The Utes and Morgan Scalley made an unexpected hire at offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
(Anna Fuder | Utah Athletics) Utah football coach Morgan Scalley observes a practice in Salt Lake City on July 30, 2025.<\/p>\n
Utah head coach Morgan Scalley has found his offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
The Utes announced the hire of Utah State offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven on Saturday. McGiven spent one season with the Aggies and head coach Bronco Mendenhall before agreeing to a deal with the Utes.<\/p>\n
The move comes after former Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck and other Utes assistants followed Kyle Whittingham to the Michigan Wolverines. <\/p>\n
\u201cKevin is one of the brightest offensive minds in college football,\u201d Scalley said in a news release. \u201cHis ability to innovate and adapt to different personnel is extremely impressive and he brings a scheme and mentality that are perfect for the playmakers we have here at Utah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under McGiven, Utah State finished with the third-best offense in the Mountain West this season, averaging over 30 points and 400 yards per game en route to a 6-7 record and an appearance in the Idaho Potato Bowl. <\/p>\n
Former Utah quarterback Bryson Barnes had his best collegiate season under McGiven, passing for 2,803 yards and 18 touchdowns. Barnes also ran the ball 189 times for 740 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.<\/p>\n
With McGiven\u2019s hire official, the Utes and Scalley will have to shift their focus to retaining both freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin and junior quarterback Devon Dampier. The NCAA transfer portal opened up on Friday and is set to close on Jan. 16.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how the rest of Scalley\u2019s coaching staff is shaping up.<\/p>\n
Defensive coordinator<\/p>\n
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah football linebackers coach Colton Swan speaks to media on the first day of fall camp in Salt Lake City, Monday, July 31, 2023.<\/p>\n
Linebackers coach Colton Swan will take over for Scalley as Utah\u2019s defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
Swan has been with the Utes since 2019. During his tenure overseeing the program\u2019s linebackers, he has developed five players who have gone on to play in the NFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur defense will reflect what this program always stood for \u2013 smart, tough and relentless football\u2013 values instilled over the years by Coach Scalley and Coach Whittingham,\u201c Swan said in a news release. \u201dWe embrace championship expectations in 2026, and I\u2019m looking forward to getting to work with our players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Offensive line<\/p>\n
Carolina Panthers tackle Jordan Gross, right, lifts wide receiver Steve Smith after Smith scored the team’s first touchdown in the second quarter against the New England Patriots during Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2004. At left is the Panthers’ Muhsin Muhammad (87). (AP Photo\/Elise Amendola)<\/p>\n
Former Ute lineman and 11-year NFL veteran Jordan Gross will take over the role vacated by Jim Harding.<\/p>\n
Gross has spent the last four seasons as the head coach of Fruitland High School in Idaho, where he mentored five-star Utah commit Kelvin Obot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am beyond excited to be back home at the U,\u201d Gross said. \u201cThe opportunity to be a part of Coach Scalley\u2019s staff is the chance of a lifetime and great days are ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Safeties coach<\/p>\n
Derrick Odum, a former Utah defensive back (1989-92), is returning to his alma mater.<\/p>\n
Odum has been San Jose State\u2019s defensive coordinator for the last nine years. Earlier in his career, he spent three seasons coaching Utah\u2019s safeties from 2005 to 2007. <\/p>\n
\u201cDerrick is a Utah man that is one of the best teachers and evaluators I have been around,\u201d Scalley said. \u201cHe has a proven track record of developing some of the best defensive backs in the country and brings a wealth of knowledge from having coordinated defense for the past nine years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other needs<\/p>\n
The Utes appear to have retained running backs coach Mark Atuaia, defensive backs coach Sharrieff Shah, and defensive ends coach Luther Elliss. <\/p>\n
The Utes have not announced replacements for quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr., tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham, defensive ends coach Lewis Powell or wide receivers coach Micah Simon, all of whom followed Beck and Whittingham to Michigan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Utes and Morgan Scalley made an unexpected hire at offensive coordinator. (Anna Fuder | Utah Athletics) Utah…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,49,48,1716,8047],"class_list":["post-653411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-university-of-utah","tag-utes"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115837242177921665","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}