker 2: And there are a lot of things that came together
24:02
Speaker 2: to make that happen. You know, the fact that we've
24:06
Speaker 2: got an unbelievable fan base, that they're they're comfortable here,
24:11
Speaker 2: they know the personnel getting them with mcgiven and Gunderson
24:17
Speaker 2: and going over this new offense and what was going
24:21
Speaker 2: to look like, how it was going to utilize their strengths,
24:23
Speaker 2: The fact that those two have a great relationship. The
24:26
Speaker 2: fact that there are a couple of years apart, I
24:28
Speaker 2: mean truthfully also helps out there knowing Bird, knowing that
24:33
Speaker 2: that there is a very distinct, strong, you know future
24:38
Speaker 2: for him as the starter, and and and also for
24:41
Speaker 2: them to be able to know, hey, we want to
24:43
Speaker 2: utilize your strengths together. I mean, there's some things that
24:46
Speaker 2: we're going to be doing this year that are a
24:47
Speaker 2: lot of fun that you know where you know Bird,
24:52
Speaker 2: I think primarily when we utilized him last year, outside
24:56
Speaker 2: of him starting that the one game because of Devin's injury,
25:00
Speaker 2: it was more of a gimmick deal, and he was,
25:06
Speaker 2: you know, running the ball more than throwing the ball,
25:08
Speaker 2: like he has progressed so much in his you know,
25:14
Speaker 2: mechanics and throwing the ball his read progression. So we
25:19
Speaker 2: want to be able to utilize both of these guys'
25:22
Speaker 2: strengths and also cause defenses a lot of issues. And
25:28
Speaker 2: so we're very blessed to have both those guys love
25:33
Speaker 2: this place, love this university, and love how we're going
25:36
Speaker 2: to use them in this offense.
25:37
Speaker 1: Just a couple more questions here with Utah football head
25:40
Speaker 1: coach Morgan Scally on the Sean O'Connell show. Are there
25:44
Speaker 1: any out of nowhere guys that we're going to have
25:47
Speaker 1: to learn their names? It's been encouraging to hear you say,
25:49
Speaker 1: oh man, pray the progress. But we've seen him. We
25:53
Speaker 1: know what he's capable of at his best. Creed Wittemore
25:56
Speaker 1: is doing really great things. Are there any like true
25:59
Speaker 1: newcomer is that we have not seen yet that we're
26:02
Speaker 1: going to be like, wow, based on the progress you've
26:05
Speaker 1: seen in the spring.
26:07
Speaker 2: I'm I love Ricky Johnson, the wide receiver transfer from
26:13
Speaker 2: Misissippi State. Love what he brings to the table. Will
26:17
Speaker 2: Money is recovering from an injury. But the tight end spot.
26:24
Speaker 2: He transferred from Oklahoma State, and he was showing some
26:27
Speaker 2: unbelievable things in you know, in the off season, but
26:34
Speaker 2: I had to clean some stuff up. So I'm excited
26:36
Speaker 2: for Will Money. No, you know Benny at the at
26:39
Speaker 2: the tight end spot as well. I mean, both those
26:42
Speaker 2: guys are huge ads on the defensive side of the ball.
26:47
Speaker 2: I love Elijah Reid what he's bringing to the table.
26:50
Speaker 2: James Chinault at the corner spot. There's a lot of
26:52
Speaker 2: new guys you're going to see that Ethan Day you know,
26:57
Speaker 2: Giro Moa at the defensive tackle spot. So a lot
27:01
Speaker 2: of guys I'm excited about. Fired up about that are
27:04
Speaker 2: I know our fans are going to be excited about it.
27:07
Speaker 2: Seems like from year to year you lose guys and
27:11
Speaker 2: it's like, man, how are we going to be? How
27:13
Speaker 2: we're gonna uh? And I continued to talk about last year,
27:17
Speaker 2: it's like people didn't, you know, know too much about
27:21
Speaker 2: John Henry Daily, people didn't know too much about Joan
27:24
Speaker 2: Ola and some of these guys that did a lot
27:26
Speaker 2: of good things for us on the defensive side of
27:28
Speaker 2: the ball. And you know that's going to continue to
27:32
Speaker 2: show up, maybe not as much in the transfer portal. Obviously.
27:36
Speaker 2: This year was was an exception because you had staff go,
27:40
Speaker 2: you had players you know, go with them and stuff
27:42
Speaker 2: like that. But that's our job is to recruit and
27:47
Speaker 2: develop into and to get these guys ready h to
27:52
Speaker 2: plug and play. And we're going to continue to do
27:56
Speaker 2: that at an elite level. And that's what I'm excited
27:58
Speaker 2: for our fans to be able to see these new
28:00
Speaker 2: guys and what they bring to the table.
28:03
Speaker 1: All right, last thing before I let you go, there's
28:06
Speaker 1: a new model that it seems to be gaining some
28:09
Speaker 1: traction on eligibility and maybe something that could potentially help
28:14
Speaker 1: the state of things in college football. And what's being
28:17
Speaker 1: proposed is that, aside from church service or military service
28:22
Speaker 1: or maternity leave, which is not a thing for football players,
28:26
Speaker 1: you have from the time you graduate high school and
28:30
Speaker 1: enroll in college, you've got five years to play five
28:33
Speaker 1: years regardless of medical situations. There's not going to be
28:37
Speaker 1: exceptions granted, and you can transfer one time. Do you
28:42
Speaker 1: have any thoughts on that potential model.
28:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like it. You know, the statistics will tell you.
28:54
Speaker 2: I mean in terms of the transferring statistics in the draft,
28:59
Speaker 2: right you go look at your early round draft picks
29:06
Speaker 2: and how many times they transferred, and I think it's
29:11
Speaker 2: I mean, did the study. It's like on the offensive line,
29:13
Speaker 2: it's like eighty percent of your draft picks, what rounds
29:18
Speaker 2: one through three either stay you know, stayed at one
29:22
Speaker 2: place the entire time, or transferred one time. And then
29:27
Speaker 2: it's like you have to determine the amount you're losing
29:32
Speaker 2: on average by transferring you know, more than one time,
29:37
Speaker 2: and the drop off is interestingly significant enough where it's like, man,
29:44
Speaker 2: I really better think about, you know, the amount of
29:48
Speaker 2: transfers that are occurring in my career and what that's
29:53
Speaker 2: doing to my projection. And because you just you have
29:59
Speaker 2: to learn news schemes and you new terminology, and it's
30:04
Speaker 2: new coaching, and you're having to you know, you may
30:08
Speaker 2: end up stunting your development. Uh, in the process of
30:13
Speaker 2: transferring for for more immediate instant money, but ultimately losing
30:19
Speaker 2: money long term. So it's it's it's the big picture.
30:25
Speaker 2: And so with the one transfer rule, I really think
30:28
Speaker 2: that benefits the player and also benefits the school.
30:32
Speaker 3: All Right, I lied one more question.
30:34
Speaker 1: Uh, you're the twenty two for you the twenty two
30:39
Speaker 1: for your fan day that you have coming up next weekend. UH,
30:44
Speaker 1: fans get to come out to the field house, meet
30:47
Speaker 1: and greet, the players meet and greet you. What has
30:50
Speaker 1: the player reaction been to this rather than a spring game.
30:55
Speaker 2: Uh, I haven't really asked, you know, I think they're
31:00
Speaker 2: just excited that they get to progress. You know, there's
31:05
Speaker 2: a lot of there's a lot of guys that don't
31:07
Speaker 2: that didn't want to play in the spring game. You
31:10
Speaker 2: know from from years previous. It's like, Okay, you're playing
31:13
Speaker 2: the scream really.
31:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, by the way, that's always the starters. Those are
31:20
Speaker 1: the good players. The scrubs were just like I get
31:23
Speaker 1: to play for once. Let's go well yeah.
31:25
Speaker 2: But but but everyone, you know, it's like everyone thinks
31:28
Speaker 2: they're a starter too, really, and then and then you
31:32
Speaker 2: dumb everything down and the defense has to play cover
31:34
Speaker 2: too the entire time and you can't hit the court.
31:37
Speaker 2: It's like, I'd rather have a fifteenth practice where we
31:42
Speaker 2: can actually improve and get better at the things that
31:45
Speaker 2: we need to improve and get better on. And yes,
31:48
Speaker 2: I get it. We love our fans and we want
31:50
Speaker 2: our fans to be excited about our team and our players,
31:53
Speaker 2: but we do them at the service by not taking
31:55
Speaker 2: advantage of every single practice to improve and get better
31:59
Speaker 2: and get our guys ready for the season. And we
32:02
Speaker 2: do want to have the span, bess, because I want
32:04
Speaker 2: our fans to meet these guys and see them face
32:07
Speaker 2: to face and get autographs and you know, for our
32:11
Speaker 2: coaches to be there and it's going to be a
32:14
Speaker 2: fun day. And I but again, you know the reason
32:19
Speaker 2: for it is definite to definitely use that fifteenth practice
32:24
Speaker 2: for our guys to continue improve and get better and
32:29
Speaker 2: where we need to get better.
32:31
Speaker 1: I know your time is incredibly valuable and I appreciate
32:34
Speaker 1: you giving me so much of it today, Morgan, thank you.
32:37
Speaker 3: We'll see you soon.
32:38
Speaker 2: You got it better. Appreciate you have a good one.
32:40
Speaker 3: We'll see that's
32:42
Speaker 1: Morgan Scaley, head football coach at the University of Utah.