LOS ANGELES- Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham hasn’t been shy with his praise of his rising star quarterback, Cam Rising heading into the 2022 season.

Whittingham said several times throughout the course of last season and representing Utah at Pac-12 Media Day on Friday that the leadership aspect of Rising is his biggest trait.

The compliment that stood out the most from Whittingham was when he was on with Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on the KSL Sports Zone at Pac-12 Media Day.

“He’s worked extremely hard this off-season,” Whittingham said. “As good as he is on the field for our football team, his real value is his leadership. He’s the leader of the leaders. He’s the guy that everybody looks to and you couldn’t ask for a better guy to set the standard and be the guy that everybody rallies around. He’s as good of a leader as I have been around in my time at Utah. That’s obviously huge for us.”

 

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That’s huge phrase for Rising as Whittingham enters his 18th season as the head coach of the Utes and his 29th season on the coaching staff on The Hill.

You can listen to the full interview with Whittingham on the Jake & Ben Show on the KSL Sports Zone, below.

Later in the morning, Jake and Ben caught up with Cam Rising and brought up the comments made by Whittingham.

“It’s great to have that type of confidence coming from your coach,” Rising said. “I really appreciate him. He is a big part in that, just making it so easy for us. His leadership is at a different level. He’s able to bring a team together like no other. It just makes my job easier. I’ve gotta make sure I handle my 20 square feet in those instances.”

You can listen to the full interview with Rising on the KSL Sports Zone, below.