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SALT LAKE CITY — For all the success Utah had in 2022, the running back room was a bit of a mess.
The on-field product was effective and mostly delivered every Saturday, but behind the scenes there was chaos as running back coach Quinton Ganther tried to stabilize a room that was somewhat broken.
Coming off a record-setting season, Tavion Thomas was the man, the focal point of a rushing attack that featured several talented backs in the waiting. He was the workhorse back who was expected to have an even bigger season than his 2021 campaign in which he rushed for a school record 21 touchdowns.
But Thomas got in his own way, and the room was never the same — even with Ganther's push for accountability. Thomas' off-the-field issues and limited work ethic were easily felt inside the running back room, and everyone suffered. Ganther pushed forward without the team's presumed leading back, and Utah got to the finish line with a converted quarterback helping the way.
There were consequences, though. Veteran running back Micah Bernard entered the transfer portal in an attempt to move on from the program. Others considered a move, too, but ultimately stayed.
Bernard eventually returned, however, but not without some time away.
After being pursued by several Power Five teams, the break was enough to rid himself of the previous season's drama and to help him remember the brotherhood he loved so much while as a member of the Utah program. Head coach Kyle Whittingham welcomed him back with open arms — one of only a handful of times a player that entered the portal was welcomed back into the fold.
Fast forward to the start of fall camp ahead of the 2023 season and the running back room is in a completely different spot. It's a positive, competitive and inviting environment in which the players hold each other accountable and work together as a group to push each other to be better — a sign made evident by the player-led workouts in the offseason.
"I'm not ever comfortable until the W's in the column, but this year, these guys take accountability for everything that they're doing," Ganther said. "What I'm trying to do is I'm trying to create men that I don't have to argue with you: If you're wrong, you're wrong. We're gonna accept it. We're gonna get punished for it and we're gonna move on from it, because we have to continue to go forward.
"I love the way that they're taking accountability for their actions," he added. "I like the way that they're coaching each other. I mean, sometimes I don't even have a chance to coach because they're already correcting each other, they're on each other, they're pushing each other; and that's what you want to see out of the group, because when you get a group that holds each other accountable, that's when you have true success."
And now Ganther has, arguably, the deepest running back room in program history.
Bernard, Ja'Quinden Jackson, Chris Curry and Jaylon Glover return to give Utah a myriad options in the backfield, and they're joined by three freshman backs — John Randle Jr., Dijon Stanley and Michael Mitchell — who are all worthy to steal playing time.
"The freshmen look like, OK, it's a full room, but I just have to let the freshmen know that, OK, just because it's a full room, if they slip up, you can take the job; and I stand on that, and the older guys know I stand on that," Ganther said. "That's how you keep the competition level high in the room. I don't want the best back, I don't want the best group in the conference, I want the best group in the country. That's what I'm striving for.
"These older guys better be careful because these young guys, they're not trying to come here and sit down, so they're all standing out right now."
Ganther will have his hands full, but in a seemingly better way this upcoming season where the on-field drama — or more appropriately described, the competition — of identifying the best players to see the field will be worth the wait. He wants the athletes in his room to attack the game with physicality — "I'm going to demand them to play physical" — as they work to dominate opposing defenses.
The focus is getting better as a group and not of just one player, no matter how well his previous season will translate to the next.
While one running back may come out ahead as the lead guy — the betting favorite is Jackson — Whittingham and his coaching staff is more focused on guys that can contribute and take the Utah offense where it needs to go.
"It could go either way, and it's not a big deal, whether it's one lead back or whether it's two or three guys that contribute," Whittinghams said. "As long as you're getting the overall production, that's all that matters at running back. We don't necessarily have to have the one guy that carries it 25 times. If we do, great; but if we don't, just as well."
If Ganther has his wish, every athlete in his room will be battle tested and ready to pick up where the guy ahead of him left off, but with even more intensity. There's no step back in talent.
"The identity of my group: I want the opposing team to say, 'Man, I hope that guy that's playing doesn't get hurt, because it's somebody else behind him that can do some more damage,'" he said. "That's what I want. I don't want any weak links — no weak links. I want all horses."
