Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley took three questions about his newly revealed “head coach in waiting” title at the start of his media availability on Monday morning, then turned the focus to the 2024 season.
Scalley, who received the title again via a contract extension last November, was publicly announced as Kyle Whittingham’s successor earlier this month.
One of the benefits to the announcement was to signal program stability to recruits, something Scalley discussed, specifically regarding Utah’s reputation on the defensive side of the ball.
“Recruits know what they’re going to get for the most part, right?” Scalley said. “And when you have an established culture, winning culture at that, people are not only interested in that, they love it, they thrive off it. They want to know that the guys that are recruiting them, that they’re going to be there to coach them throughout their time.”
But besides saying he was grateful to Utah for the faith the university has in him to continue coaching in Salt Lake City, and touching on continuing the program’s culture, Scalley is concentrating on his current job — defensive coordinator under Whittingham.
“The biggest thing is them understanding culture and how important it’s been to this program and what Kyle’s been able to do, beyond obviously what Urban (Meyer) and Mac (Ron McBride) and just understanding this is a special place and having people that understand that and understand the culture, what it takes to win here,” Scalley said.
The time will come when Scalley — who has spent his entire football life in Salt Lake City, including four years as a player and 17 years as a coach at Utah — takes over the program.
But right now isn’t the time for him to dream about that, not during the Utes’ first season in the Big 12, one in which they hope to become conference champions and earn the program’s debut trip to the College Football Playoff.
“I’m grateful that they put that trust in me, but beyond that, we’re going to end that. On to this year,” Scalley said.
While the majority of starters from Scalley’s 2023 defense return (the Utes ranked No. 13 in total defense last year), he is focused on developing the depth the program will need as it goes deep into November, and beyond, especially after last year’s injury-plagued campaign.
“I think the biggest thing, if you look at last year, is injuries happen, particularly when you play the schedule that we play or any Power Four team for that matter,” Scalley said.
“You have to have depth. Depth is a part of winning championships and I was grateful that we were able to get to see some of these young guys last year. It’s going to benefit them this year.”
The areas where Scalley is primarily focused on building depth? Safety and linebacker.
The Utes looked set at linebacker heading into the spring, but after Levani Damuni’s injury that could keep him out for the majority — if not all — of the season, the Utes are a little thinner.
Of course, there’s two rock-solid starters in Karene Reid and Lander Barton, who should form a formidable duo, and Sione Fotu is ready to step in as LB3 after playing 110 snaps last year after returning from his church mission.
The depth behind those three will have to be sorted out, but includes Trey Reynolds, Moroni Anae and Josh Calvert — all of whom have experience at Utah.
Calvert, a senior, played 28 snaps last season, with three tackles and one tackle for loss. Anae (a junior) and Reynolds (a sophomore) are both back from missions and saw time in 2020 and 2021, respectively, before leaving.
Beyond them, Scalley singled out freshman linebackers Hunter Andrews and Kana’i Lopes as newcomers to watch.
“We’ve got guys, it’s just establishing that depth and what’s the pecking order,” Scalley said.
At safety, Utah has to replace pros Cole Bishop and Sione Vaki, with Tao Johnson slotted into a free safety starting spot. Beyond Johnson, there’s Nate Ritchie, Johnathan Hall and Alaka’i Gilman competing for strong safety, with Ritchie currently a slight favorite to win the starting job.
Whichever two players don’t get the starting job will provide good depth, and Blinn College transfer Rabbit Evans, alongside freshmen Jeilani Davis, Jackson Bennee and Ben Durham fill out the room.
With less than a month to kickoff, Scalley’s thoughts are on finding that depth on the defense, selecting a starter at safety and Utah’s first opponent — not anything else down the line.
“I think about Southern Utah,” Scalley said.