With the retirement of John Pease, Utah has two open spots available on the coaching staff. I wanted to give a few of my thoughts on what I'm hearing and what I expect to see over the next couple of weeks:
- When Taylor Stubblefield's contract was not renewed, I was told by someone close to the program that Coach Whittingham wouldn't be in a big hurry to backfill the assistant. I was told that there was the possibility that more changes would potentially happen on the staff (which happened today with Coach Pease) and because there were so many options, Coach Whit would probably let things play out before bringing in a replacement for Stubbs. I was also reminded that Coach Whit historically takes his time in such decisions, and that Stubblefield wasn't the lead recruiter on anyone that was still on the board, so they weren't short handed.
- Pease's retirement isn't a big surprise. It's a demanding job, and it takes a lot out of young guys, let alone someone in their 70's. His knowledge will be missed, but I suspect he'll still hang around the program next season. Scalley is the perfect replacement. Last year when Pease was hired, I was told that Scalley was the heir apparent for the DC position when Pease hung it up for good, so Coach Whittingham is making good on his promise. Scalley is a smart guy that can develop scheme with the best of them. He's also been a lights out recruiter for the Utes this year. The Utah defense is in very good hands.
- A couple of thoughts about the hiring process: Coach Whittingham treats these types of things like a state secret, so any names that you'll tend to hear are more often than not speculation. He may have brought some people in to interview while everyone was out for the holidays (and he tends to interview several candidates when he makes these decisions) but I also expect him to have several conversations with prospective candidates at the AFCA convention this weekend. There tends to be a lot of wheeling and dealing at that event in terms of job opportunities/interviews.
- With two openings on the staff, Coach Whit has a lot of options, assuming there are no more departures from the staff:
Option A) He can move Lewis Powell from TE to DE and hire two offensive assistants (either a TE and WR coach, or a WR and QB coach and have A Rod take over the TEs, or a TE and QB coach and have A Rod take over the WRs).
I've heard a lot of names thrown about for any of these jobs. For WR coaches, they could bring in people like Guy Holliday, the WR coach at BYU. Fred Graves would be an interesting choice. Luke Matthews at Hawaii is another potential candidate. Al Pupunu at Idaho nearly got the TE coach job last year, and that could potentially be an option (albeit an unlikely one). Brett Elliott or Darnell Arceneaux could be people to watch as QB coaches. Steve Clark (OC and QB coach at Weber) is another. I'm not sure any of those names will get the fan base riled up. I've heard Steve Smith was a serous possibility before he decided to give it one more go.
Option B) He can leave Lewis Powell as the TE coach, and hire an offensive coach (as we discussed above) and a DL coach. Potential candidates include guys like Steve Fifita (DL coach at ISU), Sione Pouha, Jason Kaufusi (DL coach at Weber), and Joe Seumalo (DL coach at UNLV). They could also move Justin Ena to DL and bring in a guy like Spencer Toone (LB coach at ISU) to coach LBs.
Option C) He can think outside of the box and promote someone from within to take over a position group. That would either mean Fred Whittingham moving from personnel to full-time position coach (which is something he would succeed at if he wanted to do it) or Pablo Cano (who we've discussed a lot the past few days on the board). I also wonder if someone from the high school ranks like Cary Whittingham or Dave Peck wouldn't be a potential candidate to come in and coach. Either of those are a little unlikely, but I thought I'd throw the names out there.
Another option is we see Coach Whit bring in someone outside of his circle that we haven't heard about, like he did with Stubblefield. I get the sense that he'd prefer to work with people he knows, if for no other reason than to keep the chemistry in the program intact.
As you can see, there are a lot of variables out there, but Coach Whittingham has his process, and I expect him to follow it. Of course, this could all be a moot point and we could see new hires in the morning, but this should at least give you a few things to think about. When I hear something concrete, I'll report what I can.
- When Taylor Stubblefield's contract was not renewed, I was told by someone close to the program that Coach Whittingham wouldn't be in a big hurry to backfill the assistant. I was told that there was the possibility that more changes would potentially happen on the staff (which happened today with Coach Pease) and because there were so many options, Coach Whit would probably let things play out before bringing in a replacement for Stubbs. I was also reminded that Coach Whit historically takes his time in such decisions, and that Stubblefield wasn't the lead recruiter on anyone that was still on the board, so they weren't short handed.
- Pease's retirement isn't a big surprise. It's a demanding job, and it takes a lot out of young guys, let alone someone in their 70's. His knowledge will be missed, but I suspect he'll still hang around the program next season. Scalley is the perfect replacement. Last year when Pease was hired, I was told that Scalley was the heir apparent for the DC position when Pease hung it up for good, so Coach Whittingham is making good on his promise. Scalley is a smart guy that can develop scheme with the best of them. He's also been a lights out recruiter for the Utes this year. The Utah defense is in very good hands.
- A couple of thoughts about the hiring process: Coach Whittingham treats these types of things like a state secret, so any names that you'll tend to hear are more often than not speculation. He may have brought some people in to interview while everyone was out for the holidays (and he tends to interview several candidates when he makes these decisions) but I also expect him to have several conversations with prospective candidates at the AFCA convention this weekend. There tends to be a lot of wheeling and dealing at that event in terms of job opportunities/interviews.
- With two openings on the staff, Coach Whit has a lot of options, assuming there are no more departures from the staff:
Option A) He can move Lewis Powell from TE to DE and hire two offensive assistants (either a TE and WR coach, or a WR and QB coach and have A Rod take over the TEs, or a TE and QB coach and have A Rod take over the WRs).
I've heard a lot of names thrown about for any of these jobs. For WR coaches, they could bring in people like Guy Holliday, the WR coach at BYU. Fred Graves would be an interesting choice. Luke Matthews at Hawaii is another potential candidate. Al Pupunu at Idaho nearly got the TE coach job last year, and that could potentially be an option (albeit an unlikely one). Brett Elliott or Darnell Arceneaux could be people to watch as QB coaches. Steve Clark (OC and QB coach at Weber) is another. I'm not sure any of those names will get the fan base riled up. I've heard Steve Smith was a serous possibility before he decided to give it one more go.
Option B) He can leave Lewis Powell as the TE coach, and hire an offensive coach (as we discussed above) and a DL coach. Potential candidates include guys like Steve Fifita (DL coach at ISU), Sione Pouha, Jason Kaufusi (DL coach at Weber), and Joe Seumalo (DL coach at UNLV). They could also move Justin Ena to DL and bring in a guy like Spencer Toone (LB coach at ISU) to coach LBs.
Option C) He can think outside of the box and promote someone from within to take over a position group. That would either mean Fred Whittingham moving from personnel to full-time position coach (which is something he would succeed at if he wanted to do it) or Pablo Cano (who we've discussed a lot the past few days on the board). I also wonder if someone from the high school ranks like Cary Whittingham or Dave Peck wouldn't be a potential candidate to come in and coach. Either of those are a little unlikely, but I thought I'd throw the names out there.
Another option is we see Coach Whit bring in someone outside of his circle that we haven't heard about, like he did with Stubblefield. I get the sense that he'd prefer to work with people he knows, if for no other reason than to keep the chemistry in the program intact.
As you can see, there are a lot of variables out there, but Coach Whittingham has his process, and I expect him to follow it. Of course, this could all be a moot point and we could see new hires in the morning, but this should at least give you a few things to think about. When I hear something concrete, I'll report what I can.
