Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / 1-2-26 - Utes football insider - Sammy Mora - Utes next year Starting QB, Utes targets in the transfer portal and Morgan Scalley coaching...

Transcript

1-2-26 - Utes football insider - Sammy Mora - Utes next year Starting QB, Utes targets in the transfer portal and Morgan Scalley coaching... · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Salt Lake, ESPN seven hundred and ninety two to one
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: af AM. Stream us live on YouTube. Find us at
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: ESPN seven hundred Sports Utah. This is dot Sean O'Connell's show,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Pure home of the best inside of your utes. Let's
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: get back to OC from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: ESPN seven hundred and ninety two to one af AM.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Shawn Cotton Show on ESPN seven
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: hundred and ninety two one half am. Welcome man, our
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: good friend, Sammy mora Utah insider and someone who's probably
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: dealing with a lot of mess right now. The managing
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: editor of yout zone has a lot of stuff to
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: sift through and follow at this exact moment, as the
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: transfer portal opens today, Utah's season officially in the books
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: after a big win in the Vegas Bowl and reorganization
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: of the coaching staff happening as we speak. Sammy More,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the show. How are you.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: I'm as good as you possibly think I could be. OC.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: How are you, shoomb great, Happy New Year to you.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Are you at New Year's resolutions or a goals type
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: of gal?
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: Depends on the situation, depends on what's going on. Considering
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: that I have been glued to my phone for the
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: last seven days, I haven't had a single chance to
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: think about what I want to do differently in twenty
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: twenty six.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: That's totally fine. We'll check back with that when you
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: have a moment to breathe. Let's start with the fun stuff.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Let's start with the Vegas Bowl where Utah, even as
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: they knew that their coaching staff was probably going to
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: look different, even as they knew that the special era
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: of this particular group of seniors was coming to an end,
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: they put together a dominant performance against a Nebraska team
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: that showed up for like a quarter and a half
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: looked like they were ready to fight. What do you
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: think of the Vegas Bowl, especially given the context.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: I was honestly, you know, like you said, the context
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: of it is, you know, have to kind of look
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: at it through a certain lens right now, But you know,
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: I was really impressed. You know, there was there could
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: that Utah team could have come out and laid the
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: biggest egg possible, considering everything that was going on around
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: the program from you know, beginning of December until when
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: the game started. But I was really impressed. I know
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: Utah fans were a little worried during that the first
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: I also first quarter, you know, Nebraska kind of was
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: punching there for a little bit and then you know,
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: I think Utah just needed to settle it. There were
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: some adjustments that were made, especially on the defensive side
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: of the ball, and Utah just, you know, did what
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Utah needed to do to overpower them. I think I
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: heading into that game, I knew that Utah was probably
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: going to be in a position that they could overpower Nebraska,
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: like if you look from a roster standpoint, but you know,
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: them actually doing it and like them doing it hypothetically
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: and doing it in real life is very different, especially
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: given everything that was floating around. But you know, for
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: Devin Dampier to throw for three over three hundred yards,
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: which was the hot his season high, you know, that
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: should tell you something. And I you know, I'm just
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: impressed on how the team handled themselves with everything that
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: was going on in the last week.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Three hundred and ten yards passing with two touchdowns, one
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: hundred and forty eight yards rushing with three touchdowns. Devin
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Dampier's best game as a ute was it his last
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: game as a.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: You honestly, oh see, I have I have no clue.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: That's the thing is like, until we have a clearer
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: picture of what this staff is going to look like,
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: I have no idea, and I I don't want to
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: speak on if a kid's going to stay or not,
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: because we've known time and time again we can hear
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: one thing that a kid is staying and then two
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: minutes later they're in the portal. So uh, until until
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: the portal is closed, I have no idea who's going
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: to be on this team and who's not going to
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: be on this team.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Fair enough, but you're absolutely right. I mean, you can't
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: really give an informed answer on a lot of that
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: until you know what the coaching staff is going to
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: look like. Really, at any position, quarterback is the most
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: important position, but it's true everywhere. So Kyle Whittingham takes
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Freddy as we would expect, Jim Harding, Lewis Powell, Micah Simon,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Jason Beck. Were you surprised by any of those things?
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: I think the biggest one that I was surprised by
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: was was Lewis Powell, because even yesterday morning I had
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: heard from multiple sources that you know, Lewis was intent
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: on staying at Utah and then all of a sudden,
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: now he's wearing Michigan blue. So I think that one's
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: probably the most surprising. I think that everyone kind of
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: could see that Beck was leaving. And when Beck goes,
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: that means Denmer and Simon are going to go with
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: him harding. You know, he's from the Midwest. There was
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: always going to be ties there and stuff, but Lewis
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: was probably the biggest one that, you know, kind of
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: I even put said on Twitter that it kind of
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: blindsided like me, especially because I had heard from multiple
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: people that Lewis was in and on staying.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Is he the biggest loss because there? I mean, obviously,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: when you talk about defensive ends, that's been a really
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: important position for Utah Football's collective identity. He's been a
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: very successful coach in identifying and developing talent there. But
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: beyond his own position room, he's an unbelievable recruiter and
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: massively important to Utah Football's efforts in that way. So
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: if we take out take out Jason Beck, because coordinators
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: have more influence the other assistance, is he the biggest loss?
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean him or Freddie could be the two
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: that you would go with in terms of biggest losses,
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: mainly because of the recruiting poll that both of them have.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Lewis Powell for the Polynesian community and Freddie just overall
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: is just a really really solid recruiter. But you know,
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: that's the thing is, it's like it's gonna suck for
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: It's gonna suck for a minute, and I will fully
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: admit that. But I think that, you know, there's a
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: very strong chance that Utah comes out on the other
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: side of this. I'm not going to say in a
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: better position than they were, but I think that they're
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: going to be in a solid position from where things started.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: But yeah, Lewis and Freddie, especially from the recruiting side
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: of thing, I think the two of those are probably
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: the biggest loss. If you have to, like, if you
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: have to like categorize something as a massive loss, I
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: think the two of them are where you put it.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Sammy Mora is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Show talking about what has been kind of an uncomfortable
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: and unpleasant weekend for I shouldn't even say weekend. It
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: was the middle of the week and a new year's
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: holiday that's been uncomfortable and unpleasant for Utah fans because
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: of a lot of coaching turnover happening, and of course,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: the transfer portal opening today marks the official beginning of
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: player turnover season as well. Smith Snowden's name is in
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the transfer portal, Tale Johnson's name is in the transfer portal.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: John Henry Daily made the announcement a few days ago
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: that he's headed into the transfer portal. So, look, two
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: of those guys were among the best four defensive players
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: you had on your team. How do you manage those
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: types of losses if indeed those guys end up leaving
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: the roster?
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: Well, I think that you know, it's it's so it's
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: so interesting because like Smith and Tao specifically had moments
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: where they looked really good this season, but they also
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: had moments where they looked out of their depth. And
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: that's the thing is is, can can Utah find, specifically
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Morgan Scalley and Sharief Shaw and whoever Morgan brings in
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: as the new safety's coach. Can can they find someone
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: who is comparable or better than what the two of
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: them can do. I think for Smith specifically, you have
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: Jackson Benny and you have J. C. Hart. Those are
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: two guys that I think could could fill that role
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: that Smith had and maybe your net positive KAO. It's
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: interesting because you know you have possibly Nate Richie coming back,
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: you have Rabbit possibly coming back, Rabbit Evans you have,
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: and then you have a group of young guys that
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: I think are potentially good players. You know you have
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: Nate Tillman, you have brox Phonoi Malana, you have Manny Fuller.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: You have guys that are in the safety rooms that
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: I think, you know could come out and play at
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: a high level. And it's just going to be a
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: matter of like I always like the transfer portal giveth
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: and the transfer portal take if. I think that's the
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: big mentality that at least I've been telling people on
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: ut Zone for years now, and Utah does a really
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: good job at netting a positive when you go back
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: and look at things, If you go back and look
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: at last year's portal class of who left versus who
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: came in, there's no argument, there's no way you can
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: disagree that Utah wasn't a net positive in the portal
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: last year. And I think, honestly, until proven otherwise, I'm
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: going to continue to work under that assumption that Utah
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: has always will always end up on top in the
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: portal until and I heavily say until proven otherwise, because
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: I know there's going to be a class where Utah
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: lails in the portal. I just considering Utah's track record
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: on the defensive side, specifically at corner and safety, I
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: have I don't really have a lot of you know,
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: worries in there. John Henry is a completely other, a
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: completely different thing, because you know, he had this All
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: American season, But is he going to be able to
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: play in twenty twenty six that's the big thing. And
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: you know he says that he'll be ready in six
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: months from his Achilles terror. I have a hard time
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: believing that because there's just there's so many other athletes
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: that you see it takes a year for them to
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: come back, or even you know, when they do come back,
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: they're not the same player that they they were before
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: the injury. So that one's going to be interesting to monitor. Two.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: But I was thoroughly impressed with Lanceholt's claude in the
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Bowl game, and if he is one of the starting
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: ends for Utah, next year. I think that Utah's in
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: a in a good position. You know, he it took
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: him a couple of series to get going, but once
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: he got going, he really got going. And he was
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: someone who stood out to me in that game.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I like Claw quite a bit. I think they
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: could even add a little weight to him and see
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: what he could be. I'm gonna be unfair to you
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: right now because I put some pole questions out on
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: young players, specifically freshman incoming freshman, red shirt freshmen that
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I think it's important for Morgan Scali and this staff
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: to retain guys that have extremely high upside that are
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: still young. Because the players we've talked about in the
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: you know previously, they're guys that have a year of
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: eligibility left there John Henry Daly, who's got i think
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: one functional year of football left because of the injury,
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: recovering things like that. But these young guys that showed
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: some flashes this year, I'm gonna give you defensive side.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna give you offensive side. So just just bear
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: with me, if you will. You can only keep one, Okay,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: you can guarantee yourself that one of these guys is
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: staying on the roster. Poopo Sepolona Cash, Dylan, Elijah Ellis,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Carson Kalfussi, who's the one?
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: Elijah Ellis?
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: All right? Elijah Ellis, by the way, receiving thirty three
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: percent of the vote. Cash deal on twenty three percent,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: Carson Kalfusi twenty eight percent. Pooh pooh fifteen percent. So
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: everyone so far agrees with you. Ten hours left on
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: the poll. By the way, for all of you out
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: there listening at rialo C Sports on Twitter, go tell
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: me which young defensive player you would lock down? Same question,
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: but with offensive guys. And I cheated a little bit
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: because I think Celesiemoa is going to be an offensive guy.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: I think he's an important recruit. I love the legacy thing.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Daniel Bray, Celestimoa, JJ Buchanan, Hunter Andrews.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: See, now, this one is the hard one because there's
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: a lot of different ways you can.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Go with it.
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: I oh God, my gut is pulling me. I'm gonna
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna be I'm gonna cop out on this one. Ocie,
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna take Moa and Buchanan are the two I'm
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: gonna take because I think the two of them the
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: two of them. If you get it off, if you
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: get a wider fever room with those two, and I'm
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: going to put Larry Simmons in that group as well.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: If you get an offensive like a wide receiver corps,
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: of those three, I think you're off to the races.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: So I know you said I can only pick one,
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: but I'm going to cop out and I'm going to
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: take Moa and Buchanan.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: Okay, her answer is Moa because she said Moa first.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: Alphabetically would be Buchanan first, but Moa came out of
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: her mouth first, So right now, twenty nine percent.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Hey, it was order, it was order you you said
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: them to me. Correct, it's or you said, so I'm
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: I'm spinning his back onto UOC.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: It's fine, that's fine. Daniel Bray is only getting four percent.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: Celestie Moa twenty nine percent. JJ Buchanan, who obviously coming
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: off an incredible Bowl game performance, He's got sixty five percent.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Hunter Andrews is down there at two percent. Again, go
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: vote on the poll if you can.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: So.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Look, I agree with you, by the way, that would
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: be an incredible wide receiving corps. I'm looking at reports
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: that Morgan Scalley wants to air it out. I'm looking
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: at the names of offensive coordinator candidates Jonathan Smith, Brian Johnson,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Aaron Roderick, and I'm saying, all right, I kind of
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: would be okay with any of these dudes as long
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: as you have the right personnel. But who is most
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: likely in your mind to end up as the offensive
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: coordinator at the University of Utah in twenty twenty six?
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: Oh God again. Oh see, you're just pushing me into
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: a corner. I would not be shocked if the names that,
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: like I'm hearing the most, Jonathan Smith was on campus yesterday.
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: He's a name that I can get behind, you know, honestly,
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: Like I'm fine with any of the candidates that have
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: been presented to me and the names that I've heard Smith.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: Marcus Arroyo is another one that I've heard, the Arizona
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: State offensive coordinator. But I think that the thing that
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: we're looking at the most, like you said, is airing
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: it out. And also you need to you need to
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: find an offensive coordinator who has that plug and play
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: style of offense. I think we saw this year that
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: those plug and play offenses are the way to go.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: The Ludwig style of you need sixteen years a PhD.
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: And you need to be able to like discern the
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: square root of pie or whatever. Those types of offenses
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: are a thing of the past, Like it needs to
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: be something that's plug and play. And I know, you know,
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: Jonathan Smith has been, you know, almost a decade removed
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: from being a signal color, but there has there. I
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: think that there's a lot to like about what he
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: did if you go back and watch the Washington offenses
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: that he had, especially the Washington offenses that Utah fans
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: should be very well aware of because they torched Utah
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: for that stretch. There's some good things to see about it.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: And I feel like Morgan would not hire an offensive
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: coordinator unless he has the ability to adapt. I know
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: there's a lot of concerns about running quarterbacks. What's he
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: going to do? How is this thing going to happen?
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: How are we going to handle that? Like, Morgan is
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: a smart guy, and I don't think he's going to
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: hire someone who doesn't know how to adapt with the changes,
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: especially adapt with running quarterbacks, because that's where college football
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: is going. But I honestly, as of right now, I'm
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: fine with any of the candidates, because I think there's
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: a positive way that you can spin most, if not
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: all of them.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: All Right, I'm gonna be really mean again, and I'm
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: gonna ask you this question which is most likely this
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: is a Twitter poll going up right now, which is
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: most likely at the quarterback position, because I think this
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: is more important even than who the coordinator is, Devin
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Dan Pierre coming back Bird Fickland being your starter or
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: neither being your starter and you come starting it fresh
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: with I don't know, maybe a transfer.
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: Oh see these questions, these polls. I can't with you.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: But it's all speculation. We know it. You're not like,
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: We're not gonna hold you down and punish you for
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: being incorrect if that ends up being the case, because
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: all of us, all of us are just like scratching
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: our heads. I mean, I know you're very well sourced.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: I feel like I'm pretty well sourced, and I'm getting
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: a lot of like, I don't know, even for people
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: who should know.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: That's the thing. That's the thing about this whole this
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: last week and a half, it's been a lot of
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: people just being like, well, I haven't heard anything. Have
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: you heard anything. It's just been. It's just been that,
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: and that's the thing that's that's so is so wild
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: about this this last week, I'll say, But I can
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: see a world where Devin is the starter next year
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: and Bird is the backup. I can also see a
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: world next year where Bird is the starter and Devin
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: is somewhere else. I just I don't the third option
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: of neither is here is one that I think is
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: for me, at least currently. Just speculating this is pure speculation.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna preface this. I see that one is probably
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: the least likely given where we currently are in this
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: day and time on January second, at twelve twenty two
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: pm Mountain daylight time. So I think a lot of
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: it depends on who the offensive coordinator higher is. But
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: I think, again going back to Morgan, Morgan's smart enough
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: to I think know that he needs to find someone
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: that can tune something and have an offense that's catered
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: towards byrd and Devon because they have very similar skill sets.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: We have seen that all season that the two of
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: them have very similar ways that they handle they run
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: things on the offense. So I mean that is probably
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: the biggest non answer I could ever give you. But
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: I'm going to say I could see either A or
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: B happening.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: All right, Okay, I like it, Okay, it hits keep
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: coming because again it's impossible to know. But Morgan scally
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: has to put his stamp on this program. And part
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: of that now in college football is your general manager.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: And there's a lot of different ways that you can
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: go about this. There's the way that Utah has had
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: it for several years now. You have a Bobby Bleckin
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: type character who is like effectively a guy who started
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: in your film room and dumping garbages and climbed up
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: the ladder and ended up in a pretty influential position.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: There's what Stanford did, where you just find like the
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: most charismatic famous alum and like, hey, you're our general
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: manager and we're actually going to give you real authority.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: There's everything in between along the spectrum, right where does
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Utah go with the general manager under Morgan Scalley in
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: a new regime that also does include this private equity situation.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: Honestly, I could see Morgan going the way of you know,
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: kind of I don't know how to describe it, but
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: someone who has deep ties recruiting wise, but also knows
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: how to handle things on that financial side. I don't
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: see them going the Stanford Andrew luckway because I just
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: don't see them because correct me if I'm wrong. And
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: Andrew Luck wasn't he a big part of the hiring
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: committee for their new head coach. He made the decision, yes,
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: Like see, I don't see Utah doing that. That's just
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: not who I see. More as I don't see him
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: as someone who's going to be like, Okay, well I'm
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: going to give up these responsibilities on to you, the
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: general manager. I don't see that happening. So I would
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: say probably not the Stanford route, but I could, but again,
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: never say never with anything. But I just have a
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: hard time believing that Morgan, who has dreamed of being
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: a head coach's entire life, giving up some key head
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: coaching responsibilities to a general manager. But I do the
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: name like I do think that having someone who is
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: very tied to the recruiting community, who knows how to
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: how to run a high level program, I think that's
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: that's the route that needs to happen with the GM role.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: So I saw people bringing this point up over the
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: weekend as well, and I'm interested because, like I'm Morgan
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: was like the captain that was nice to me when
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: I was a crappy walk on on the team. So like,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: I don't, I still don't look at Morgan through the
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: lens that a good media member should like. I consider
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: him a friend and somebody I look up to a lot,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: and I think he's going to be great. He is like,
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: potentially even less connected from a network standpoint than Kyle
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Whittingham was, And that was always a criticism of Whittingham
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: that he wasn't willing to go outside of his box.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: Coach witt he at least had jobs at other schools.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Morgan never has. Now, Morgan is a little bit more
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: loquacious and social and things like that. So I imagine
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: he's put out feelers and he has contacts. Just because
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: he hasn't worked outside of the Utah program doesn't mean
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: that he's not able to make those connections. But I
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: think it is a worthy question to ask whether or
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: not that is something that could affect him as he's
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: trying to fill out a staff, as you move forward
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: with things like recruiting in different footprints and all that.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Because his entire career, his entire life has been here
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: with the Utah football program. Most people see that as
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: a benefit. Is it in any way a liability.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: I'm going to push back on you on this one
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: because I've actually heard the opposite. I've heard that Morgan
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: is very well did with recruiting, not with recruiting, but
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: with coaching circles outside of Utah. I've heard that he
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: has a very he has a bigger network than Kyle did.
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: And that's what I've heard from people. So I don't
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: think it's it's a it's a valid concern right now.
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: And the fact that like we're not talking about Aaron
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: Roderick is Utah's next offensive coordinator, I think already speaks
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: a little bit of volumes. Because if if Morgan's network
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: was really as small as as people think it was,
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: like a Rod would have been hired, and then we
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: would have continued to have this this cross cross. I
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: don't even know how to describe it, but you wouldn't
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: you would have this this cross of Utah coaches going
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: to b YU and BYU coaches going to Utah. Yeah,
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: someone coming back. You're you're there for a year and
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: a half, your Utah for a year, and a half,
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: then you go to BYU for a year, and then
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: you come back to Utah for a year, Like it's it.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: I think with the names that we're hearing, there's a
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: lot of them that aren't even for offensive coordinators specifically,
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: there's a lot of guys that aren't even tied to
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: this program. So I think that, you know, that right
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: there proves that Morgan has a wider net than Kyle
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: ever had. Like you know, Kyle took for Utah and
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: DYU because that's what he knew and so but Morgan,
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: the names that we're hearing as offensive coordinator, like that
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: proves right there that I think that Morgan has a
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: wider network than we that some people think he does.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, I get the sense that because of like
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: what I know about how Morgan communicates, and like, I
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: get the sense that it's not as much of a
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: concern as maybe some people are bringing it up as.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: But it is something when you've only worked one job
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: and you don't you haven't actually been on staff with
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: other guys, you don't know what it's really like. Like
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: maybe you know them from conventions, and maybe you know
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: them from mutual friends and things like that. But it
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: is certainly different than actually having worked with individuals. So
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: it's something I'm going to be keeping an eye on.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: And again it's it's you go back to whether or
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: not this head coach and waiting thing ended up being
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: the right thing for Utah to do or not. You
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: can't unring the bell. What has happened has happened. But
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: that is one of those things where like letting people
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: go out into the world and then come back might
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: not be the worst thing, but we'll we'll just have
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: to adjust based on the reality that we're living in
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: or that is not the reality. For Morgan Scaley, he's
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: want to know as a head coach, what's his record
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: going to be next year?
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: Oh God, Okay, honestly, I don't want The last time
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: I gave us like a prediction, I did say I
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: gave I gave Utah going nine to three this year,
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: and so I was very happy to be wrong on
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: that front this year. I don't know. That's the thing is, like,
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of it depends on roster and
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: who the coaching staff is, you know, I think, and
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: what the rest of the Big twelve looks like. You know,
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: there's there's already a lot of quarterback movement. You have
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: Levit leaving Arizona State, you have Stores leaving Cincinnati, you
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: have Beck leaving Iowa State, you have whatever Avery Johnson's
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: going to do at Kansas State. Like, there's a lot
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: of QB movement already in the Big twelve. And that's
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: that's kind of interesting to watch too. I oh see,
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: I can't believe you're making me give a prediction and
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: we're not even We're two days into the year and
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: we haven't even started finished the coaching staff.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: Again, it's like no one's writing this down to bring
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: it up later on you.
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: But I mean, hey, you never know, you never know
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: what people are doing this the time.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: Right now, I'm gauging your optimism over because I have
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: said for years now there will be growing pains. Like
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: I think Kyle Whitningham's one of the best coaches in
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: college football, he had growing pains when he became a
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: first time head coach. It's just the natural way of things.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: And I don't think it's saying that Morgan's not going
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: to be a great coach if it takes him a
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: couple of years to adjust. If you have to suffer
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: through a seven and five, eight and four before you
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: get back to competing for ten win seasons. I think
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: that's something we should all kind of like batten down
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: the hatches for. But I'm trying to be a realist.
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, let's see, I just pulled up the schedule and
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: I'm just I'm perusing it right now. I'm gonna say,
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna say floor eight wins, feeling.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Ten, your floor is eight wins, Sammy.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Just that's your floor looking at that schedule. Idaho, you
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: have Idaho, Okay saw who's Idaho? Arkansas who's in the
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: same kind of boat as Utah right now? A whole
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: new coaching staff who is coming from the G five.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: How is are you going to handle it? You have
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: Utah State, Arizona, Cincinnati since who what Cincinnati going to
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: look like without sours b and some of their key playmakers.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: You have Colorado who is terrible Colorado right now. You
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: have Iowa State who is down to like eighteen players
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: on their roster. Yeah no, Rocko Beck. You have TCU
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: who without Josh Hoover, You have Buyu. That one is
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: probably gonna be I think that's gonna be another good game.
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: You have Houston, who they're gonna be there starting quarterback
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: next year, is probably going to be a five star true,
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: five star true freshman. How is he going to handle things?
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: You have Kansas who is Kansas? And you have West Virginia.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: What is Ristrot going to do in his second year
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: with forty eight freshmen that just joined that just signed
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: in December?
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: You know what? Actually I like your breakdown because as
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: you're saying it, I'm like, Okay, the front you're front
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: loaded in a way that you should be. You should
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: be like six and zero.
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: So well, and that's not that was like because they
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: haven't released the dates of any of the conference games
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: right now, so that was just me going down the
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: list in alphabetical order.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: Well, in any case, I think that I eight and
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: four is a floor. I love that possibility. It seems
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: crazy optimistic for a floor, but I'll ride with you
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: on it because you're right. While Utah is dealing with
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: all this uncertainty, every team that you named, with the
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: exception of BYU, is dealing with the same level of uncertainty.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: And b YU, by the way, might lose two coordinators
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: and who knows what else after that, so they might
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: be dealing with the same thing. So well point, well made, Sammy.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: Thank you. I that was just me throwing something at
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: a wall and we'll see if it's six. You know,
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: hit me backed up on an actual score prediction. When
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: we get like in June.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: Or go on, we actually when we actually have real
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: information all right?
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, when I actually want to actually know who
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: the offensive coordinator is and what this roster looks like.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Well, keep up all the great work you're doing. I
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: know that it's a whirlwind right now that probably doesn't
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: slow down for another thirteen days or so, So good
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: on you for.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Doing the work.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: We have basketball and gymnastics starting tonight, so you know
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: it's just going to get crazier for us.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: Well, have some fun along the way. Thanks for your time.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: Thanks Lessie, Sammy Mara, you can.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: Tell why we have her on. She's great, she knows
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: it all, and she's the managing editor over at Youth
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: Sports Nation. This is a really really uncertain time. I
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: eight and four is a floor. I will sun if
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: that is the possibility, If that's a realistic possibility for
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Utah and for Morgan's Allien his first season as a
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: head coach. Eight and four would be a rousing success.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: And I know that people are like yelling at their
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: radios right now. Eight and four, you were better than
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: eight and four. You can't expect eight and four guys,
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: if you can strip the offense down to the studs
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: and still be an eight and four team the very
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: next year. Yeah, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna cry
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: about that, all right, Gotta take a quick one here
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: the Daily Dump that There's been so many things that
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: we haven't even talked about because of how crazy it
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: is with Utah football. We'll try to touch on several
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: of them in the Daily Dump, brought to you by
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: Valley Plumbing. Next on The Sean O'Connell Show, ESPN seven
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: hundred and ninety two one FM.