Takeaways From Kyle Whittingham’s Rivalry Week Press Conference
Nov 4, 2024, 4:13 PM
Whittingham discusses what his team can take away from their lopsided win over the Thunderbirds. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Bodkin)
(Photo courtesy of Michelle Bodkin)
SALT LAKE CITY – On Monday, Utah Football head coach Kyle Whittingham addressed members of the media in the BYU rivalry week press conference of 2024.
Coming off of a bye week with all the struggles of the season and this being the first rivalry game in three years, today was an interesting press conference.
GAME TIME ANNOUNCEMENT‼️
🆚 BYU
🏟️ Rice-Eccles Stadium
⏰ SAT 11.09 | 8:15PM MT
📺 ESPN
📻 ESPN 700 AM / 92.1 FM#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/W5yZTgh6EO— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 28, 2024
To begin the week, Whittingham met with the media as he always does. After the 15-minute presser, here are five key takeaways from Utah’s head coach press conference.
Utah has a concept, a plan, of what they’ll do at QB
“Yeah, we’ve got a plan right now, and we’ll keep it to ourselves,” Whittingham said of the quarterback situation. “We have a plan going forward; nothing is ever set in stone, but we’ve got a situation that is best for us and gives us the best chance to win.”
Utah spent the bye week evaluating the quarterback position. Isaac Wilson and Brandon Rose were given equal practice reps. Coaches were going to evaluate the position last week and have a plan in place by Monday.
As they begin their game-week preparation, Utah knows what they’ll do at quarterback. We just won’t find out officially until the Utah offense takes the field Saturday night.
NIL’s impact on football program culture
“It’s much harder and I think a lot of teams across the country that are feeling and going through similar situations where, four, five, six years, before the transfer portal, you might replace 25 guys out of 125,” Whittingham shared.
The transfer portal and NIL have undoubtedly changed the way programs operate. Rosters can be completely overhauled in the offseason. Coaches must figure out how to navigate these two dynamics to preserve program culture.
“Before, you had 100 guys teaching 25 guys how we do our thing,” he said. “Now, it’s almost a 50/50 split of new guys as opposed to guys who’ve been in the program. It’s not unique to us, it’s across the country, and I think that’s why you’re seeing a lot of different results across the country, because it has had an effect, and it will continue to have an effect.”
Culture and player development contributed in greater magnitude to success in years past. It’s still a big factor but perhaps the shift that Whittingham foreshadowed a few years back is already translating on the field.
“It’s almost coming down to a sheer talent thing. Who’s No. 1 in the country? Oregon. Who’s No. 1 in the country in NIL? Oregon,” he shared. “It’s starting to fall right in line with what I said a couple years ago, that things were going to start mirroring each other, the top 25 and the NIL budgets. To a certain extent, that’s already happened.”
Not the same ol’ Utah Football
When asked about the loss of identity, Whittingham acknowledged that they haven’t performed like they typically do.
“I would agree that we’re not as physical this year as we typically have been,” he shared. “We gauge that by how you run the ball and how you defend the run and we haven’t been as good at that this year. It’s tough to pinpoint one exact reason for that, but we haven’t been our usual selves in that regard.”
There has been a rotation of injuries in seems within the defensive front that have contributed to issues. Utah’s offensive struggles have compounded and created greater difficulty in establishing the run.
“The ability to run the ball and play-action pass off of that has been our formula for success for a lot of years,” he shared. “The ability on defense to turn teams one-dimensional by taking away the run and forcing them to throw has not surfaced this year either, so that’s certainly been a big part of our issues this year.”
Despite the injuries, Utah still has plenty of talent on the team. The coaches are still paid to solve the problems and raise the execution level.
Jake Retzlaff is the catalyst for BYU’s success
“You look at individual rushers, individual receivers, there’s nobody that jumps out statistically,” Whittingham shared. “It’s a collaborative effort, but the quarterback is the catalyst in my opinion.”
It’s hard to argue, as the biggest difference between this year’s and last year’s BYU football program is the quality of play of their starting quarterback.
Retzlaff only started four games last season but was an inefficient passer who struggled with turnovers. He’s improved from a 50.4% completion rate and 5.2 yards per attempt last season to a 59.8% throwing rate and 8.2 yards per attempt.
“He’s playing good football, he’s one of the league leaders in pass efficiency and he’s made a bunch of really timely runs during the course of the season, big difference-maker type of runs,” Whittingham shared. “I would say he is without a doubt the guy that’s making it all go.”
Does Utah’s “Process” need adjusting?
Whittingham provided an interesting answer when asked about how the transfer portal has impacted coaching.
“It is a different approach, a different strategy than when you had guys marinate in your program for four, five, six years,” he said. “I’m not making excuses or complaining because the entire country is going through the same thing. I just feel that maybe our culture and the way we did things gave us an edge.”
The transfer portal and NIL have become prominent dynamics of college football. Utah’s process has worked, and it can continue to work in this new world.
However, it needs to be carefully evaluated. If Whittingham feels that they’ve lost an edge because they can’t do things the way they used to, it seems to suggest that tweaks must be made.
