It’s All About The Details Now For Kyle Whittingham And Utah Football

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Football put a bow on fall camp this past weekend. With the conclusion of camp, the season opener is now just one week away. With that comes a greater emphasis on the details of the game.

It’s become clear that the football program is exiting this fall camp with a much different vibe than last year. There are a few important factors contributing to that feel. Coaches and players have recently shared similar sentiments that the work is only beginning.

For Kyle Whittingham, the success of the season is going to come down to all the little details of the game. Factors such as playing alignment & assignment sound, playing with proper technique, and effort among all the other little nuances.

7️⃣ days until Football is BACK‼️

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— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 22, 2024

Kyle Whittingham says it’s all about the details for Utah Football

Utah Football ended fall camp on Sunday and transitioned to in-season mode this week. As the team makes that transition this week, the program has seemed to exit camp on a positive beat. At the same time, players are chomping at the bit to hit a different color jersey.

“Oh yeah, without a doubt, it’s time to hit somebody else and to compete,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “We’re in a good spot right now, coming out of fall camp with a lot of positives.”

There was a lot of work to be done with so many new faces on the team this year. The competition in camp has been noteworthy. Coaches and players often referred to the old adage “iron sharpens iron” and that’s allowed coaches to get a good feel for the roster.

“We’ve got the two-deep completely set on both sides of the ball, it’s all a matter of details and fine-tuning- we’ve got six practices before we line up and play,” Whittingham said. “We’re excited about the team overall, a lot of good things going for us right now but none of that matters unless translates to game day.”

That’s a big accomplishment for a team where roughly 40% of the roster is new to the program this year. So, there was a lot of work to be done, and to have it organized after a few weeks is notable.

“It’s all about the details from this point forward.” – Kyle Whittingham

How is the health of the Utah Football team?

Perhaps the most positive news coming out of camp is the health of the team. That’s significant after last season’s injury-riddled run. Utah lost over 150 games to injury from players that started the season on the two-deep.

“We did the study, got the results, put them on paper, and we were about 70% less injuries this camp than last camp,” We did something right this camp, it’s a combination of things, I don’t think it was any one thing, but the approach we took definitely lent itself to less injuries.”

Not only is the team healthier through camp, but they also welcome back a number of guys who were sorely missed last year two. Though there is excitement, Whittingham also acknowledged that this is still a bit of a process in regards to knocking off the rust.

“We’re excited to have those guys (Cameron Rising, Brant Kuithe, etc) that have played so much good football for us, that were missing last year, to have them back this year,” he said. “Those guys are guys that have played a lot of snaps for us. It’s not anything new to them, it’s just getting back into the groove of competition and the physicality of it.”

Is there room for Isaac Wilson and others to get snaps?

“Ideally, a lot but we’ll see how things go,” Whittingham said in response to the question. “When the time is right- if the time is right, we’re going to try to get (Wilson) as many reps as we can on Thursday.”

That should be the goal for the team in the season opener. There should be an emphasis on executing with precision right out of the gate next Thursday. Get the guys returning from injury on the field, execute, and get them off of it as quickly as possible.

Utah needs to incorporate a lot of new faces. Getting those new guys as many opportunities as possible on the field should be a big priority for the Utes next week.

Utah Football Schedule

Utah will kick off the season against Southern Utah on August 29. You can find Utah football’s conference schedule here.

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

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