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SALT LAKE CITY — The annual head coaching merry-go-round that circulates through college football already has jumpstarted with the firing of three head coaches less than one month into the season.
More will follow in the coming weeks as disappointment turns into despair, leaving athletic directors searching for program savers. Over time the positions will be filled with young hotshots and old hands desperately seeking one more opportunity to find success. That time is coming for Utah, although not for negative reasons.
Turning 63 in two months, coach Kyle Whittingham has dropped hints along the way about retiring. The strongest sentiment came when Whittingham referenced Quin Snyder's resignation as the Utah Jazz coach after eight seasons, saying: "There comes a time when you need a new voice and need a new leader, and obviously he felt the time was right for him right now, and I am kind of close to that in my career."
Already established as Utah's most successful and winningest coach, Whittingham likely will go on his own terms and begin a five-year contract that will pay him $995,000 per year as a special assistant to the athletic director. His coaching contract extends to 2027, by which time he will make a whopping $8 million.
But "kind of close" has created speculation on Whittingham's future. Fear not, Ute faithful, a succession plan appears in place.
As then-AD Chris Hill did with Whittingham when Urban Meyer left for Florida after the Utes went undefeated in 2004, Mark Harlan can promote another defensive coordinator. Given the financial commitment Utah already has handed Morgan Scalley, the former star safety on Meyer's teams is on track to take his current boss's job.
Nearly two years after Scalley had his salary sliced in half and lost a coach-in-waiting agreement after he admitted to texting a racial slur to a recruit several years earlier, ESPN reported last week he got a new three-year deal at $1.4 million annually. Utah would owe Scalley $4.2 million if another coach chose not to keep him.
Obviously, smart money is on Scalley succeeding Whittingham. And it makes total sense.
While there are no guarantees, Harlan does not need to waste money on a national coaching search. A Utah man, it's in Scalley's blood.
For all of Meyer's greatness at Utah — he went 22-2 with two conference championships — he always was a short-timer. The two-year stand was worth it then, but not now.
Scalley, who made a foolish mistake with the text message, is an excellent defensive coach with an impeccable character. His ties run deep in the community, meaning he wouldn't use Utah as a steppingstone.
Look no further than the Pac-12 to prove that stability is a key ingredient to sustained success. Since Utah began Pac-12 play in 2011, only Stanford's David Shaw and Whittingham remain on the job.
The other 10 conference members have combined to have 44 head coaches the last 12 years. USC, Oregon and Washington, generally recognized as having the best football programs in the conference, have totaled 17 coaches.
Arizona State, which looked miserable in last week's loss to Utah, is the latest to enter the never-ending coaching cycle. Excuse Whittingham for not wasting a lot of time learning the name of the latest ASU coach.
Why bother? Here today, gone any year now.
ASU changes coaches every few years in a futile attempt to shake up a program that has been mired in mediocrity for the better part of three decades. ASU is on its fourth head coach since 2011 and again going nowhere in the standings.
Herm Edwards is the latest ASU casualty, stepping aside three games into his fifth season as the head coach. The pro style approach the administration touted flopped amid a pending NCAA investigation for allegedly recruiting during the COVID-induced dead period.
The latest sacrificial Sun Devil is Shaun Aguano, four years removed from coaching at a local high school powerhouse about 20 minutes away in Chandler. He was given nine games to prove himself worthy of removing the interim tag that is attached to his name.
In time, Aguano probably will join the likes of Dennis Erickson, Todd Graham, and Edwards in the Pac-12 era in failing to win consistently enough to save a floundering program. Going back to when John Cooper left for Ohio State the year after ASU won its only Rose Bowl during the 1986 season, the next six head coaches were fired.
Only Bruce Snyder, who coached from 1992-2000, lasted more than six seasons. Next man up usually refers to a reserve replacing an injured starter, but for the Sun Devils the tag applies to the next head coach.
Meanwhile, Whittingham and his Utes keep plugging along, rarely straying from the foundation he instituted since being promoted from defensive coordinator in 2005. Only the names of the players and assistants change as the years roll by.
Stability with Scalley is the correct call.
