Facing an identity crisis, of sorts, Utah football looking for a return to winning form

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah football prides itself on being physical — winning the trenches and owning the run game while controlling the time of possession.

When executed properly, Utah has been one of the toughest teams to beat in the country in Kyle Whittingham's 20 years as a head coach. But from time to time there's lapses, and the game goes sideways for Utah.

But those cases have generally been few and far between over his tenure.

In Whittingham's 20th season as a head coach — many have speculated it to be his last — that identity has been lost for much of the year.

So how can that be the case when Utah has recruited well and added key players from the transfer portal — while largely keeping a coaching staff and roster intact — to form arguably the school's best complete roster?

There's myriad of reasons — of which, many have been documented over the season — but it largely boils down to Utah moving away from its identity.

"I would agree that we're not as physical this year as we typically have been, and you really gage that, at least we gage it, by how you run the ball and how you defend the run, and we haven't been as good at that this year," Whittingham said. "It's tough to pinpoint one exact reason for that, but, yeah, we haven't been our usual selves in that regard, and that has been our identity, as well."

That identity, he said, has been "our formula for success for a lot of years." And yet, it hasn't been present for much of the 2024 season.

Whittingham isn't looking for sympathy, or even looking to make an excuse, but trying to reload a roster in the transfer portal and NIL era of college football has been tough, he said; and it's one that hasn't come together well for Utah this season — regardless of the talent on the field.

Utah prides itself on its family culture and winning as a team — the sum greater than the individual parts, especially in a world where Utah isn't beating out Oregon or Ohio State for top recruits.

But with so much turnover, that culture and identity has been tougher to form, especially when adversity hits the team — consider the last two seasons a dissertation on team adversity.

"The culture," Whittingham said, "I don't know if diluted is the right word, but it's — before, you had 100 guys teaching 25 guys how we do our thing, and now it's almost a 50-50 split the new guys, as opposed to the guys that have been in the program.

"It's constantly in flux," he added. "I don't want to say it's like you're hiring mercenaries every year, but it's a situation where, again, you've got to collect as much talent as quickly as you can, and then hope it gels and comes together and you get results. And it is a different approach and different strategy than when you had guys just marinate in your program for four and five, six years; and it is different."

In short, many incoming transfers came to Utah to play with Cam Rising under center — the veteran quarterback that was going to take the Utes to new heights as a program in an expanded playoff era. But when injury derailed Rising's season, it became tougher for the culture and identity of the program to lead out.

"I just feel that maybe our culture and our — the way we did things — gave us an edge back when that could be possible to have happen," Whittingham said.

But none of this is Rising's fault. Ultimately, it's on the coaching staff to navigate the waters of an ever-evolving college football landscape that doesn't care that Utah was supposed to win the Big 12 in its first season.

High expectations or not, Utah has not lived up to the preseason hype; and the team has nobody to blame but itself.

Florida State was supposed to be a college football playoff contender after missing out on the previous four-team playoff following an undefeated season last year. The Seminoles are 1-8 this season.

Having talent and expectations doesn't lead to winning, but sticking to the team's identity will largely ease some of the ebbs and flows of a season. Even then, none of that will guarantee wins, but it gives the team a better shot than doing it on their own without a semblance of an identity.

Whittingham continues to take the blame for his team not getting it done each week, but it's more than just the head football coach preaching accountability to the team's identity. Players have to buy in and embrace the identity, too.

"Nobody's gonna fall off, nobody's gonna quit on the team," running back Micah Bernard said after Utah's loss to Houston. "We love football, we've just gotta love winning more."

It's a collective effort. Players need to love to win, and coaches need to do well by their players to adapt that identity to fit the team's needs. That doesn't mean changing what has made Utah successful over the years, but using the identity to fit the personnel to a scheme that benefits their skill set.

"I'll say we addressed that pretty good," Bernard said on Monday. "There's a lot of conversation, we have a lot of talks, trying to figure everything out. And so I think we've got it down right now. We're gonna see what's gonna happen. Each week's a new week, a new journey, so we'll see what happens."

For Utah, though, it's all talk until something changes. Or, more appropriately said: until Utah returns to its identity.

Related topics