SALT LAKE CITY — Here we are again, in what has become virtually an annual right of winter that follows the end of the football season for the University of Utah.

It’s that time of year when the Utes change the offensive coordinator. Troy Taylor will be the latest to call plays for Kyle Whittingham’s team, replacing the fired Aaron Roderick.

If you’re counting, and it’s impossible not to, Taylor will be the ninth offensive coordinator over the last 10 years. The merry-go-round started when Andy Ludwig left the program after the unbeaten 2008 season.

Roderick, who shared the coordinator title with offensive line coach Jim Harding, called plays the last two seasons. The 2015-16 seasons marked the only time Utah has had the same play-caller for more than one season since Ludwig left.

Over the last decade, Whittingham has gone a variety of routes in hiring an offensive coordinator. He tried coaches with serious experience (Norm Chow and Dennis Erickson) and no experience (Brian Johnson).

Twice he’s gone with co-coordinators (Roderick and Harding the last two seasons and Roderick and Dave Schramm in 2010). He even hired an old buddy, Dave Christensen, who was ready to brawl with the assistant coaches and athletic administrators during only one season in 2014.

We extend good luck to Taylor with one piece of advice: Probably safer to rent rather than buy for the first year or so.

To succeed, Taylor needs full reign of the offense, which Whittingham said will happen. Tempting as it may be, the defensive-oriented Whittingham has to stay out of the way.

Related:

Utah hires Troy Taylor as newest offensive coordinator

Utah has a new offensive coordinator after only a few days since Aaron Roderick was let go from the program.

For his part, Taylor prefers to look to the future and isn’t concerned about Utah’s revolving door of offensive coordinators. He will seek input from the Utah staff, but the offense will be his.

“Really great organizations are collaborative,” Taylor said. “I think it’s important to have one voice as far as who’s calling the plays, so I’ll call the plays.”

Critics of Whittingham, who has won a total of 28 games over the last three seasons, contend he restricted the play-calling with specific instructions to protect the defense. The plan was to run the ball, huddle and slow down the game.

A 47-year veteran of college and NFL coaching, Chow thinks Whittingham gets an unfair rap for exerting undue influence on his team’s offense. Chow had authority during the season he spent at Utah in 2011.

“He very rarely got involved,” Chow said. “He got involved on Saturday afternoon when he felt like we needed to slow it down or hurry it up – (to) control the football game, which all head coaches do. But (he) never interfered with play-calling or schemes or that kind of thing.”

This season, in which Utah finished near the bottom of almost all offensive statistics in the Pac-12, left Whittingham wanting more. He was particularly irritated that Utah finished 110th nationally in red zone situations.

In his only season at Eastern Washington, Taylor directed an offense that led the FCS in passing (401 yards per game) and averaged 42.2 points per game. In the season opener at Washington State, the Eagles won 45-42.

He intends to bring the same attacking style to Utah.

“The key is to be dynamic but make it user-friendly for the quarterback,” Taylor said.

Taylor joins Erickson as the only two coordinators without a connection to Whittingham or the Utah program. The former Cal quarterback spent the last two seasons coaching at Folsom High in Sacramento, California, and at Eastern Washington, respectively.

His relationship to the Utah coach extends to Whittingham’s brother, Freddie, who is on Kyle’s staff as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. Freddie’s son, who is a walk-on linebacker for Utah, played on the Folsom High team during Taylor’s tenure as a coach.

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