Takeaways From Kyle Whittingham’s Iowa State/Utah Week Press Conference

SALT LAKE CITY – On Monday, Utah Football head coach Kyle Whittingham addressed members of the media for his Iowa State Cyclones week press conference of 2024.

Coming off of a tough loss, Utah looks to move forward this week, which will be a challenge.

GAME TIME ANNOUNCEMENT‼️

🆚 Iowa State
🏟️ Rice-Eccles Stadium
⏰ SAT 11.23 | 5:30PM MT
📺 FOX
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— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) November 17, 2024

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To begin the week, Whittingham met with the media as he always does. After the 15-minute presser, here are five key takeaways from Utah’s head coach press conference.

It’s Senior Day for Utah this weekend

“Senior Day for a big group of seniors, we’ve typically had anywhere from 8-12 the few years, we have about 25 this year,” Whittingham said.

It’s been a difficult season for a number of reasons. There are number of seniors on this team that have helped Utah to great successes over the years. This will be the last opportunity for fans to express their gratitude to them.

“Hoping that the crowd will show up and wish those guys all the best and thank them for what they gave to the program,” he continued. “A lot of those guys won a lot of games for us through the years; we will miss them, and it’s tough to see them leave.”

The list includes:

Micah Bernard, Karene Reid, Junior Tafuna, Van Fillinger, Money Parks, Brant Kuithe, Cam Rising, Zemaiah Vaughn, Connor O’Toole, Miki Suguturaga, and Aliki Vimahi, among many others.

Change in schemes to improve returns on player additions

“Our formula was to recruit, develop, and manage but with the turnover and the way the portal is, that system is very hard to make work,” Whittingham shared. “That plays into schemes too. You can’t have a scheme that is so complicated and in-depth that it takes a guy two or three years to learn because you don’t have that time anymore.”

Andy Ludwig was a fantastic coordinator, especially in the last five years with Utah. However, his scheme demanded a lot from his players mentally, and time isn’t a commodity that is as affordable as it once was.

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“You collect all the talent you can in the offseason and then hope it gels and has chemistry,” Whittingham shared. “They better be able to assimilate the offensive and defensive schemes in a short period of time in order to function.”

Whittingham’s comments should be viewed as an acknowledgment of the current roster construction landscape and the need for an adjustment by Utah. This change in focus is being made to improve returns on player additions.

Utah’s preparations for revenue sharing, portal cycle.

The transfer portal cycle is just a few weeks from officially opening. Utah has embraced the portal and made a number of valuable additions over the years. With revenue sharing on the horizon, these additions will have actual, legitimate value this year.

“We’ve already got all the numbers budgeted, spreadsheets galore as far as what we’re allocating to each position, how much on offense, how much on defense,” Whittingham shared. “Now its just a case of going shopping in the portal and filling those needs within those financial parameters.”

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The Crimson Collective has supported Utah, and that will continue to play a role in player compensation. However, revenue sharing will take on most of that burden and even increase the amount of money available. Considering that, and the fact nearly half the roster will turnover, the Utes will be very active in the portal this year.

“We’re using (money) just like we have been in the recent past, except its going to be a bigger bump for us, some schools, it’s a huge cut,” Whittingham shared. “It’s going to be a heavy shopping season for us in the portal.”

Internal player compensation discussions are happening

There’s a lot of talk about transfer portal recruiting. However, the first step is identifying which of your own players are priorities for next year’s roster.

“We’ve already started discussions with certain players of our own and that’ll continue to expand these last two weeks,” Whittingham said. “The portal is right around the corner. These guys deserve to know where they stand, what the financial picture looks like because it’s not fair to them if you don’t.”

Utah has to take care of its own players first and foremost. They’ve been more than willing to compensate their own players, as evidenced by their investment in someone like Cam Rising.

“Cam was well compensated, as he should be as an elite quarterback, but not having him on the field has been a big part of our struggles,” Whittingham admitted. “Going forward, that’s not going to change. We can’t be deterred by a hefty price tag.”

As Utah prepares for the transfer portal recruiting cycle, this year figures to be the wildest period to date. With revenue sharing on the horizon, some programs will still provide third-party NIL deals on top of those figures. That combination figures to create a ton of activity and significant money totals this year.

“The average price for a decent P4, starting quarterback is about a million bucks and goes up from there,” Whittingham said. “You’re seeing offensive tackles commanding $2 million bucks.”

Utah doing all they can to promote Isaac Wilson’s development

“Extra meetings, within the rules of course, extra film time,” Whittingham stated. “He comes in on his own and watches a ton of film. We’re doing everything we can and he’s doing everything he can to continue to develop and see things quicker.”

There’s a ton of context to consider with Wilson’s performances this season. Utah wanted to play Wilson sporadically behind Cam Rising this season, but a pesky water cooler ripped that plan to shreds.

Wilson is a talent, but it’s difficult for a true freshman to fully grasp the offense and leadership needed at that position, especially on a squad that hopes to contend for a conference title. It seems Utah is still very invested in this young quarterback and investing more into his development has to continue.

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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