Ben Moa knew the anger was coming.

Utah lost Kyle Whittingham, the coach responsible for much of the program’s modern-day success. Then the Utes lost their offensive coordinator, their wide receivers coach, their All-America defensive end, their offensive line coach and numerous other key contributors who followed Whittingham to his new job at Michigan. On top of that, they were about to lose Salesi Moa, one of the top recruits to sign with Utah during Whittingham’s 21-year tenure.

Ben, Salesi’s father, played at Utah and understood what it meant for the program to land a player like his son, a two-way star from Fremont High School in Ogden. To a segment of the fan base, it wouldn’t matter that Salesi’s decision to play for Whittingham at Michigan was one of the last dominoes to fall from a situation set in motion by others. To some, Salesi would be the villain, the kid who spent one week on campus and entered the transfer portal.

“That’s why they’re fans,” Ben said. “You can’t take it too literal. They love it, they live by it, and they’re just frickin’ pissed off. I understand that. When they say, ‘F that kid,’ I get it. They were banking on him freaking being there.”

Salesi, the No. 42 player in the 247Sports Composite rankings, announced his decision Jan. 16 at the Polynesian Bowl. He took some shots in the public eye, including one from Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, who deleted a social media post criticizing Salesi for scheduling a public announcement after he enrolled at Utah.

The coaches at Michigan — Whittingham, offensive coordinator Jason Beck, wide receivers coach Micah Simon and defensive ends coach Lewis Powell, who is Salesi’s uncle — are largely the same ones who recruited Salesi to Utah. Ben doesn’t begrudge fans their emotional reactions, but he also wishes people could see things from Salesi’s point of view.

“That’s why we went to Utah, for coach Whittingham and Beck and Micah,” Ben said. “When that changed, everyone’s all mad at Salesi. I just tell him, people don’t realize he’s not waking up every morning and changing his (mind). All of his decisions were based upon coaches’ decisions.”

As the youngest son in a family of college football players, Salesi is used to holding his own against bigger, stronger kids. His two older brothers, Sione and Aisea, are linebackers who signed with BYU out of high school before transferring to other schools. Sione completed his college eligibility last season at UConn and Aisea will join Salesi at Michigan after spending last year at Michigan State.

After his season ended at UConn, Sione flew to Hawaii with his fiancée to spend time with Salesi at the Polynesian Bowl. He could tell Salesi was ready to move on from the recruiting process and the drama that surrounded his decision to enter the transfer portal.

“I know it was kind of overwhelming for him, just because of the media stuff,” Sione said. “That’s not really even his personality. It doesn’t stress him out, but he just wants to play football. This stuff he can’t control, these changes that were impacting his decision, it was kind of a lot for him in that little time.”

The Moas had already done their homework on Michigan, a program that recruited Salesi aggressively under the previous coaching staff. Salesi visited Ann Arbor several times and had a strong bond with the coaches who were recruiting him, including defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan and staffers Lionel Stokes and Brad Hawkins.

Nate Tuatagaloa, Salesi’s coach at Fremont, could tell he hit it off with Michigan’s coaches whenever they visited. There was one problem: Salesi wanted to play wide receiver, and Michigan’s previous staff wanted him primarily as a defensive back.

“Before all of this even went down, I’m talking October, September, the DBs coach from Michigan would come down here and talk to him,” Tuatagaloa said. “Michigan was one of his top (schools). I’d be like, ‘I think you need to go to Michigan, man.’ He was like, ‘I’d love to, but they want me more as a DB.’ That was his thing; he wanted to be a receiver first.”

Salesi played wide receiver throughout high school and finished his career with 226 receptions, 3,757 yards and 44 touchdowns. Tuatagaloa needed him to play both ways at Fremont, where he spent his junior and senior seasons, and some schools thought safety or nickel would be his best position in college.

Salesi played defensive back in the Polynesian Bowl and matched up against Ohio State-bound wide receiver Chris Henry Jr., showing the versatility that made him the No. 2 athlete in the composite rankings. His goal of playing wide receiver in college, and eventually in the NFL, was part of his reasoning for committing to Tennessee in July.

At first, Salesi was excited to be part of a loaded receiving corps at Tennessee, Ben said. That changed as the Volunteers continued recruiting wide receivers, including five-star prospect TK Keys, who flipped from LSU in August. The Moas saw Whittingham as a rock-solid coach who would be transparent about the plan for Salesi, and that was a driving factor in his decision to flip from Tennessee to Utah in December.

Salesi Moa timeline

DateNews

July 31

Moa verbally commits to Tennessee

Dec. 3

Moa flips commitment and signs with Utah

Dec. 13

Whittingham steps down as coach at Utah

Dec. 26

Michigan hires Whittingham

Jan. 5

Moa enrolls at Utah

Jan. 12

Moa enters transfer portal

Jan. 16

Moa commits to Michigan

Whittingham stepping down at Utah threw everything into chaos. When he landed at Michigan, the Moas saw it as the best of both worlds. Salesi could focus on wide receiver, his preferred position, while working in a few snaps as a safety. He could play for coaches he knew and trusted at a school he was drawn to from the start, and he’d also have his brother, Aisea, as a teammate.

Even with all of those factors pulling in Michigan’s favor, Ben said it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Salesi would leave Utah once Whittingham departed. Salesi had a good relationship with Morgan Scalley, Whittingham’s successor, but wasn’t familiar with the new offensive coordinator, Kevin McGiven, who hadn’t recruited him heavily as the coordinator at Utah State. His doubts intensified when Utah brought in transfers at wide receiver from Utah State and San Jose State, McGiven’s previous stops.

Of course, Utah’s new coaches wanted Salesi to stay, but did they really want him? Salesi and his family weren’t sure.

“Maybe they kind of lost him there,” said Tuatagaloa, who is also Salesi’s uncle.

Salesi knew he was wanted at Michigan, primarily because of Whittingham. Ben played tight end for the Utes in 2002 and 2003 when Whittingham was the defensive coordinator under Urban Meyer. He went on to become an MMA fighter after his football career, and it’s fair to say he’s not easily intimidated. When he’s around Whittingham, he senses the same gravitas he remembers from his college days.

“I have that kind of scared respect for him,” Ben said. “When he walks in the room, I’m 45 years old, but I sit up.”

Michigan fans are still getting to know Whittingham, and Utah fans are still getting over his departure. For some, it will always be strange to see him at a different school. Ben understands the complicated feelings surrounding Whittingham’s departure and the frustration from fans about losing a coveted recruit, but the signs pointing Salesi to Michigan were too obvious to ignore.

“We ended up in the right place,” Ben said. “I feel like it wasn’t a coincidence.”