# #

2021 Football Camp: Coordinator Corner, Morgan Scalley

by Utah Athletics
Aug 18, 2021

SALT LAKE CITY – The final week of camp for the Utah Football program hit the midpoint Wednesday with a two-plus hour practice that was moved indoors because of heavy rain that settled in to the Salt Lake Valley. The Utes are just 15 days away from the season-opening game at the newly-expanded Rice-Eccles Stadium, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2, against Weber State.
 
Utah Athletics announced earlier Wednesday a number of upgrades and additions to game days in 2021, including the introduction of digital ticketing and parking, which was recently communicated to season ticket holders with detailed instructions for implementing the system.

In addition, single-game tickets went on sale Wednesday morning, while a limited number of season tickets remain available.
 
Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley and players met the media after practice. Scalley addressed the recent loss of former Utes player and assistant coach John Pease, who passed away on Monday. He also touched on the defensive unit at each level, and the progress being made by the defense's younger players.
 
On John Pease …
"That was tough. Amazing man…he's the Utah Man. That's the guy right there. A mentor to me. I take a lot of my coaching style from John. When you talk about a player-oriented coach, he is all about the player. Very humble, never took credit for anything. I love him, I love Chris, his wife, his family, just can't say enough good things about him. I love that dude."
 
On specific things he learned from Coach Pease as a young assistant coach…
"Just his demeanor and his calm on game day. He was a master of just ignoring the big play against you and (having) the next-play mentality. He was just nails up here in the booth; nothing fazed him and I loved that about him. His calm with the players on game day. Again, just so much. I could spend hours sitting here talking about him. Love that family and my best to Chris and his entire family."
 
On what his reaction was when he heard the news…
 
"It was a tough one. I heard it right before practice. Took some time; obviously we have to focus on the players at that point. But, afterwards, spent a lot of time in the defensive staff room just talking about memories. Memories about John Pease—the funny stuff… he was always the guy that provided the laugh. I can remember being on a coaches' retreat at Snowbird early in the morning, 6 a.m., and he's on the board, writing stuff down. All of a sudden, you hear this loud squealing from outside and he stops, mid-sentence, and turns and says well…'it's either really, really good or really, really bad.' He provided the laughs. He was, again, a guy that taught me so much about preparation, about how to handle game-day issues. He was just the best."
 
On the experience gained by a young defense last year and how it's showing this year…
"What you are doing is not relying so much upon first-day install. This is stuff they know now and now it's about disguising and about taking advantage of what you know about offensive tendencies.
When you're young it's all about getting lined up correctly; it's alignment-assignment football. Now we're still young, in secondary, at least. Young in a lot of different ways; we're young in a sense that we haven't even played in front of a crowd, with some of these guys. So they're not used to the ebb and flow of the game, the good things that happen in a game and drawing off of a crowd, getting booed by the opposing crowd, or the opposing crowd going nuts if you give up a play. So there is a lot that they have yet to experience and that's something you can't really duplicate or replicate to prepare for them, until they experience it firsthand."

On the position battle at the safety position…
"It's great. The addition McKinney… Brandon has done a great job. He was coached up well at University of Washington. Look at the strides both Cole Bishop and Kamo'i Latu have made; Vonte Davis is a seasoned vet back there, Darrien Stewart at the free safety spot is making some good strides. We feel like we have the depth at that position.  At the corner spot, those guys have all come back. Elisha Lloyd really is the only brand new addition that you have in secondary.  JaTravis Broughton, again with Clark (Phillips) and with Caine (Savage), some of these guys, they just haven't experienced that game day reaction to the crowd. They're the ones that are going to have to get that experience."
 
On what Brandon McKinney has brought to the safeties room with his experience…
"Well, again, he was coached well at the University of Washington, he knows how to prepare, very mature about studying film, mature also about coming in and kind of letting the guys get a feel for him before trying to assert himself. He is a leader but he's also had to take some time to gain the trust of the guys in the room. He's done that. Very smart, heady football player that can play both the free and strong. That helps. Sometimes with newcomers, it's either you have to lock them into the free spot or the strong safety spot, (but) he's a guy that athletically and mentally can handle both, so that is huge for us."
 
On the competition at defensive end, opposite returning starter Mika Tafua…
"Really good. Again, Van Fillinger and Xavier Carlton, you've got Jonah Elliss who's in there as well. We're kind of tinkering with him at the stud spot and the end spot, so we've definitely got guys that are no longer first-year guys that we're dealing with. And they've got different skill-sets: Mika (Tafua) is a little bit more explosive off the edge. Both Van and X use their strength to their advantage. They're long-levered and do a good job with technique. We're excited for that group, and I know haven't listed everybody, but we feel pretty good about it."
 
On the Calvert brothers, linebackers Josh and Ethan…
"Two different situations… one (Josh) is a transfer from Washington, who again, a lot like Brandon (McKinney), very good coaching. We could tell early on that he understood concepts. Ethan is a heck of an athlete, freshman, he Is a quick learner, he was coached well in high school. Both of them are tough as nails, and very humble, quiet. That's something that we've got to get out of them. You can be quiet in the locker room and the film room, but dang it, you'd better speak up out here. Gotta be able to communicate. Both of them have a great skill-set and we're happy to have them as part of the program."
 
On what the defense needs to do in Saturday's scrimmage after last week's first scrimmage…
"Situational work. Red zone was not, in my opinion, a positive for us. Red zone work, two-minute work, understanding depth changes. Every game is made up of different situations and understanding how an offense may change depending on that situation. Too many unforced errors, giving them first downs, jumping offsides, just not understanding the situation. So really it's the situational work that we really need to tie things down.
 
On comparisons to Utah's 2019 team…
"You can definitely see it in the leadership. I definitely see it in the front seven. The secondary is still untested, so that is kind of a question mark right there. You are talking about a pretty darn good secondary (in 2019) with (Julian) Blackmon, (Terrell) Burgess, Jaylon Johnson… so these guys haven't really proven anything yet, other than they are willing and they're athletic enough. We're excited about them, but again, they're still untested."
 
On the recover of safety R.J. Hubert, and whether he could be available this year…
"I never say never, because of the situation we are in, with the redshirt changing—you have four games. You just never know how guys progress with their injuries. They give you a diagnosis, but sometimes the kids' bodies start feeling better. He is doing the best that he can in terms of getting back to it."

Related News & Videos