Utah preparing for ‘heavy shopping season’ in transfer portal

The University of Utah football program will undergo a season of change in just a few weeks.

The Utes play their last regular-season game Nov. 29, needing to beat No. 22 Iowa State at home and UCF on the road to become bowl eligible, then just days later, on Dec. 4, will ink their 2025 high school and junior college recruiting class. On Dec. 9, the transfer portal officially opens, with players departing and joining the program.

In addition, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is ideally hoping to get the Utes’ new offensive coordinator in place before signing day, though he said on his ESPN 700 coaches show that it’s “more important you get the right guy than hurry up and make a quicker decision and maybe not come away with the right guy.”

It’s a lot of change in a very short time, but it’s become the norm across college football.

The first item to check off the list is hiring an offensive coordinator — the first new hire in that position since 2019. The transfer portal will factor into the hire, as Whittingham — and head-coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley — are looking for someone who has an offensive scheme that is “plug and play.”

“You can’t have a scheme that’s so complicated and so in-depth that it takes a guy two or three years to learn it. You don’t have that time anymore,” Whittingham said.

The next step will be inking the 2025 high school recruiting class.

According to 247Sports, the Utes have 17 commits in their upcoming class, headlined by Las Vegas linebacker Christian Thatcher, who is the lone consensus four-star prospect in the group. As it stands, Utah’s class ranks No. 52 in the nation and No. 10 of 16 Big 12 teams, according to 247Sports’ rankings.

Shortly after, the transfer portal officially opens.

As is the case every season, Utah will see roster turnover, but it will be even more significant this year. Part of that is the large outgoing senior class, with more than a few players that had extra eligibility due to COVID or injuries. A typical outgoing class is usually eight to 12 players, Whittingham said, but this year it will be more than 25 players.

Then you will have players leaving the school for the typical reasons, whether it’s dissatisfaction with playing time or role or getting a better financial offer from another school. One Utah player, running back Jaylon Glover, has already announced his intention to enter the portal when it opens.

When the dust settles, Whittingham projects Utah will have around 40 to 45 new players, split pretty evenly between high school and junior college players and transfer portal pickups.

“It’s going to be a heavy shopping season for us in the portal,” Utah’s longtime coach said.

Right now, discussions are ongoing with members of Utah’s roster ahead of the transfer portal, including hammering out financial specifics.

“Some guys will say, ‘Yep, that’s good. I’m locked in, I’m happy.’ And some guys will say, ‘Well, I need to investigate and maybe take a look around at the market.’ And so it’s happening and it will continue to happen in a more concentrated effort with it as the season ticks down,” Whittingham said.

College football is becoming more and more like the NFL, and this offseason will hasten that process. Some players now have agents representing them, and Utah has a general manager, Robert Blechen.

What’s next? Revenue sharing from schools will be enacted for next season, with the amount of money available for universities to share with athletes expected to be $20.5 million per school, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. Around 75-80% of that cap, according to Dellenger, is expected to go to football.

In July at Big 12 Media Days, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said his department is “all-in” on wherever the settlement falls.

As Utah prepares to go “shopping” in the transfer portal, it has a budget mapped out

“We’ve already got all the numbers budgeted, spreadsheets galore as far as what we’re allocating to each position — how much to O, how much to D,” Whittingham said. “I mean it’s all mapped out now. It’s just a case of going shopping in the portal and filling those needs within those financial parameters.”

While every school will be held to the same revenue-sharing cap, the difference will be felt in the amount of NIL funds that collectives can provide in addition to the revenue-sharing cap. If you want to keep pace with some of the top programs in the country, it’s going to require ponying up extra money.

“If you want to try to keep pace, you’re going to have to supplement the revenue share, have to — if you want to keep pace. If you want to be average, then be average,” Whittingham said.

One position that Utah will likely look at in the transfer portal is the one that costs the most — quarterback. The price of a “pretty decent” Power Four starting quarterback starts at about a million dollars and goes up from there, Whittingham said.

Quarterback Cam Rising has been “very well compensated,” per Whittingham, but was unavailable for all of 2023 and the majority of 2024 with injuries. Does that experience give Utah any second thoughts about spending big bucks on a quarterback?

At this point, there’s no real choice. The market is set for any good quarterback in the transfer portal and it isn’t going back.

“We can’t be deterred by a hefty price tag if it’s the most important position by far, hands down, no questions asked. I’ve said that many times. And so you can’t compromise and try to get a bargain and get by with something that you don’t think is elite,” Whittingham said.

In case you missed it

Utah women’s basketball head coach Lynne Roberts is the new head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, ending her 10-year tenure with Utah immediately. Utah associate head coach Gavin Petersen, also in his 10th year at Utah, has been promoted to permanent head coach.

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