Utah football: Kyle Whittingham in the middle of 10th spring as Utes' head coach

Let's roll

Sark may (and that's a big may) get USC righted, but it won't be this season. That program is a dumpster fire. Lot's of kids leaving for the draft, and the sanctions have finally caught up with them, to the point where their depth is gone.

If I read the article correctly Whit said all the Seniors earned their degrees. If that is correct, my profound congratulations to each Senior, the coaches and the staff.

My take on the Utes prospects going forward is that while I expect incremental improvement in talent and performance, the ability to compete in the South probably has more to do with what goes on at USC and UCLA than it does with what happens at Utah.

There has been a window of opportunity over the last couple of years as USC has been in disarry as a result of their sanctions and scholarship limits.

If Sark gets that ship headed in the right direction, everyone else in the division may be playing for 2nd place every year.

Mora has brought stability to UCLA so they're likely to be a handful as well.

The unfortunate truth is the Utes may get significantly better and have their best case scenario still be 3rd in the division.

Coach Whit will get the ship righted. Especially with the recent success of the bball team and Coach K, and the added pressure to follow suit. They will go to a bowl game this year. Third time's the charm.

Cougsn

I'll take a stab at your question.

I think it is reasonable to expect Utah to start sniffing .500 in the Pac-12 this year. At this point there are truly on 2 elite teams (Oregon and Stanford) and 3 elite programs (those 2 plus USC)

I would expect them to contend for a South Championship in 2-3 years. I don't expect Utah to be a team that stays at the top of the Pac-12. I would expect them to be in the middle 3rd most years, and make runs at the Pac-12 championship once or twice every 5-6 years. In those years, it will be with a very experienced QB, and stay healthy.

I really do think Kyle is building it right, and is the man for the job.

I'm pretty impressed with Utah fans on this article that are willing to call it like it is with Chris. I agree with flinching....it would be one thing if Utah had dominated those "nobodies" in the MWC and WAC, but in all that time Utah had only 6 conference championships in nearly half a century against those nobodies. I also agree with other posters that Utah is better than CSU and SDSU. Boise St is another story, where Utah hasn't shown an ability to beat the broncos (maybe now without Petersen would be different). I think Utah is a better team now in the PAC12 with deeper, better talent. The challenge is getting the kind of talent the elite programs in the PAC12 are getting.

In all seriousness I rib Utah fans but I admit they are better now than they were in the MWC and it would be exciting playing all those great programs every year. So a serious question...when is just being in the PAC12 not going to cut it? As Utah fans where's that line where you get disgusted and want real results and championship contention...5 yrs, 10 yrs? Serious question.

As long as we keep winning byu and get our car window stickers coach will do good for us because thats what our fans like.

Go Utes!

Seeing real Utah fans call out one of your own for the disruptive, disrespectful comments that is her trademark almost makes me not want to see Whit get the pink slip this year and almost makes we want to see Utah be successful in the PAC. Good job guys. By dumping her from your ranks you'll increase the number of people who root for your program to succeed by a ton.

@Two For Flinching

While I agree that mocking teams like Wyoming is ridiculous considering we are the Wyoming of PAC-12. Let's be honest we haven't accomplished diddly since leaving the MWC.

But I disagree with the rest of your statement. The reality is PAC-12 play IS the reason we missed bowl games, considering with the same coaches:

* In the MWC we finished 41-7 (85%) since losing to UNLV in 2007.
* Since joining the P12, Utah is 8-1 (88%) vs MWC type teams and 9-18 (33%) vs P12
* Talent, according to class rankings, is much better now.
* We had similar QB issues in the MWC in 2009 and 2010 but we finished 10-3 both years.

Tomahawk

I respectfully disagree with you. Whit knows he has to win now. You don't make the wholesale changes he's made without knowing you have to win now.

That being said, many Utah fans' expectations were way out of line with how they thought Utah would fare in the Pac-12 right off the bat.

I also really believe that Utah will be a dumpster fire for a solid 5 years if Whit is dismissed. I think he has finally assembled a staff and depth that is needed to succeed in the Pac-12.

I also really believe that it is a moot point as Utah get's to 7 wins this season.

Go Utes.

Max-was-right
springville, UT
Coach Whitt will look great in Weber purple year after next.

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I actually laughed at this comment, because of how true the gist of it really is.

I firmly agree with you that it's highly unlikely Whittingham will be at Utah next spring, because he cannot win in the Pac 12. Utah athletics will not tolerate another losing 4 or 5 win campaign punctuated by the lack of another bowl game... which will mark three straight.

Whittingham has had ample time to right the ship and get winning. He has not done it. In fact, he's getting worse. Krystkowiak is an example of a coach that is figuring things out and going in the right direction in a better league.

Whittingham thinks he has limitless capital with fans and the university. That is clear by the head-scratching decisions he continues to make, acting as if he's invincible, un-fireable. Well he's in for a big surprise.

This is one Ute fan who will be happy to bring in a new coach and let the program building begin. The sooner we fire Whittingham, the sooner we get back to respectability.

@Max-was-right:

"What are the chances that next years spring game he is wearing red? Wisconsin red that is?"

The chances are about the same as Max suiting up for a NFL team, it won't happen. Coach Whitt will have a great year.

Shouldn't you be more concerned with Bronco? Isn't he 3-6 against Kyle and has never taken BYU to a BCS Bowl game?

Go Utes!!

Two For Flinching
Salt Lake City, UT

Right now Utah St., Fresno, Boise, SDSU, and yes, even CSU have stronger programs. Utah football didn't miss a bowl because we are in the PAC, we've missed because our team (coaching included) is mediocre.

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I'm with you regarding the fact that Utah and coach Whittingham is mediocre, but I couldn't disagree more than your statement.

San Diego State and Colorado State do not have better programs than Utah right now. Not even close. And some could argue that neither Boise or USU do either.

Let's get one thing straight... Utah did not make a bowl last year exactly because we play in the Pac 12, and we had a team/coach that couldn't compete in that league with a schedule among the nation's top three most difficult.

Does this mean I'm saying Utah is actually good? Of course not. They aren't good. Whittingham is not a very good coach and I believe this will/should be his last year in charge, but it is crystal clear that, despite their suckage in the Pac 12, Utah's football program still runs circles around CSU and SDSU.

Max-was-right,
There is absolutely no chance that Whit would go to Weber State or to Wisconsin to coach under a former assistant. It's much more likely that the Utes will have a successful year and will continue their domination of byu in 2 years.

What are the chances that next years spring game he is wearing red?

Wisconsin red that is?

10 years at the helm and it will be 3 years without a bowl. Coach Whitt will look great in Weber purple year after next.

Seriously Chris, please class up your comments and stop focusing on BYU. It's getting old for all readers including all U of U fans.

Good luck to Coach Whittingham and the Utes. I hope this year's team can avoid the injury bug and play up to it's potential.

Go Utes!!

This Pac-12 Ute fan still loves watching MWC matchups....except for any games played on Boise State's bush-league smurf turf. I really wish the NCAA would ban it. It's a total eyesore, and teams shouldn't be allowed to play on a surface with the exact same hue as their uniforms.

And for what's worth, I don't care WHO is playing in it, I also refuse to watch the Potato Bowl...because of that turf.

Looking forward to spring #20 in 10 years.

Go Utes!!

"I will always call things like they are."

Yet, you will continue to be wrong 99% of the time. To make it worse you will also be giving the U a bad image while doing so.

I love Utah Football. But the fact is that right now Utah St., Fresno, Boise, SDSU, and yes, even CSU have stronger programs. Utah football didn't miss a bowl because we are in the PAC, we've missed because our team (coaching included) is mediocre. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but that is the reality.

Going in to his 4th year in the PAC 12, it's time for Whit to show that his program can compete in a major conference.

Chris,
When the Utes first joined the PAC 12 it was ok to spout off about it, but that was 4 years ago. I doubt that the fans of the other PAC 12 schools concern themselves with the lesser conferences.

Flinching, I will always call things like they are.

Last year the PAC 12 was 14-1 against the WAC( including byu)

Going from playing WAC teams to PAC 12 teams is a mountainous task. It is no small difference.

This Is big boy football and yes I'm sorry if it hurts their feelings but the Mwc is basically nobodies that other than Boise haven't done anything on the national stage.

It was fine playing with them for a while but I don't miss that tiny "sandbox"

14-1 says it all.

Go utes!

Chris, there is no need to disrespect the MWC. A huge part of Utah's history and tradition was built with those schools as our conference brethren. The CSU's and Wyoming's are a part of our past and they played a part in shaping our current program today. Not to mention, for many, many years Utah struggled to climb to the upper echlons against those "nobodies".

Also, you should be aware that Whitt hired quite a few MWC coaches to help fix Utah's weaknesses...

Congrats Kyle on a decade at the helm. Good luck with where ever you are located next year as well. Maybe Coach Andersen will keep you on.

I am fully behind coach whit.

He has taken us to national glory before and he will do it again.

It's a learning curve going from playing against nobodies most weeks to the hardest schedule in the nation.

I will gladly take a tough few years to help improve the program.

Whit knows our weaknesses and will solve them.

Proud ute
Proud PAC 12 member