One observation I had was how frustrated KW was this year building on last year with the offense. That was abundantly clear in the games watching him on the sidelines and from KW’s post game comments. The Harding incident of “…then fire me!”, was to the OC what Andy Phillips encountered when Utah had to settle for a FG try. There were some words spoken and frustration shown in high drama style, and more than once.
My belief is that KW was more p**sed off than us fans at the ineptitude of the offense and lack of progress in the Ute’s QB. He oozed frustration, if not anger. He reads the local press, listens to national sports casters, and has folks monitoring the fan sites. He knew. The Utes sucked and he was responsible.
I have no idea how involved or interfering KW is or was in play calling but I agree with one observer who suggested/speculated that if he was, it was because he had already witnessed in practice that some of what was proposed had issues. But for the revolving door of OCs to last so long was on KW, for the list of hires he made was long and regrettably unproductive, and in the case of Brian Johnson, unfortunate. Worse, little progress was made except that Utah did relatively well the last three seasons.
While he may be slow, KW is not stupid. He does have a reputation to build on and likely only a few years to cement it. I’m thinking nationally; he is already great in most of our eyes. Moreover I believe he has a to-do list of accomplishments yet to fulfill. And he wants to get it done at Utah in the PAC-12.
So while Nick Saban hires Lane Kifkin and Steve Sarkesian, KW hires a high school/FSC wunderkind. TT on paper looks great and he has the credentials we want to see. He was however a co-coordinator at EWU for exactly one year, and one year removed from coaching high school. I don’t think it is the case here, but I could not help but think of Gerry Faust, the Notre Dame HC from 1981-1985 who was previously a very successful HS coach in Ohio. Gerry did not fair well for the Fighting Irish.
KW was well aware of Troy Taylor since he coached KW’s nephews in California. So the “connection” is there. But Utah can’t get or would not want a LK or SS. KW did it his way making the painful decision to sack a buddy who was been with the Utah program for over a decade. Personally, I think Troy Taylor is a great hire. I too am excited for 2017.
The other very important aspect is a real QB coach (we know TT’s background too at Cal!). So I wait patiently for TW2 to grow substantially this year. And this hire bodes very well for Huntley and if his commitment sticks, Jack Tuttle. The future could be so bright I’m gonna need shades!
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