Unloading the notebook: Day one for Utah football fall camp
Aug 3, 2026, 1:39 PM
Morgan Scalley is interviewed following University of Utah football practice in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017. (Ravell Call, Deseret News)
(Ravell Call, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah football’s first practice of fall camp offered little reason to make definitive personnel judgments. The Utes practiced without pads, and head coach Morgan Scalley described the 12-period workout as an opportunity to knock off the offseason cobwebs.
The conversations afterward revealed considerably more.
Devon Dampier has taken greater ownership of Utah’s offense. The reconstructed offensive line believes a demanding summer changed its body and mentality. Wayshawn Parker has increased his personal expectations. Braden Pegan provided another glimpse into Kevin McGiven’s plans for the passing game.
Scalley, meanwhile, sounded like a head coach pleased with Utah’s progress but unwilling to confuse improvement with an acceptable standard.
Here is what stood out most from the opening day of fall camp.
Back like we never left#GoUtes | #RSNB pic.twitter.com/QvWJsR3CDp
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 3, 2026
Morgan Scalley liked the progress—not all the habits
Scalley gave his team a lot of praise for the offseason work. He even praised the team’s energy, conditioning and physical development, but his most revealing assessment concerned the behavior he did not like.
“Probably not good enough today in terms of hustle, being relentless to the ball, relentless jogging off the field,” Scalley said. “This game requires a lot and a lot of discipline.”
That answer illustrated how Scalley’s responsibilities have changed.
As Utah’s defensive coordinator, his attention was concentrated on scheme, personnel and one side of the ball. As head coach, he is evaluating how every position moves between repetitions, responds to coaching and represents the program’s stated culture.
“The whole focus is on how we’re doing,” Scalley said. “Are we running to the ball? Are we living our culture? It’s the behavior that I’m after.”
Scalley also offered a useful definition of how he will evaluate Utah’s leadership.
“Leadership is influence based on trust you’ve earned,” he said.
Utah will not select its captains until closer to the season opener, and Scalley warned that membership on the leadership council does not automatically make someone a leader. The next month will reveal which players can influence teammates once camp becomes more physically and mentally demanding.
Dampier has already supplied an early answer on offense.
Utah has limited room to explore eligibility ruling
A late court ruling created another potential roster-building opportunity just as Utah opened fall camp.
A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction allowing athletes who began college during the 2022-23 academic year and exhausted their eligibility after four seasons to pursue a fifth season. The ruling could affect hundreds of former players, although its long-term status remains uncertain with the NCAA expected to appeal.
Asked whether Utah would explore adding an eligible player under the ruling, Scalley left the door open.
“We will explore anything that we feel gives us an advantage and can help us win football games,” Scalley said.
Scalley initially joked that Utah’s available roster space was “for us to know and you to find out,” before estimating that the Utes may have enough flexibility to accommodate one or two additions.
Former Utah running back NaQuari Rogers is one possible name to monitor, though there is no indication yet that Utah is actively pursuing him. Rogers, who graduated this spring, announced Sunday that he intends to explore a return to college football following the ruling.
Rogers played in all 13 games for Utah last season, rushing for 387 yards and a team-leading 11 touchdowns on 98 carries. His 11 rushing scores tied for third-most in the Big 12.
Whether Rogers could return to Utah—or would look elsewhere—remains unresolved. The Utes already have Wayshawn Parker leading a running back room that includes Daniel Bray, Mateaki Helu and freshman LaMarcus Bell. Still, Rogers’ familiarity with the program and proven short-yardage production would make him a logical option for Utah to evaluate if the eligibility ruling remains in place.
Devon Dampier has become the offense’s organizing voice
Dampier’s return stabilized Utah’s offense. His work during the summer appears to have moved him into the next phase: commanding it.
The senior quarterback organized work with Utah’s receivers, adjusted sessions based on the physical demands of the team’s workouts and created simulated coverages by having receivers play defense against one another.
“It was me getting together with the receivers,” Dampier said. “We brought in so many new guys. They all have their own little spin to their routes and how they see things on the field. To get on the same page, that was something that was brought to my attention that I needed to do during the offseason.”
Alex Harrison provided an even stronger description of Dampier’s influence.
“Dev was our leader,” Harrison said. “We’d go out, he’d call the plays and hold guys accountable. If things weren’t right, he would be the first one to speak up and say, ‘Hey, we need to do better. Let’s start it over. Let’s start this drive over from the beginning.’”
That is a meaningful progression.
Dampier was already Utah’s most important returning player. During the summer, he became the player responsible for making sure the offense did not waste the weeks when coaches had limited involvement.
Scalley called Utah’s player-led practices a “huge bonus” and said the offense operated more quickly and cleanly Monday than it had even during the latter portions of spring practice.
Dampier also indicated McGiven is giving him considerable freedom to adjust plays before the snap.
“McGiven trusts me so much with the offense,” Dampier said. “He gives me the ability to get into a different play, get into things that we run very well. To have that aspect, it makes me very confident going into any game.”
Utah does not need Dampier simply to produce yards. It needs him to consistently place the offense in favorable situations. His summer role suggests that responsibility is no longer limited to Saturdays.
The quarterback partnership remains unusually healthy
Utah’s ability to retain Dampier and Ficklin gave the Utes something increasingly uncommon in the transfer-portal era: two quarterbacks with legitimate starting ability.
Scalley attributed the arrangement to their competitiveness and lack of selfishness.
Dampier described Ficklin as one of his closest friends—but also someone capable of provoking an immediate response during practice.
“I go out there, I do four plays and think I did good, and Byrd goes out there and throws a touchdown,” Dampier said. “I’m like, ‘OK, now I’m going to answer back.’ We just keep elevating each other.”
Dampier also acknowledged the long-term reality without sounding threatened by it.
“Eventually, when he takes over, he’s going to be that guy,” Dampier said. “He’s also pushing me to be the guy right now.”
That may be the healthiest competition on Utah’s roster: the established starter preparing his eventual successor while the successor keeps raising the established starter’s daily standard.
Utah’s offensive line believes the summer changed it
No position group has more to prove than Utah’s offensive line, which must replace all five starters from last season.
Harrison did not sound interested in asking for patience.
He said Utah’s new summer program represented one of the most substantial physical changes he has experienced during his college career. According to Harrison, some offensive linemen added approximately 20 pounds of lean mass over the two-month period.
Dampier offered a similar assessment, saying several offensive linemen lost between five and 10 pounds of fat while adding muscle.
Those figures came from the players and will not mean much until Utah puts on pads. Scalley appropriately withheld judgment on both lines of scrimmage until physical practices begin.
The more significant development may be what the workouts forced the group to experience together.
“We learned to struggle together,” Harrison said. “We learned how to do hard things together.”
Alex Harrison called the new strength program one of the most substantial changes he has experienced at Utah.
"It was the most difficult summer workout I've ever been through but I've never felt better physically."
He said some offensive linemen added approximately 20 pounds…
— Steve Bartle (@BartleKSLsports) August 3, 2026
That matters for a group attempting to manufacture chemistry without the benefit of extensive starting experience together.
Harrison also embraced the skepticism surrounding the unit, referencing a preseason ranking that placed Utah’s offensive line outside the country’s top 50.
“Great,” Harrison said. “I love the fact that nobody believes in us. I love the fact that everyone doubts us. Bring it on. I think we’re going to show a lot of people this year.”
The rhetoric is expected in August. The more encouraging substance came from Harrison’s discussion of communication, film study and the lessons he took from former Utah center Jaren Kump.
Harrison described Kump as one of the smartest centers he has encountered and said he studied how Kump diagnosed fronts and pressure packages. Harrison identified football intelligence and communication as his greatest areas of development.
He also supplied the group’s ambition plainly: “I want to be the most physical O-line in the country.”
That standard will be tested soon enough.
Kevin McGiven’s offense will look familiar, but its distribution could change
Anyone expecting Utah to unveil a completely unfamiliar offense under McGiven should probably recalibrate.
Scalley said the system should look similar to last season’s offense, including shifts, motions, formations into the boundary and the quarterback running game. That continuity contributed to Dampier and Byrd Ficklin remaining at Utah.
The philosophical distinction is how McGiven intends to build around the available personnel.
“He is going to identify our playmakers and get them the ball,” Scalley said. “It’s not, ‘Here’s my scheme, you have to fit inside of it.’ It’s, ‘Who do we have, and how can I accentuate them?’”
Pegan experienced that approach last season at Utah State and followed McGiven to Utah after the coordinator provided his original opportunity.
Pegan’s description of the offense was uncomplicated.
“We like to throw the ball a lot,” Pegan said. “We like to throw the ball deep. There’s a lot of different stuff he throws in to get me open and the rest of the guys open. He’s super creative.”
The receiver also said his summer work with Dampier had already improved their connection.
Dampier framed offensive balance differently than a traditional run-pass split. Utah wants to distribute the football according to what the defense permits rather than chase a predetermined number of carries or throws.
“If the defense wants us to pass the ball more, we’ll do that,” Dampier said. “If the defense wants us to run the ball, we’ll do that. We take advantage of what the defense gives us.”
That approach places even more responsibility on Dampier’s pre-snap recognition and decision-making.
Wayshawn Parker raised his goal—and tightened his preparation
Parker entered last season openly targeting 1,000 rushing yards. His new objective is 1,200.
More important than the number was how Parker approached preparing for a potentially larger role. He said his offseason priority was becoming leaner without sacrificing strength, frequently remaining in the facility after teammates had finished their workouts.
“I was trying to lose the fat, not the muscle,” Parker said. “The offseason became serious for me. I stayed there and worked out after everybody had left.”
Parker also expects to become more involved as a receiver, although he avoided placing a statistical target on that part of his game.
“I just want to factor in any type of way,” he said. “I want to be there so the offense can score.”
Utah also has intriguing depth developing behind him. Parker praised Daniel Bray’s improved understanding of the offense and compared freshman LaMarcus Bell to himself at the same stage.
“He reminds me of me when I was a freshman,” Parker said.
Bell will make freshman mistakes, but Parker said the young back consistently asks questions and has demonstrated enough ability to make an early impression.
The Bottom Line
The most important revelation from Utah’s first day of fall camp was not a depth-chart movement or schematic wrinkle. It was the degree to which the players appear to have taken ownership during the summer.
Dampier drove the offense’s work. The offensive line went through a physical transformation together. Parker increased his expectations. Pegan began establishing the quarterback-receiver connection Utah will need in the fall.
Scalley saw the progress. He also immediately demanded more.
That combination—greater player ownership met by an unrelenting standard from the head coach—is exactly what Utah needs as its first fall camp of the Scalley era begins.
