Utah's expected dream season has gone off the rails, the Cam Rising mystery dominates the headlines and now questions abound about what it all means moving forward.
Following the Utes' 17-14 loss to Houston, the preseason betting favorite to win the Big 12 fell to 1-4 in conference and 4-4 overall. What many thought could be a "Last Dance" season more closely resembled a twisted ankle on the dance floor. The goal of making the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff died quickly.
When asked to assess what had gone wrong recently, running back Micah Bernard gave a curious answer.
"Can't answer that. I'm not gonna answer that," Bernard said. "I know what it is, but I'm not gonna answer that."
As the great Brian Windhorst famously said, "What's going on in Utah?!"
One year ago, @WindhorstESPN delivered one of the great (and mystifying) monologues in sports TV history. Here's how it happened: https://t.co/ittLLj4lqP
— Sam Schube (@samschube) June 29, 2023
That the Utah football program is notoriously tight-lipped and mostly leak-free under head coach Kyle Whittingham only adds to the intrigue. Very few leaks seep out of the Utah program which is one reason the Rising saga was so confounding to outsiders.
Rising, one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in college football and in the seven-figure range according to industry sources, was expected to guide Utah to a Big 12 title in his seventh-year of eligibility. The 25-year-old quarterback previously led the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 titles and Rose Bowl appearances before suffering a devastating knee injury against Penn State in the 2023 Rose Bowl. He missed the entire 2023 season, but was ready to go for the 2024 campaign.
Whittingham spoke glowingly before the season about what Rising means to the program.
"Cam has that 'it' factor," the Utah head coach said. "As much as he does for us in play, it's his leadership that really is probably the most valuable asset that he brings to the football team. He's one of those guys that's able to make everybody around him better. And that's really what a great player does, is he makes his supporting cast play better."
It never quite materialized the way anyone hoped. As CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd documented earlier this month, Rising's questionable status became a weekly guessing game that evoked significant fan frustration this season after suffering a hand injury against Baylor in Week 2. Each week Rising would be considered a game-time decision only to not play in the actual game. He finally played in a loss to Arizona State, threw three interceptions and suffered a season-ending injury.
Without Rising, Utah has used both Isaac Wilson (younger brother of former BYU star Zach) and Brandon Rose to little success. Whittingham pulled Wilson in the third quarter of the Houston loss and said this week that he's been "pretty banged up this year." None of it bodes well for a struggling offense ahead of a highly anticipated "Holy War" against No. 9 BYU this weekend.
With this season up in flames, it prompts increased speculation about Whittingham's future. Much of it has been self-inflicted as Whittingham has been very open about not planning on being a head coach much longer. He said in 2021 that he could "just about guarantee I won't be coaching at 65." He turns 65 next month.
He has slightly walked back the 65 comment since then, but before the season at Big 12 Media Days he reiterated he's nearing the end of his road when discussing a scheduled 2027 game against Miami in Las Vegas.
"I probably won't be sitting here, but somebody will be, and that's going to be a great opportunity again to come to Vegas and play a game," Whittingham said.
In July, Utah named defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley as head-coach-in-waiting. It is the second time Scalley has received that title though he lost the designation in 2020 after racial slur allegations surfaced. Scalley apologized and admitted to texting a racial slur to a recruit in 2013. The school enforced a significant pay cut, took away the HCIW title and had him participate in diversity and inclusion education.
The head-coach-in-waiting move was more popular a decade ago but has largely gone out of style because of the pressure it can create within a locker room. The idea behind naming Scalley, though, was to provide a long-term plan to show stability and fight back against the retirement rumors that have loomed over Whittingham for years. Almost every year around this time there is industry speculation that it could be the last year for Whittingham, who is in his 20th season as the Utes' head coach. It has hurt Utah on the recruiting trail.
"I heard he was going to retire soon," Ephraim Asiata, who signed with BYU, told The Salt Lake Tribune. "That played a big part in the decision."
Utah currently has the 50th best recruiting class – 10th best in the Big 12 – according to the 247Sports team rankings. It'd be Utah's lowest-rated recruiting class in a decade since Utah signed the No. 67 recruiting class in 2014 coming off a 5-7 season.
Is the time for the handoff from Whttingham to the 45-year-old Scalley nearing? It has been all quiet within the Utah football building on the topic, according to industry sources, but the outside speculation continues to crank up. Whittingham is the winningest coach in Utah football history and guided the program to some of its highest highs like a 2008 Sugar Bowl win over Alabama that led to the Utes finishing No. 2 in the last Associated Press poll. He is one of the best coaches in all of college football.
But with a veteran team unable to meet expectations and his successor already picked, it could be attractive for Whittingham to begin that next stage of his life. He's talked openly about wanting to get more time with his grandkids after missing out on so much time with his own kids. He already has a lucrative next gig lined up whenever he decides to retire from his coaching position. He negotiated into his contract that he'll slide into a five-year role that pays him $995,000 annually as a special assistant to athletic director Mark Harlan. It is nearly double what former Alabama head coach Nick Saban makes in an advisory role with the university.
Saban decided at 72 years old he couldn't -- or simply didn't want to -- maintain the daily grind to uphold the unrealistic standard he had built and was ready to do other things with his life. We'll find out next month if the most peculiar, confounding Utah season ends with a similar ending.
