- Kyle Whittingham returns as Utah's head coach for a 21st season.
- Whittingham aims to overcome a disappointing 5-7 season and improve Utah's performance.
- New offensive coordinator Jason Beck to simplify Utah's offense, aiding player adaptation.
FRISCO, Texas — As Utah went into its final game of the 2024 season, the expectation was that Kyle Whittingham would be coaching his last football game.
Though the long-time head coach had not officially specified an end date — he always said he'd continue to coach as long as he loved it — there was a general sense that a retirement announcement would come shortly after a win over UCF.
He even said ahead of the UCF game that he'd "evaluate" his future after the final game of the season.
"My decision will be made on what's best for the program, not what's best for me," Whittingham said in November. "So it'll be completely determined on how I feel this program is best served going forward. And so, yeah, that's where that is."
Traveling Utah fans even lined the bottom rows of FBC Mortgage Stadium late in the game, shouting praises in Whittingham's direction in what felt like his final curtain call as the lead man roaming the Utah sidelines.
The Morgan Scalley era was soon upon Utah.
That November night in Orlando, Whittingham declined any conversation about his retirement, instead turning all the attention to his seniors who finished their career with one final win as part of a season where wins were hard to come by each week.
But about 10 days later, Whittingham announced his return for a 21st season.
There was no announced reason for his return, just a simple statement that he'd be back for another year. The belief was he wanted to go out on a high note — one in which Utah was in contention for a conference title and a potential shot at the playoffs.
(He also reworked a clause in his contract to force a retirement date announcement by Dec. 5 if not in the Big 12 championship game or Dec. 12 if in the title game or else revert back to an older contract. Meanwhile, Utah added an amendment to Scalley's contract that all but guarantees his future job as head coach.)
While neither is a guarantee in his 21st season as head coach, Whittingham admitted Wednesday that a return to Utah was something he felt he had to do to rid himself of a "disappointing" and "discouraging" season.
"I couldn't stomach going out with that season, as frustrating as it was and is — as discouraging as it was," Whittingham said. "It just didn't sit well with anybody, but most of all me. And so I thought, hey, that's not going to be the final act of my deal. I've gotta come back and try to get the ship right and get back on track."
And the head coach is full steam ahead for another year.
He knows nobody feels sorry for him or the program, but he's now using the frustrations from a rare 5-7 season as motivation for a bounce-back season with a retooled offense that features at least two potential first-round talents in next year's NFL draft, to say nothing of a true dual-threat quarterback in Devon Dampier.
"You can list off the reasons as to what our struggles were because of, but nobody cares," he said. "I mean, they were something we didn't do a good enough job of overcoming, and so it motivated me very much so to get ready for this season and get a team ready that is going to be extremely competitive.
"And we've got a lot of things going for us. We haven't played anybody yet, but I'm excited to watch these guys play on Aug. 30."
Whittingham believes his newly-hired offensive coordinator Jason Beck will provide simplicity to the game, which will unlock Utah's offensive potential, especially with Dampier under center.
Utah's pro-style offense was too complicated in the age of the transfer portal and simplicity was needed to get the roster up to speed. Though Beck's offense isn't simple, Whittingham said, it's much easier for incoming players to learn quickly and show off their talent as they mature through the system.
"We have guys signaling in different positions what their assignment is; they don't have to know things by rote memory, and so that learning curve there is way less," Whittingham said. "It's not quite as intricate as some of the schemes that we've had in the past."
Simple or not, Utah needs to be better on offense. Whether Beck and Co. can return Utah's offense back to what got the team to multiple conference title games remains to be seen, but Whittingham is back roaming the sidelines for at least one more season for the chance at a better ending to his story.
