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2022 Spring Football: Utes Reach Halfway Point

by Utah Athletics
Apr 5, 2022

SALT LAKE CITY – With seven practices remaining before Utah Football's annual spring game on Saturday, April 23, the Utes have officially hit the halfway point of spring camp.

Tickets for the spring game, which will kick off at 12 p.m. MT on April 23, are available at www.UtahTickets.com. Fans can purchase two tickets for $22 in the chair seats or four tickets for $22 in the bleachers with all proceeds going to the Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe Memorial Scholarships.

This week, the Utah Sports Commission also announced its yearly State of Sport Awards this week with the team being named Team of the Year, Kyle Whittingham as Coach of the Year and Devin Lloyd as Player of the Year.

With today being the seventh practice of spring camp, the Utes continued to improve on both sides of the ball with newcomers and veterans alike catching the eyes of their coaches. As another week began, several members of the Utah Football coaching staff met with the media, talking about their position groups and the improvements they are seeing across the board.

Head Coach Kyle Whittingham

On where things are at the linebacker position during the spring…
"I'll tell you the young guys are doing a great job. The guys that just got here from high school – Lander Barton, Justin Medlock and Carson Tabaracci – those guys have really added to that group. I would say that right now the leader of that group is Karene Reid. We think we have a good group, but there's not a lot of experience because we lost our two guys that played mostly every snap last year, but when these guys get up to speed they should be okay."

On what has helped Karene set himself apart…
"First of all, he's experienced. He had a lot of reps last year, not a lot but more than anybody else essentially. He's extremely smart and his linebacker instincts are exactly what you want from that position." 

On what stands out about Mohamoud Diabate on the field…
"His range. He's got tremendous range sideline to sideline, he's got great athleticism, he's got a good ability to deal with blockers and he's just an athlete. That's probably his best asset is his shear athleticism."

On if Junior Tafuna and Van Fillinger are taking the steps Whittingham wants to see from them…
"They are. Both of them are playing well and coming off really good seasons. Particularly Junior, who was the freshman defensive player of the year, and Tennessee Pututau is also making some noise right now. As well as our two young defensive ends that are doing a great job, Jonah Elliss and Connor O'Toole, those guys are really good players."

On who has stepped up on the offensive line since Nick Ford is now gone…
"Braeden Daniels is the leader of the offensive line. He's a guy that everybody looks to and he's playing left tackle for us exclusively right now, which is what we need and he's doing a great job.

On if Braeden is as versatile as Nick on the line…
"Yes, he is as versatile as Nick. Him and Nick are very similar in that regard and you're right, he can play all five positions."

On if he is seeing the progress from the youth on the offensive line…
"Yes, the guys that are freshman are moving up through the ranks and are getting better. We should have a very solid two deep, maybe even go to 11 or 12 with that offensive line for the season."

On where the team is at the safety position and if enough progress is being made…
"I think so, Cole Bishop is having a tremendous spring and is picking up right where he left off in the fall. Kamo'i Latu was out for a few days with a leg injury but he is back now and looks good. What's really encouraging, and I mentioned this last week, is RJ Hubert. He is back too and is 100%." 

Cornerbacks Coach Sharrieff Shah

On how spring has gone so far…
"It's gone well and these boys have bought in so fully and completely, and what's been the focus is that I need to see them get better in man coverage. You have to be better in man coverage, so that's getting better and I've seen it across the board. Also tackling, go back to our last game we played, we missed so many tackles and that's been the emphasis from the defensive standpoint. Particularly my rule, if they get to us that means we are almost the last line of defense and you better make the tackle. That's also made me happy and we've gotten a little tougher too, just getting these guys a little mentally tougher has been good to see."

On how JaTravis Broughton looks coming off injury…
"The first two practices he was very sluggish. He had put on weight and I wanted him to get stronger, but it just wasn't weight that was good for him. So now after today's practice he looks so much better, so much more reactionary, he is strong and we had some live work the other day and he made such a good tackle on Tavion. He is a load to bring down and JT did a fantastic job of bringing him down."

On coach Shah's emphasis on Clark Phillips III this season…
"For Clark it's always 'you have a tremendous work ethic, why don't you make that infectious to everybody else?' Bring people along. Every day he is doing something by himself to get better and I tell him that he needs to set a standard in this room because now you're the older player and you set the standard. Bring everybody along and let them have your desire to want to get better."

Tight Ends Coach Freddie Whittingham

On how big it was to return Brant Kuithe this year…
"It was just great news. I feel like he had some things that he wanted to accomplish this senior year, individually and as a team. I couldn't be happier."

On if it was shocking to see Dalton Kincaid choose to return as well…
"I don't know if you guys know but both of them had been invited to the combine and both of them tuned that invitation to the combine down and they decided to stay. I just think that both of them felt that there were things in their individual games and personal development to work on. With the COVID year, this year's draft is kind of overloaded, especially at the tight end position, so I think they both made a business decision as well to stick around for their senior year here and put themselves in a great position for the following years draft."

On what Munir McClain's talent brings to the tight end room…
"First of all, he has great size. He's about 6'3", close to 230 pounds, has an 83-inch wingspan and he's got the frame to put on more weight. I think the ceiling for him is sky high. He's got a lot of athleticism, he will learn how to block on the line of scrimmage as a tight end and I think he's going to be one of those next great tight ends here at Utah."

On what coach Freddie Whittingham has seen of Thomas Yassmin…
"He looks great so far through these practices. He's practicing very well and he's continuing to develop his game as a guy who never played football before he got here. He's in his fourth year and a guy we expect to be a major contributor this coming fall."
 

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