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- Kyle Whittingham will evaluate his future as Utah's head coach after the season.
- Whittingham emphasizes prioritizing the program's best interests over personal considerations.
- Morgan Scalley, the coach in waiting, will have a significant role in future decisions.
SALT LAKE CITY — When it comes to the future of the Utah football program, head coach Kyle Whittingham will do what he believes is best for the team.
Whether that means Whittingham believes he's still the best equipped to maintain his role as the team's head coach or fully make the transition to the head coach in waiting, Morgan Scalley, remains a bit of a mystery.
Whittingham affirmed Monday, though, that once the season concludes Friday in Orlando against UCF, he and his family will take some time to "evaluate" his future and decide then what he'll do.
"My decision will be made on what's best for the program, not what's best for me," Whittingham said. "So it'll be completely determined on how I feel this program is best served going forward. And so, yeah, that's where that is."
But after a down season, in which the Utes did not qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 2013 and just the third time in Whittingham's 20-year tenure as head coach, could he return simply to try again to go out on a winning season?
Though appealing, it's not the deciding factor, Whittingham said.
"To time it just right so you go out at just the right time, I mean, there's a very, very small percentage of people who are able to do that," he said. "And so, again, I'm not saying, 'Well, this was a bad year, so for me, I've got to come back and have a better year.' I mean, everyone wants to have a better year next year, regardless of who the coach is.
"I just continue to emphasize put the program first, and whatever the program — what puts the program in the best situation — that's the decision I'll make," he added. "As far as energy, I feel great. I mean, I don't have any — it's not like I'm beat down; the season's been a beat down mentally, but physically and just day-to-day, got plenty of gas left in the tank."
The gas tank may still be full, but is the car ready to endure the ups and downs of another long trek?
Whittingham has long described the 2023 season as one of the most difficult years of his coaching tenure, and sometimes it's best to get out of the game before things spiral. Or there's the chance he turns the trajectory around to where Utah could compete for a Big 12 title and a berth on the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Regardless of his decision, Scalley will continue to be a major voice in the direction the team moves. How that looks exactly — outside of hiring an offensive coordinator or taking a bigger role in recruiting — remains to be seen.
But one thing is certain, Whittingham is laying the groundwork for the future without him wearing the lead headset.
"I can tell you right now that coach Scalley will be involved in decisions going forward, because it's only right that he does that, because he's the coach in waiting," Whittingham said. "And when that time comes, we need to make sure that he's had input on big decisions, and so it'll be a team effort in that respect going forward, as far as hiring and recruiting and that type of thing."
On the recruiting front, Whittingham isn't shy about his intention to hang it up soon. He and the coaching staff "already have that discussion with recruits" and with the players already on the roster to let them know the "succession plan."
"That takes some of the edge off it," he said. "It would be a whole lot different if we didn't have that plan in place, because then if I — when that time comes, it would be anybody's guess what's going to happen and who's it going to be. But they know exactly what the plan is. And that, again, was a real reason for laying down that plan several months ago when it was announced."
In theory, that should help provide some consistency to an already volatile situation in which the transfer portal churns at a continual basis and the current model to recruit player — with NIL being the largest impact for many — continue to factor into a player's decision to commit or stay at Utah.
The time is coming soon for a change of guard, but it still may be a little longer yet.
Only Whittingham knows.
