Decommits / Transfers bad news…

[COUte]

Just remember: For every Ugo and Costelli, there’s a Rising, Thomas, Fillinger, Sewell, McKinney, Pledger, Kincaid, Jackson, etc.

[highlandute7]

Fillinger was not a transfer. 

[COUte]

No, but he was a decommit from Texas.

[ProudUte]

I knew something had to give in the 2022 QB room.  This is not a huge surprise.  

We lost Daniels to ASU and he has done okay, but is far from a world-beater.  Tuttle transferred to Indiana and has done nothing.  I wish Costeli well.  I just hope that he does not end up in the PAC12.

[chinngiskhaan]

One of them (at least) was bound to go… glad it wasn’t someone else. He had the least potential to make an impact in some way over the next couple years. Not saying he was the worst, just the one that was least likely to contribute (of the scholarship qbs). Jackson has already gotten playing time. Johnson is an even better athlete than costelli, and Rose brings some skills that are unique as well. Costelli was redundant. NBD

[Ghost of the HEB]

Costelli was beat out for third string QB by a walk-on from Milford HS. That oughta tell you something.

[Rick]

Stop it Ghost. Costelli was asked to redshirt which is why Barnes is the third-string quarterback. The redshirt was for two main reasons – to preserve eligibility while improving his skillset/learning the offense.

I’ll repeat what I posted earlier – Had Rising gone down with an injury in the first half of the season a quarterback competition would have happened between Jackson and Costelli. I was told in late September they were quarterbacks 2a and 2b.

You diminish Costelli and Barnes with your comment. Why do that to young men representing your team? Barnes must be a helluva player to be in the quarterback room in his second year at Utah. Costelli was well-liked by coaches and doing everything asked of him.

This is a loss to the program. I think we’ll be fine but I’d love to have had an open competition between Costelli, Jackson, Johnson and Barnes this spring.

[RustyShackleford]

Open competition for backup? I don’t think Rising is going anywhere until after at least next season…

[Rick]

Yes Rusty – open competition for the backup. That list alone – adding Rose (thankyou OnlyU) – is significant and remains so without Costelli.

[RustyShackleford]

Why did Ugo decommit? He was at the game on Saturday, what could have possibly have happened to make him think that Utah wasn’t the place for him? If I was a recruit I’d be more committed then ever after being at that game

[Onlyu]

Brandon Rose coming in at QB as well and he’s got some crazy arm talent with a high belief in himself. You don’t recruit and sign guys to see them leave and after investing a year coaching and developing them it’s a bummer not to get the ROI you were hoping for but the portal changed all this and in most cases not for the better. Kids are fed the false belief by parents, friends, handlers and even coaches that they deserve more now…not later. The portal, still by a large margin, is a wasteland for most of these kids. Peter will be fine and has a skill set that will translate somewhere but 75%+ of these transfers usually don’t end in a better situation on the field.

Ugo wanted in but there are guys who fill what we need defending over the top a little better. At least 3 guys in the mix that rate a little higher in that aspect than Ugo.

As an added note…this is the highest avg star rating we’ve ever had provided we get them all across the finish line. Add that to the youth of this team and we are well positioned the next few years to at least be in the conversation.

[Crazyforu]

You are a blessing OnlyU!

Any idea if there will be any other big surprises regarding transfers in/out, as well as folks staying another year, that we assumed were gone?

I agree, this team is setup really well the next few years. The amount of experienced youth, and depth is going to be really fun to watch the next bit.

[Onlyu]

I think the portal will be crazier this year than it was last year…Whit said the same. I think we’ll add in areas of need like last season. Maybe a McKinney type transfer at Safety, another D end (like Reid from the Furd) and probably another WR or two to compliment Rising which should be easier to get because of the way he’s played AND the way the offense looks now.

Used the right way the portal can add immediate help and in some cases be better than the JC route with proven D1 players.

Should be another active year for us. Like anything else though we’ll have a pretty specific plan from character/culture to talent. Win the next 3 games and it’s gonna be a fun off season

[Crazyforu]

Makes perfect sense! Utah brought in some immediate impact guys this last offseason, amazing how well a lot of them fit in. Excited to see what takes place, especially depending on how the next 3 games go. Like you said, could be a lot of fun, with a lot of runway ahead for this thing.

[MDUte]

Thanks OnlyU! Any insight about recruiting for our Oline? We’re losing Bam, Ford, and already lost Moala and Umana at the beginning of the season. I realize we’ve got a bunch of young talent still but it seems like we need to build back our depth, especially at the OT position??

[Onlyu]

Have the Tavo kid already in the mix and I think Knaak kid from Brighton announces on the 15th. I think we have a better than average chance at landing him so that would add 2. Maile, Daniels, Bills, Kump. Williams, Faaiu, Laumea, Kaumatule, Felix-Fualalo, Talavou, Maea, Harrison, etc. give us plenty of bodies for a while.

[MDUte]

Great to hear! Thanks as always OnlyU!

[Central Coast Ute]

What happened to Hunter Lotulelei?

[UTEopia]

The only thing I can think of is that the coaches told him that they were going to have him sign in February not December. The older brother of the Calvert brothers was committed to USC until they told him the same thing and he hopped over to UCLA