All of the assistant coaches were made available for interviews today , and I will have the full gist of everything later. I did want to at least highlight some things and also keep in mind if there’s certain groups not fully mentioned, John Coon, interviewed some of the coaches for me today as well.
Of the backup quarterbacks, Ludwig was really high on the growth and development of Brandon Rose. He had positive things to say on Isaac Wilson. But also tempered expectations by saying he’s a freshman that should still be in high school at the moment. He’s extremely impressed with how Wilson processes things, as well as his arm, though.
He highlighted Daidren Zipperer and Dijon Stanley as two really nice, spring surprises. There were some others too, but I need to listen back to the audio. With Stanley, he brings such a diversified skill set that he’s a very intriguing change-of-pace running back. With Zipperer, Alvis Whitted mentioned that it’s really been about reps and being there every day to take advantage of them. He said he’s not surprised at all with the growth that Zipperer has shown, because he knows the type of high school program he came from.
Whitted’s eyes lit up when talking about the difference that it makes for his wide receivers now that Rising is back and healthy. He didn’t hold back that it’s a night and day difference from last year‘s practices and games, to now.
Of course Whitted highlighted Singer, but he was also very complementary with the football IQ of Lyons.
Ganther Absolutely loves his room, but he wants to see a definitive every down back emerge. He admitted though that those cost a lot of NIL to either bring in or keep. In discussing Mike Mitchell, Ganther is extremely high on him. He said he excels on the field and is extremely bright and engaging in the classroom, but the problem is getting him to the classes.( Alex take: This has been a theme that Utah focused on him really hard with last year and one of the big reasons why he didn’t play. They just had him focus on school). He was slowed up a little bit by various injuries, including a hamstring according to Ganther, so when he’s practicing —he’s already fast — Ganther wants him to play faster. The leadership of Bernard has been huge for the room. It's nice having his versatility back.
The tight end group is a three-headed monster already, with King, Kuithe, and Bentley. Carson Ryan will start practicing with the team in the late spring and summer. The excitement on Freddie Whittingham’s face is very apparent when he’s talking about his guys.
Offensive lineman Caleb Lomu has integrated really well into the starting unit at left tackle. This should make an extremely imposing tackle group, with him and also sliding Spencer Fano to right tackle.
Kenan Johnson and Cameron Calhoun have integrated seamlessly into the secondary. Scalley credited both of them and they’re individual skill set as well as the technique that Shah teaches them.
The safety group is coming along extremely well. Scalley believes that when all is said and done, Tao Johnson will be elite.
Akana has added enough weight to get himself into the defensive end rotation now. Connor O’Toole has really taken a step forward with his confidence.
It sucks to lose Damuni, but Swan is really excited for the young guys that are in the program, as well as recently returned missionaries, like Sione Fotu (2023), and Trey Reynolds (2024). He joked, and said that he asked Reynolds if he even really went on a mission, because of how good of shape he was in when he got back.
Defensive tackles just continue to gain knowledge, confidence, and continue to improve under Elliss.
…I’ll talk more on all of this a little later.
Of the backup quarterbacks, Ludwig was really high on the growth and development of Brandon Rose. He had positive things to say on Isaac Wilson. But also tempered expectations by saying he’s a freshman that should still be in high school at the moment. He’s extremely impressed with how Wilson processes things, as well as his arm, though.
He highlighted Daidren Zipperer and Dijon Stanley as two really nice, spring surprises. There were some others too, but I need to listen back to the audio. With Stanley, he brings such a diversified skill set that he’s a very intriguing change-of-pace running back. With Zipperer, Alvis Whitted mentioned that it’s really been about reps and being there every day to take advantage of them. He said he’s not surprised at all with the growth that Zipperer has shown, because he knows the type of high school program he came from.
Whitted’s eyes lit up when talking about the difference that it makes for his wide receivers now that Rising is back and healthy. He didn’t hold back that it’s a night and day difference from last year‘s practices and games, to now.
Of course Whitted highlighted Singer, but he was also very complementary with the football IQ of Lyons.
Ganther Absolutely loves his room, but he wants to see a definitive every down back emerge. He admitted though that those cost a lot of NIL to either bring in or keep. In discussing Mike Mitchell, Ganther is extremely high on him. He said he excels on the field and is extremely bright and engaging in the classroom, but the problem is getting him to the classes.( Alex take: This has been a theme that Utah focused on him really hard with last year and one of the big reasons why he didn’t play. They just had him focus on school). He was slowed up a little bit by various injuries, including a hamstring according to Ganther, so when he’s practicing —he’s already fast — Ganther wants him to play faster. The leadership of Bernard has been huge for the room. It's nice having his versatility back.
The tight end group is a three-headed monster already, with King, Kuithe, and Bentley. Carson Ryan will start practicing with the team in the late spring and summer. The excitement on Freddie Whittingham’s face is very apparent when he’s talking about his guys.
Offensive lineman Caleb Lomu has integrated really well into the starting unit at left tackle. This should make an extremely imposing tackle group, with him and also sliding Spencer Fano to right tackle.
Kenan Johnson and Cameron Calhoun have integrated seamlessly into the secondary. Scalley credited both of them and they’re individual skill set as well as the technique that Shah teaches them.
The safety group is coming along extremely well. Scalley believes that when all is said and done, Tao Johnson will be elite.
Akana has added enough weight to get himself into the defensive end rotation now. Connor O’Toole has really taken a step forward with his confidence.
It sucks to lose Damuni, but Swan is really excited for the young guys that are in the program, as well as recently returned missionaries, like Sione Fotu (2023), and Trey Reynolds (2024). He joked, and said that he asked Reynolds if he even really went on a mission, because of how good of shape he was in when he got back.
Defensive tackles just continue to gain knowledge, confidence, and continue to improve under Elliss.
…I’ll talk more on all of this a little later.
