Why I'm really optimistic about Ute football.
 

Unlike many Ute fans, I saw Whittingham's lot and task when he took over the Utes as tantamount to a new coach taking over a program that has been totally laid low--like Washington after Neuheisel. All the skill positions were cleaned out by graduation and the NFL. The whole coaching staff was new. The new QB was a seventeen year old freshman. Is there a more imortant position in all of sports than quarterback? (See Oregon's fortune's this year.) Then the qb.

Then the qb got horribly injured and Whittingham had to improvise with essentially a walk on. When thgat talented young quarterback returned to the lineup over a year later, he promptly was injured again. Also, unlike many Utes I have a long history following the Utes, and I know that the Ute football program is to a large extent a trail of tears. I know how bad it can get, and these past three years are among the Utes' better years, over last 40. It has gotten so much worse int he past.

Many good coaches in Whittingham's position have experienced extreme losing seasons, and taken years to become competitive. If you want to see what it's like when a once proud program truly collapses, when recruiting founders and damage is done to the regimen and morale that will require a truly steep climb to achieve competitiveness, see Washington football, or Utah's basketball program.

Despite the loss in personnel, despite the wholesale coaching change over, despite the terrible luck with injuries, despite having BYU to compete with recruiting in-state, despite Ute fans' silly expectations and how disheartening that must be to this young coaching staff, Whittingham has kept the program afloat, and even sailing for long stretches. I think the Utes have a football coach who's proven he's a very good if not a great one, and Ute fans should be excited to see what he can do over a five to ten year period after he's had a real chance to rebuild and fortune has given him some better breaks.

I'm optimistic because you have a schizo as your Offensive Coordinator.

It is an uncomfortable situation for Ute fans. They have a solid staff but given what they tasted a few years ago coupled with BYU's rise back to regional dominance and greater national prominence I doubt they will be content.

I'm not in the least uncomfortable. He's 24-13, nearly 65% winning percentage, and considering the challenges he's faced that's pretty amazing in my view. Also, depsite BYU returning to prior stature, he's kept with them stride for stread in head to head games. If I were BYU fans I'd be scared of the future. He's had much more to overcome than BM, and the programs aren't that far apart.

If that's not good enough for Hill or Ute fans under the circumstances they don't deserve success.

KWhit trails Bronco by the stat that matters the most.

Bronco 2 MWC Championships.

KW... ZERO.

Considering Bronco had to rebuild a program mired in a 3 season losing streak compared to KW being given the reigns to a BCS Bowl Winner...to this point it's pretty clear who's done the better job.

Kyle still has to deliver a conference championship to cement himself as the long term coach of the Ute program, IMO...and I think he has to do it next year. Not saying that he'll be fired if he has another 8 or 9 and 4 season, but he's got to rid himself of the bad losses.

Next year is setting up to be great for both BYU and Utah, I hope that each team can live up to the hype.

08' looks like it could be a great year for both teams.

09' Looks like it could be a monster year for BYU. Pitta, Hall, Collie and Jorgensen will be Seniors that year and Unga will be a Junior.

I think it is also clear who has done a better job. BM certainly has done a better job, you can't really argue against results. However, you are crazy if you think that Utah was in a better situation than BYU when the coaches took over. Utah lost an insane amount of talent after the Fiesta Bowl year and had to rebuild. Say what you want about Crowton, but he recruited good players. He just didn't know how to put them in a position to succeed.

Meyer on the other hand did a pretty piss poor job recruiting to Utah. Look at who Utah is playing right now, it is mostly guys from the post-Meyer recruiting classes. The guys that Meyer recruited pretty much flamed out quickly.

Call me crazy but of that list of players, I think that Jorgensen is the best player of the bunch. No disrespect to the other players, I just think as a sophomore that Jorgensen is a legit candidate for DPOY, when there are a lot of really good defensive players in this conference.

SU, I try to follow your counsel whenever possible, but I really don't understand this. "Much more to overcome than BM?" Except for houseflies born in the past couple of weeks, I don't know how anyone can buy into that. Return with me to January 2005. Utah is a BCS winner; BYU was a smoldering hulk of its former self, and the trendlines were ominous. Utah's recruiting potential was at its zenith; BYU's was at its lowest. And it's Kyle who had "much more" to overcome? Please.

I think Kyle's doing a good job, and there was a time (long past) that I would have loved for him to come to BYU. But to suggest his task was more difficult, or that his achievements are greater, than Bronco's over the past three years is silly. The fact that you argue "the programs aren't that far apart," given the distance that separated them on Groundhog Day 2005, merely underscores the superb job BM has done, and why fear of the future seems a little silly.