Huntley

[noneyadb]

Have to eat a bit of Crow, definitely thought Whitt would have gone with the experienced QB. Scott Mitchell brought up a valid point that the move to start Huntley is probably for the better, allows the team to gel together, gaining experience and timing rather than starting over with a new QB next year.

One question though, Does this move hint toward Taylor staying at Utah long term? Obviously can’t predict or know what coaching offers Taylor may get if Utah is successful, but going threw a few 5-7 seasons or worse, and changing OC’s again would be damaging to what Whitt has built so far. Yogi Roth was saying that Taylor was a fantastic hire and fully expects Taylor to be a head coach.

[ladyinred]

I have been thinking something similar. I feel like it will be either Taylor or Scalley taking the reigns within the next 3-4 years depending on how things go. I think Whit retires at Utah and keeps the consultant gig. 

I am not on board with this idea of losing games for the sake of experience. Play the guy that wins games. A 5-7 season would be a blow to recruiting imo. 

[EagleMountainUte]

Whitt has job security for sure but he absolutely tries to win every game. The coaching staff believes Huntley gives Utah the best chance to win.

[Utah]

I agree with this. 

For some reason, there are a lot of Utah fans who suddenly think Troy was a good passer. 

I don’t understand this at all. He wasn’t 

Even his best game, vs USC, if he averaged that over a whole season he would be the 6th best QB in the PAC-12…and that doesn’t include Colorado, Arizona, and Cal’s QB’s. So, he would be 6th out of 9. 

I don’t get all the Troy Williams love. 

We all complain that we want Whitt to become more offensively minded. He does that and we all say that we want Troy Williams because he is safe. 

What do we want? 

If Huntley beat out Troy, then that is amazing. That is exciting. 

[Matt]

I think people just feel bad for Troy. I know I do. 

[RiseasUtes]

That’s been my argument.  If Troy was a great QB there wouldn’t have been a competition to begin with.  He didn’t do anything last year to guarantee his starting spot this year.   USC is the one game that I have to give him huge props for, other then that and az St he was just OK.

[EagleMountainUte]

@Utah If Troy gave Utah sixth best Utah wins the south. Consistency you can knock him on that. But where did it come from?? I feel it was the guy in the booth. When Oregon holds you to seven at home. I don’t put it on the players. Coaches hold most of the blame for the outcome of last season.
This decision should be refreshing to most people frustrated with all of the criticism they have held with Whittingham.

[Utah]

Yeah, but you are asking Troy to play at his best game by a long shot ever…every week. I don’t see that happening. 

And as bad as ARod was, Troy was the one who put the ball on the turf 11 times. Unacceptable. 

Look, Troy is solid. I think he would have been a lot better this year under Taylor. 

But, it is refreshing to see someone take the job from him. 

[noneyadb]

Not even going to get into the Williams debate anymore, it’s pointless. I just hope Taylor sticks around long enough to continue developing Huntley, Shelley, and Tuttle. If Taylor leaves after this year or next for a head coaching job, Whitt will be scrambling for another new OC.

[Utah]

I’m not sure Taylor is that guy. I think he won’t be as lights out as we think, I think he is a more stable guy and appreciates stability, and I think Utah boosters would pony up and pay him if he is successful. 

I could see Taylor staying for 4-5 years and building something before leaving, especially if we were paying him 1 million per year to be the OC. 

I’d be interested to see what BJ does in Houston this year as well. 

And hopefully if Taylor did leave, Whitt would be more willing to go outside his circle of trust and get another G5 rising star as his OC. 

[UtMtBiker]

It would be nice to see an offensive coordinator actually “leave” Utah instead of getting fired after a single season.

[ironman1315]

Chow left.

[EagleMountainUte]

TDS fan will say ARod left for TDS….The spin. ARod technically wasn’t fired just didn’t get a new contract.  

[Puget Ute]

We paid ARod $400k+ to stay the Eff away from our program this year.

And even that seems like a bargain. Should have been more money, and a few years earlier.

[Utah]

Yup. BYU would love to have him this year, but he wasn’t going to give up the $400,000 for $80,000 from BYU. 

[Puget Ute]

Even when he gets a full-time gig at byu it won’t be anywhere near $400k. That is more than they are paying the Coordinators…

[St George Ute]

I’ve been thinking the same thing. No inside information here at all, but after reading about the latest contract extension and the post-retirement agreement, I feel like Coach Whit has made his mind up about when he wants to retire. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last extension and if he retires at the end of it.

If Troy Taylor does really well, I can see him taking over; either him or Morgan (one of my all-time favorite Utes). And if Coach Taylor believes it’s possible he may get the job then that gives him incentive to stick around.

[Puget Ute]

I agree with this. Whitt is retiring after 2021, when he will be 62 yrs old. It is too early to say right now, but I can see Troy Taylor working himself into a job as our HC. The trick will be to keep him around for 4 years. We should be able to pay him more as our OC than he would make as a G5 HC (with few exceptions), so the only concern would be a P5 school going after him.

I also want Brian Johnson to succeed at UH. I would love to work him back into the program somehow, and he may have a few years as an HC by the time Whitt retires.

Scalley could be an interesting HC as well. He is exceptionally smart and also has a tremendous football IQ, but I can see him taking an HC spot at another school before the Utah HC spot comes open.

But the truth is we will most likely hire our next HC from outside the program. there is a good chance our next HC is currently coaching at an FCS school or even high school right now, clawing his way up the ladder. Who knows what the landscape will look like in 2021.

[TexanUte]

I am excited about the upside to this move. I would argue that if Williams had been even a mediocre QB last year given the amount of NFL talent on the 2016 team, the Utes would have easily won the south. I think it is a high upside low risk move. We had seen enough, no?