As Morgan Scalley takes the reins, rival coaches admit Utah’s home turf offers the most intimidating atmosphere in the Big 12, fueling a new era of elite recruiting.
The Utah Utes are ten weeks away from opening the 2026 football season in Salt Lake City. For the first time in over two decades, there will be a new coach roaming the sidelines at Rice-Eccles Stadium with Morgan Scalley ready to take over.
In the short amount of time from the Utes' Las Vegas Bowl win over Nebraska to the transfer portal window closing, Utah had assumed a new identity and started putting together a new roster. Devon Dampier returns as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country. The one-time New Mexico transfer could've hopped back into the portal, but decided to stay and ride this out with Scalley.
Utah also hired Joe D’Orazio, the former director of football strategy at USC, as the program’s general manager. A move that has already started to pay off with a different outlook toward recruiting. Scalley knows finding the right players is the lifeblood of a program's success. Outside of that, it comes down to culture by fostering a competitive environment that is also built with character.
“I was at Big 12 coaches meetings the last two days and just in talking to the coaches, they said Rice-Eccles is the loudest environment, the toughest environment to play in," Scalley recently told the Deseret News. "That’s saying something because there’s some really good environments in our conference. So you got an unbelievable fan base, you’re going to get developed both as a man and as a football player and you’re going to have a coaching staff that’s going to be here.”
Scalley also understands Utah is built on a "village" mentality. It takes many to build a solid foundation and being able to show off the Utes' facility as the next home to a recruit is the biggest selling point.
“When we recruit, and we bring these young men in on these weekends, we’re not just bringing in any dude. We’re bringing in guys we feel that fit our culture,” Scalley said. “You have to be real, you have to be genuine. They can recognize fake. So what I want is people to want us for who we are. And if that happens — and it does happen — we’ll be fine."
Scalley went on to say, “I have to be able to trust that our coordinators and position coaches are bringing in who they want if they can help us win. And ultimately, my job is to sell this place, to sell this experience, to sell what makes this place great and what’s going to make them great.”
Utah hopes to repeat the success from last season with another double-digit win total. If the program is anywhere near that mark, it's a huge win in Scalley's first season.
