Has Whit lost his fire?

[UTE98]

Watching him at the halftime interview and just glancing at the first few minutes of his post game interview he seems content.

Soft you might say.

I just don’t see the same fire in his belly, has his halftime speech transformed to, “Guys look we’re only down 8, I know we haven’t scored an offensive TD since Lincoln was President, but we can keep this game within 21 if we just use all the play clock and hold them to a few FGs.”

It really hit me during his halftime interview yesterday, so much so that I only watched up until the tipped TD. I went to a party and my fellow UTEs at the party told me not to watch the rest of the game. It’s a somber morning. I just don’t know if this team has any desire to compete, and I think it starts at the top.

Last night on the news they were talking about how Colorado benched their Sophomore QB and it lit a fire under his butt for yesterday’s game. Are the Utah coaches afraid of accountability? Do your job or next man up will.

I say put all the walk-ons practicing as the 1s this Monday. Flip the depth chart. Make every player recompete for his job. Starting with the OLine.

[Tony (admin)]

I first noticed a change in his demeanor in the zoo game. He was totally mellow. I even commented on that during the game chat. He’s been like that all year from what I’ve seen. Not as much rah rah and more cerebral.

[Xanthis]

We don’t have any idea how he is behind closed doors. Coaches that can keep calm in front of the public have a better chance of not losing players. Also Whitt has called his defense soft and in a way his offense terrible. 

I still struggle remembering this is a rebuild year. If Utah has a good November and show signs of progress we could see a monster of a team going into next year. 

[BD]

I wonder about Whitt. Bringing the Utes out of the MWC into the Pac-12 must have required an incredible amount of energy and anxiety, both physically and mentally. The first several years, having to compete with MWC talent must have been terribly difficult. Even now, with recruits that are average at best in the conference is still difficult. 

I am sure he wouldn’t admit it, but it had to take a toll. Whether he has reached his peak and is now on the down side with burn out taking over remains to be seen. I hope not, but maybe so. 

[UteFanatic]

It’s definitely possible.  He is approaching his 58th birthday, and has said multiple times that he really doesn’t want to coach past 60.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s started to mail it in.  This season could be the beginning of the end for him.  Although, I thought this during the 2012-2013 seasons and he turned it around and rattled off three straight winning seasons and top 25 finishes. 

He’s a multi-millionaire and is probably exhausted from the relentless nature of being a head coach.  I once mapped out what a typical day is like for a head coach and it is absolutely mind-blowing how many hours they put in and the obligations they must fulfill.  80-100 hour work weeks consisting of: recruiting trips, practices, media apperances, press conferences, advertisements, photo opps, etc.

[Anonymous]

Or…He’s known all along that this year would be a rebuild and that he just has to tough it out with young’uns learning under fire. He knows that it’s counterproductive to rain fire down on kids because he doesn’t want to lose them. I loved Huntley letting loose in the post game.

[TexanUte]

How do we know it is a rebuilding year and not something that will persist past this season? How does are peaking next season or the season after phase with the other teams in our division? Will USC have a rebuilding year next year? UCLA or the AZ schools? Hard to project how the confluence of all the factors will play out.

[EagleMountainUte]

I want to agree with you but I just don’t like the Cowboys. So I mustn’t 😉