Utah’s head coach will be involved with the offense for the first time since his playing days. Here's his vision.
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Long before he was considered to be among college football’s top defensive coordinators, Morgan Scalley had dreams of making an impact on the offensive side of the ball.
Scalley starred at Highland High as a running back, winning the Deseret News’ first-ever Mr. Football award. He rushed for 1,647 yards and 19 touchdowns on 151 carries and added 22 catches for 466 yards during his senior season while also playing safety.
Scalley wanted to be a running back at Utah like his father, Bud, but Ron McBride recruited him to Utah as a wide receiver.
He didn’t last long at the position.
After Scalley’s freshman season, Bill Busch, then the defensive backs coach, approached him about switching to safety. Defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham agreed that Scalley had potential at the position.
Scalley resisted at first, telling Whittingham that it had always been his dream to play running back at Utah.
“Morgan, it’s always been my dream to play center field for the Angels, but that’s not going to happen,” Whittingham replied.
And with that, it was settled.
Scalley went on to become a second-team All-American and the Mountain West Conference co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2004. He was captain of the undefeated 2004 team, which became the first BCS Busters and defeated Pitt in the Fiesta Bowl.
From there, Scalley got into coaching on the defensive side of the ball, rising to safeties coach in 2008 and defensive coordinator in 2016. He grew into one of the nation’s top defensive minds and has plenty of expertise on that side of the ball.
Now Utah’s head coach, Scalley will be involved with the offense for the first time since his playing days.
What will Utah’s offense look like under Scalley?
Some things aren’t changing from Whittingham’s philosophy, like the emphasis on physicality.
“No. 1 is physicality. You win championships with offensive and defensive lines, period, end of story, particularly in a game that’s changing and where you’re not practicing as physical because the (roster) numbers are shrinking. You’ll always have to be physical. So establishing the offensive and defensive line,” Scalley said.
Utah’s offensive line this season was one of the best in the nation, but the Utes are having to rebuild the front five after every starter on the offensive line either graduated or declared for the NFL draft and offensive line coach Jim Harding left for Michigan.
Keith Olson, Roger Alderman and Reece Parmenter all had over 80 snaps this season for the Utes, and could compete for starting spots next year.
Five-star offensive tackle Kelvin Obot should start next season if he lives up to expectations, and on Wednesday, the Utes brought in Ohio State freshman center Isaiah Kema, who played 31 snaps for the Buckeyes next year.
Physicality is a given when talking about Utah football, but what else does Scalley envision for his offense?
Being innovative and creative are other important traits for Scalley when hiring an offensive coordinator. Those were qualities that Jason Beck exemplified when Scalley looked at some of the candidates that Utah was considering hiring last season.
Beck engineered an offense that was one of the most productive in the entire country. The Utes finished the season ranked No. 4 in the country in both scoring offense (41.2 points per game) and total offense (482.9 yards per game).
Beck played to Utah’s strength, and Utah’s strength was running the ball in 2025. The Utes set two school records in 2025 — rushing yards in a season (3,462) and rushing touchdowns in a season (41).
After Beck left for Michigan, Scalley was tasked with one of the most important hires of his fledgling career.
In Utah State offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven, Scalley feels like he has checked those three boxes — physicality, creativity and innovativeness.
“I came to Jason Beck’s offense and saw the formations of the boundary, the shifts, the motions, the stuff that causes defensive coaches ulcers. How are we going to match that? How are we going to do this? And so the same process with Kevin. And you take a look at that film and you’re like, my gosh, OK, yeah,” Scalley said.
“It makes you smile. … You have to be physical and then you have to be innovative. You have to always be on the cutting edge. Always be a student. Never think you have the answers.”
McGiven, 48, has been a football coach for 25 years and an offensive coordinator for 17. He’s had stops as an OC at SUU, Weber State, Utah State, Oregon State and San Jose State.
This season, the Aggies’ offense scored 30.9 points per game (No. 36 in the country) and averaged 409.5 yards per game (No. 39 in the country).
Former Utah quarterback Bryson Barnes shined in McGiven’s offense, and the new Ute offensive coordinator unlocked Barnes’ dual-threat potential.
Barnes threw for 2,803 yards and 18 touchdowns with five interceptions and added 740 rushing yards and 10 scores. He was named to the All-Mountain West second team for his play in 2025.
While McGiven will have his own philosophy and playbook, his similarity to Beck’s offense could be good for Utah’s continuity.
“That’s the beauty is you pull that film up and go, ‘Look boys, doesn’t that look similar?’ Right?” Scalley said.
McGiven’s offense, like Beck’s, places a lot of trust in his quarterback and his decision-making. Barnes had a lot of RPO decisions entrusted to him, similar to Dampier.
If Dampier returns for Utah, the expectation is that he will continue in an RPO-heavy spread offense, as McGiven has proven that he molds his offense to his quarterback’s attributes. In the future, that offensive scheme could change based on whatever the strength of the offense is.
As coach in waiting, Scalley has long kept names that he could call whenever he became Utah’s head coach, and McGiven’s was one of them.
McGiven has just two years of OC experience at a power conference level (2016-17 at Oregon State), but given his track record at other schools, Scalley is confident that he will succeed.
“He creates issues at levels in football. … He’s really good at what he does. He’s efficient at what he does and he’s done it at a level that hasn’t necessarily had the resources that we have. So get ready for Kevin,” Scalley said.
Once McGiven was installed as Utah’s offensive coordinator, it was time for him and Scalley to go portal shopping.
While the portal is still open until Jan. 16, only one offensive contributor — tight end/wide receiver JJ Buchanan — has entered.
Meanwhile, Utah has added three players, and counting, on offense.
Junior receiver Braden Pegan, who had 60 receptions for 926 yards and five touchdowns with Utah State, will follow his offensive coordinator to Utah.
Another McGiven-coached receiver, this one from his time at San Jose State, will also reunite with his former coach. Kyri Shoels, who had 59 receptions for 768 yards and two touchdowns in his junior season, is transferring to Utah.
The Utes also added the aforementioned Kema.
As Utah enters the Scalley era, the physicality of the Whittingham era will remain, but one thing is clear — whether on offense or defense, Scalley will always be pushing to make sure his team is on the cutting edge of innovation.
“We’re going to be the most innovative and on the edge, on the cutting edge of being the best,” Scalley said.
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Extra points
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Category: General Sports
