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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
LOS ANGELES — Fresh off being selected as the team to beat in the Pac-12 for the upcoming football season, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said he isn't worried about the "stuff" surrounding conference realignment and everything that comes with it.
That "stuff" made for some feisty opening session comments by commissioner George Kliavkoff, who said he was "disappointed" by UCLA and USC moving to the Big Ten in 2024, in addition to taking shots at the Big 12.
For Whittingham, though, the job is to coach the football team, whether that's in the Pac-12 or some other conference. Whatever happens off the field isn't of his concern ... at least on July 29, two years away from any official change in the Pac-12 and a few days away from fall camp opening up for the upcoming season.
The long-time Utes head coach isn't oblivious to what's happening or how it could make Utah's position in the sport more difficult given the instability of the Pac-12, but his focus is on building a program that gets more respect nationally. The two are definitely intertwined, but how Utah performs on the field is how the program gets to where it wants to be, he believes.
"We're a program that is still working on our brand and trying to become more of a national presence," Whittingham said Friday morning when he addressed media. "But you've got to earn that. No one's going to give that to you. The way you do that, every time you have a chance to prove that, national television, bowl games, that type of situation, then you have to play your way into that respect and that level.
"I think we've made inroads. Are we where we want to be? Not yet. But we think we're heading in the right direction."
One of those areas is finding success in a loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. It's not often a loss could be considered a win, but Whittingham sees it as another building opportunity to where Utah wants to go. A decade after making the move to the Pac-12 from the Mountain West, Utah won its first conference championship at the Power Five level and was competitive against a blue blood of the sport in the Rose Bowl.
All of that goes to building Utah's brand. And part of that comes down to Utah accepting its new role as the hunted and not an underdog team flying under the radar. Utah has been in three of the last four conference championships and have been selected to win the conference twice in four seasons.
It's not a position Utah is accustomed to being in, especially with the likes of Oregon and USC in the conference, but it's the next step. But being selected to win the conference means little if Utah falls short.
"We've always traditionally been a team that likes to fly under the radar a little bit, play with a chip on our shoulder. We don't take offense to any of that," Whittingham said. "I think being chosen as the Pac-12 pre — you know, the early champion, I guess you could say — is a show of respect to our program and where we're at.
"We've worked hard. It's been 11 years of hard work and recruiting to get to that point."
"We've always traditionally been a team that likes to fly under the radar a little bit, play with a chip on our shoulder.… being picked first was being shown respect behind a lot of hard work."
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) July 29, 2022
🗣: @UtahCoachWhitt | @76pic.twitter.com/JgIWanRZhp
But the work doesn't stop there. Championships aren't won in July or even September when the season starts. Utah opens up the season on the road in arguably its toughest season-opening game since joining the conference. For a team looking to build on its brand, going into the Swamp and earning a victory over Florida is at least a start.
"That's very important. Every game obviously is important. But when you have a chance to go down to SEC country, play a storied program like Florida with their history, a tradition, in a place like the Swamp, that's a challenge for our guys," Whittingham said. "It's important for the Pac-12 to make noise on the national scene whenever we get opportunities like that. There's several other teams in the league that are going to have similar opportunities. We have to make the most of it.
"If you want to gain respect, gain national attention, you've got to come out and win some of those games. Hopefully we can go down there and play like we're capable of."
Whittingham added that the season opener gets the "players' attention as far as their preparation." Everything has been about Florida since the Rose Bowl and it improves the "work ethic in the offseason."
So while the doldrums of summer allows for the constant worry and panic of conference realignment and what it may mean for the future of the Pac-12, Whittingham remains focused on the most important aspect of his job.
Winning.
"From my perspective, it's all about our team, this season, recruiting," Whittingham said. "That's where I keep my focus, don't really spend any time thinking about much else."
