Scalley will take over the Utah football program after the Las Vegas Bowl.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley walks inside Rice-Eccles Stadium before Utah plays Texas Tech on Sept. 20, 2025.
When Kyle Whittingham took over for Urban Meyer as the University of Utah football coach, many good things awaited the undefeated Utes.
And Whittingham had the good sense not to tear the program down to pieces just so he could rebuild it in his own image.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the longtime head coach said last week. “You know, we stuck with a lot of the stuff that Urban did here.
And as No. 15 Utah prepares to take over for defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley next year, the program’s first coaching change in more than two decades, Whittingham and his players expect continuity to once again be the guiding principle.
“His cultural ideas and my cultural ideas are a perfect match,” Whittingham said. “We both have a lot of the same recruiting strategies and ideas in terms of scoring, how you go, how you move through the portal, all that stuff. It’s very consistent. And I think there’s going to be a lot more similarities than changes.”
Then Whittingham added: “He will now put his own stamp on the program – make no mistake about it.”
Scalley, who has spent his entire adult life either as a player, assistant or coach at the University of Utah, will take over for the Utes after New Year’s Eve in the Las Vegas Bowl. And he credits Whittingham with preparing him for this moment.
“I will forever be indebted to him for believing in me and giving me opportunity after opportunity to grow in this profession,” Scalley said in a statement when he was named Utah’s next head coach. “He mentored me, inspired me and gave me a vision for the future of the Utah football program and I’m ready and excited to see it through.”
Scalley players showed their support for their new leader as they bid farewell to Whittingham.
“Man, he’s a legend. I have a lot of respect for him,” quarterback Devon Dampier said of Whittingham. “He changed this program. He made it perfect for Scalley to step into.”
Junior said he had already discussed the future with Scalley.
“I’m very confident in Scalley,” said Dampier. “He was someone I talked to when I came here for my visit. He let me know how it went. When his time comes, he has full faith in me and my talent.”
Utah senior linebacker Lander Barton expects the transition to be seamless.
“I don’t think there’s really going to be any change,” he said. “It’s going to continue. Coach Scalley is a great coach. I’m excited for him.”
Scalley, 46, waited for his opportunity. In 2019, he was named the Utes’ “head coach-in-waiting” for the first time.
And Whittingham, in explaining his decision to step down now, said he didn’t want to overstay his welcome in Utah.
“Coach has been here for many years,” Whittingham said of his successor. “He’s a Utah man through and through and it’s going to be a good situation.
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