- Kyle Whittingham returns for his 21st season as Utah's head coach.
- He emphasizes offensive improvements with new coordinator Jason Beck and QB Devon Dampier.
- Whittingham highlights a strong offensive line, but questions remain about wide receivers.
FRISCO, Texas — Kyle Whittingham is not satisfied with how last season ended, and it's largely why he came back to coach for another season.
But to the long-time head coach at Utah who is entering his 21st season, there's no excuses needed for the situation; Utah simply needs to be better this season.
After an offseason of change and turnover — most notably on the offensive side of the ball with a rebuilt roster and coaching staff — Whittingham has full confidence that he's found the right fit to be an improved team for the 2025 season.
And it all begins with newly-named offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who Whittingham said, will have "complete autonomy" this season to run the offense. Beck turned a mediocre New Mexico team into the No. 4 offense in the country last season, with true dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier leading the charge.
Both are now with the Utes.
As such, all eyes will be on the offense this season to see if it can produce.
"Jason has complete autonomy to do what he wants offensively," Whittingham said Wednesday. "We're going to be almost a carbon copy of what New Mexico was in philosophy. He does a great job, Jason does, of utilizing personnel, getting guys in position to be successful, and so you'll see some different twists from what you saw last year, but that's just because he's making the most of the players that he has available.
"Spring ball was very productive," he added. "Defensive coaches are very impressed with what Jason has brought to the table and the difficulty to defend the formations and the way he utilizes personnel. So far, it's been a good situation. The rubber will hit the road when we start playing in the fall, but I'm excited to see how it goes."
With an offensive line that is predicted to be one of the best in the country — with projected NFL draft first-round picks Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu highlighting the position — Dampier will have all the resources available to him to lift Utah to greater heights.
Beyond that, though, Whittingham said he feels like Dampier will be difference-maker for the Utes this season. He said Dampier has already made an impact during his short stint with the Utes in spring and it's been like having another coach on the field.
"He's off to a great start," Whittingham said. "He's got the respect of his peers, having been voted onto to the leadership council. ... He's got that it factor that you look for in quarterbacks. He's got the field general mentality that you look for. He's a guy that everybody gravitates towards. There's no doubt who's in charge on offense.
"Everybody looks to Devon as the leader of the offense, and that's pretty impressive in the short time that he's been on campus, but he's a guy that is a proven commodity. There's things he needs to work on — we've got to get the completion percentage up a little bit higher, we've got to get the touchdown-to-interception ratio a little bit better — but he was just a sophomore last year, and he definitely made improvement in those areas through spring ball."
But if improvements have been made, like Whittingham believes they have having seen spring football, "you guys are in for a treat to watch him play this fall."
Regardless of Beck and his play-calling prowess and Dampier's dual-threat abilities on the field, Utah still has several questions that need to be answered for the upcoming season. Whittingham said the biggest question surrounds the wide receiver room, which has less proven commodities coming back.
Whittingham believes there's talent there, but more needs to be known before any true declarative statements can be made about the position group.
"We didn't come out of spring with any true pecking order," Whittingham said. "We've got a lot of good players there. I think we have four or five transfers at the position, and so that will continue to be a battle and a competition going through fall camp. And probably the most important thing that we can do at fall camp is to sort those wide receivers out and determine who are going to be."
But outside of the wide receiver position, Whittingham believes his offense will be better, especially with what he described as the "best offensive line since I've been at the University of Utah, which as been forever."
"We lean on them heavily, and if they play like we think they're going to play, that's going to be a huge plus for our offense," Whittingham said.
