Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — With the offseason in full swing, Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham is encouraged by the leadership and work ethic of several of his players as the team goes through its summer development program.
“Without a doubt, we’ve had some great leaders that are emerging,” Whittingham said. “We’ve got about a dozen guys that have done a great job stepping up in a leadership capacity.”
Whittingham said Nate Orchard and Brian Blechen have been the most vocal on the defensive side of the ball, leading the team in the offseason. Orchard was recently selected by Whittingham to represent the defense for Utah at this year’s Pac-12 Media Day.
“Nate Orchard has been an exceptional leader for us,” Whittingham added.
Offensively, Whittingham said Junior Salt — who has recovered from an injury that held him out of spring football — Westlee Tonga, Dres Anderson and Kenneth Scott have been equally vocal.
Although the offseason development program has been a success thus far for the Utes, Whittingham said the team has to be more productive when fall camp begins and as they start preparing for Idaho State. After back-to-back losing seasons, Whittingham said a bulk of the responsibility to improve the team rests on the coaching staff.
“Everyone’s just got to continue to develop and be more productive,” he said. “We’ve got to be better coaches, it’s not just the players, the coaches are involved in this. We’ve got to become better coaches and make sure we put our guys in position to succeed.
Everyone's just got to continue to develop and be more productive. We've got to be better coaches, it's not just the players, the coaches are involved in this. We've got to become better coaches and make sure we put our guys in position to succeed.
–Kyle Whittingham
“We’ve had three years now to recruit in the Pac-12 and we feel like we’ve helped ourselves and become a better team from the top of the roster to the bottom in those three years,” Whittingham added.
As the Utes look to improve upon their postseason chances, the biggest question surrounding the program, however, is the health of last year’s starting quarterback Travis Wilson, who was forced to sit out for the last part of the season after the team’s medical staff discovered an intracranial artery injury.
Wilson participated in spring camp, but was not cleared for contract. His future with the program is expected to be known at the end of June, according to Whittingham. And although the team has a lot of optimism about Wilson’s future, Whittingham said the team is still approaching the situation with some hesitancy.
“Our approach is to proceed as if he’s going to be cleared, which we’re being optimistic and thinking that’s the direction the medical staff is going to go,” Whittingham said. “He essentially has no restrictions at this point in time and we’re just hoping that when we get the final analysis in about two weeks that he’s given a complete green light.
“From the feedback that I’ve gotten I think things are looking good,” he added. “But, like I said, until you get the final OK you never really know exactly where you stand.”
Whether Wilson is cleared or not, a quarterback battle is expected for the starting position this fall. The job is Wilson’s to lose. Oklahoma transfer Kendal Thompson and freshman Donovan Isom are now on campus, making the quarterback depth chart even deeper.
Although Whittingham has not gotten an opportunity to see either Thompson or Isom in throwing situations, per NCAA rules regarding the offseason, he said he’s encouraged by what he’s already seen in the summer development programs.
“They’ve both got a lot of potential and a lot of ability,” Whittingham said. “So far so good as far as their work ethic and how they’re carrying themselves.”
Thompson is expected to give Wilson the most competition for the starting job this fall. And Whittingham said he’ll have an opportunity to showcase his talent this fall.
“He understands the competitive nature of Division I ball and the level he needs to play at in order to succeed,” he said. “We expect him to definitely be a factor for us; it’s up to him as far as how much of a factor. We’ll see what he does in fall camp. He’ll get opportunities, but it’s what he does with those opportunities that’s going to be the key.”
