Kyle Whittingham wasn’t just a head coach at Utah; he was all the program had to show for those bragging rights. Serving 32 years in the program showed his loyalty and the foundations he built. Most importantly, he is Utah’s winningest head coach, with eight 10-win seasons. Ask any Utah fan, and they will only admire their former beloved head coach. And yet, his departure was very difficult for the program.

Longtime Utah DC Morgan Scalley was already named Whittingham’s successor way back in 2020, but Utah still planned to keep the former HC around for two years in a post-retirement advisory role. Despite that contingency plan in place, one odd morning when Whittingham decided to accept the Michigan job, Scalley found himself alone amid roster turnover and a cascading transition.

The first and foremost task Scalley had was keeping Utah’s ace QB Devon Dampier from hitting the portal. He reached Dampier’s apartment and made his pitch. “I just tried to do everything I could in my power to help him understand my belief in him,” Scalley told On3’s Pete Nakos.

“Just going to Devon and really going over to his apartment, saying, ‘Dude, this su-ks for you. You have your coordinator leave, head coach leave, and no one is really saying sorry, but here I am. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I’m sorry you’re having to deal with uncertainty. And I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this.”

While many people focused on Whittingham’s move to Michigan, Utah’s coach-in-waiting, Morgan Scalley, was dealing with the fallout. Instead of making promises or giving a big speech, he chose a much more personal approach.

“When I had surgery, I came back, and our whole entire staff was waiting for me to get off the plane. That meant a lot to me,” Dampier told Desert News. “Just us having this conversation about what he (Morgan Scalley) wanted out of me and just his background and my background, we just got on the same page, and I love what he said. I love what I felt, and I’m sticking to it.”

Scalley suddenly had to prove that Utah’s culture would stay strong even after Whittingham’s departure. Fortunately for the Utes, he was not an outsider learning the program for the first time. He had spent nearly two decades on Utah’s staff. He coached safeties, served as recruiting coordinator, and eventually became defensive coordinator. Scalley had worked closely with Whittingham for years and helped build many of the teams that made Utah successful.

Returning this year for the team, Dampier is a crucial piece in Utah’s puzzle. He passed for 2,490 yards last year and ran for another 835 yards for a total of 34 touchdowns. That kind of explosiveness is hard to get ready-made in college football, and Dampier provides just that. Interestingly, it was not just Dampier who decided to stay. Scalley managed to keep a huge number of his 2025 players at Utah.

Scalley is confident in the players he has with him this season

Scalley, through his personal approach, has managed to keep 54 of his 2025 players with his team this year. It’s not that players didn’t depart, as many even followed Kyle Whittingham to Michigan. However, what matters is that the head coach brought back standout players like Byrd Ficklin, Wayshawn Parker, Jackson Bennee, and Elijah Davis to the team. That should keep Utah competitive despite 38 transfers to the transfer portal this season.

“I really like the pieces that we have. I don’t know that we’re going to have the quality of offensive line that we had last year, obviously with the two first-round draft picks, but absolutely love the progression that I’ve seen,” Scalley said to ON3. “Don’t know that there’s going to be a huge drop-off there, but we’ve yet to play someone, so it’ll be interesting to see how things go there. The season will be dependent upon the development of the offensive and defensive line.”

Keeping Dampier in Utah may not seem big to many, but it was as difficult as it could get. Before arriving at Utah in 2025, Dampier played for New Mexico, and his offensive coordinator was Jason Beck. Despite that past relationship, Dampier decided to roll his cards with Scalley, while Beck moved to Michigan with Whittingham. That alone should be enough to say that Utah is in good hands.