Kyle Whittingham Weekly Press Conference: Florida

SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham held his first weekly press conference of the 2022 season on Monday, meeting with members of the media inside the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center.
 
Selected quotes from Coach Whittingham can be seen below.
 
The No. 7-ranked Utes will kick off the 2022 season in The Swamp, taking on the Florida Gators on Saturday, Sept. 3. The game is set for a 5 p.m. MT/7 p.m. ET kick inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on ESPN.
 
Opening Statement
"The season is here. We're looking forward to the trip down to Gainesville. It'll be a great opportunity for our football team. Florida is a really talented team with a lot of really good players. They're fast and athletic. It'll be a big challenge for us. It's going to take our best effort to go down and try to get the win. Their quarterback is outstanding. I know there's not a big body of work, but some people are projecting him as a top-10 pick this coming draft. He's obviously got a ton of ability. Big kid, 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, really fast. He's going to be a handful for us. But our guys have worked hard through Fall camp. Even back to the start of the beginning of the year [in January] it's been a solid work ethic through all three phases. We came out of Fall camp really healthy, which is a big plus. We didn't have much live work in Fall camp relative to other years. It was a lot like 2019, when we had a very veteran team coming in, but we didn't do a lot of live work [in 2019]. It was the same approach this year and consequently, we came out in good shape. We'll find out where we are at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening."
 
On Bryson Barnes being named backup quarterback heading into Florida…
"[Bryson] just has better command of the offense, fewer mistakes. We believe in Ja'Quinden Jackson and he still has a lot of football still ahead of him. He certainly is a tremendous athlete and is a true dual-threat. But right now, Bryson Barnes, we feel, is the best solution if something were to happen to Cameron Rising just based on the total body of work through Spring and Fall camp."
 
On Utah's roster makeup in Florida and if that factored into scheduling the series…
"That played a part in it. We've had athletes from Florida, some years more than others. We've had as many as 10 or 12 from Florida on the roster at any one time. Five this year. But [Florida] is in our footprint and we'll continue to recruit that area. We've had a lot of success with those guys, Zack Moss, Tyler Huntley, there have been some guys that have been major contributors for us."
 
On the running backs room…
"Everyone will have their role. I don't think it's necessarily who we play, just the game plan that particular week, what fits the strengths of the different backs. Each one brings something different to the table. They're all going to play.
 
"Tavion Thomas obviously is the guy that returns with the most production, over 1,000 yards and 20-plus touchdowns. So he's a guy that is most likely to get a majority of the carries. Not guaranteed, but most likely. Micah Bernard's skill set is outstanding—catching the ball out of the backfield is something he does exceptionally well. He catches the ball as well as any receiver that we have, he's that talented. Jaylon Glover is a very talented true freshman. He does a great job with the inside zone run game, very shifty, really good instincts and vision. Chris Curry is a bigger back, 220 pounds, a lot like Tavion. More of a tackle to tackle guy. Exceptionally good at picking up blitzes. So everybody brings something different. But if you were to say who'd be likely to get the most carries, it'd be Tavion."
 
On having played in hostile environments over the years, and now The Swamp…
"This may be the most hostile. First game of the year, night game, new coaching staff, lot of excitement. We're sure that place is going to be very loud and difficult to play in. We've taken every measure we can to try and replicate that both noise-wise and temperature-wise. We'll see what happens. I don't know if you've ever been to The Swamp, but [the fans] are right on top of you. The crowd is a big factor in games in The Swamp."
 
On bringing a veteran team into a season opener like this…
"A lot of guys returning always is a big help, in particular when you have an opener like we have this year. This game has had their attention ever since we started in January, came back from the Rose Bowl and started school. It's been certainly something they're aware of and focused on. That's one of the positives of playing a game like this. You don't have to worry about getting guys focused and working hard in the weight room, because they understand the big challenge ahead."
 
On decisions with the punt and kick return units…
"First of all on punt return, Devaughn Vele does a great job catching the ball, and that's really job No. 1. If you can't catch the ball, you're not really in consideration for returning punts. Not that he's the only guy that can catch the ball, but he catches it the best. He's also got explosiveness to him, he's fast and is a good open field runner. That's what led to that decision.
 
"Micah Bernard is a tremendous athlete with great speed. He seemed to be the best fit for kickoff returns. Big shoes to fill; Britain Covey was as good as there was in the country. Big shoes for those two guys to fill, but right now they're the ones scheduled to do that."
 
On differences between last year's team and this year's team…
"I would say there's more similarities than differences. But as far as differences, Britain Covey gave us so much last year. Particularly in the red zone and on third down in the red zone, he converted so many situations for us. So we have to find somebody to pick up the slack there. Defensively, we had Devin Lloyd as our undisputed leader. We're more leadership by committee this year…Cam is the leader of leaders on offense and the whole team, for that matter. On defense, we have half a dozen or so guys that assume that role. But like I said, there's far more similarities than differences."
 
On Florida's quarterback strengths and how that impacts schemes…
"It changes a lot. You have to account for the QB run game essentially every single down. The guy reportedly has 4.3 speed. At that size, that's incredible, kind of Cam Newton-ish type of numbers with his physical stature and his ability to run. That's something that Coach Scalley and the defensive staff are well aware of. That has to be taken into account in virtually everything we do."
 
On impressions of Billy Napier and crossing paths while Napier was at Arizona State…
"Outstanding young coach. Lot of energy. [Arizona State] beat us [in 2017] pretty handily…they took it to us. Schematically on offense, he's very innovative. He does a good job with that. Very tough to defend."
 
On what stands out as Florida's best position group…
"It's tough to say. I don't know if there's any real glaring weakness. First of all, the receiving corps is really big—they're 6-foot-5, 6-foot-4, 6-foot-3 almost across the board…at running back, of course they have the transfer that came in from Lafayette. On the defensive line, they've got some really good defensive linemen. I don't know if you can say which is the most talented, because they're all very talented."
 
On the offense hitting the ground running in game one…
"We need them to [hit the ground running]. That's gotta happen. They've executed very well since Spring. This is the fourth year under Andy Ludwig's scheme. The vast majority of guys have been through [the scheme] for four years now. It's not new learning, it's just getting better at what we're already doing. We expect to be very effective on offense. We've got a good O-Line, we've got as good a tandem of tight ends as anyone in the country. Good stable of backs and wide receivers. As I mentioned earlier on in Fall camp, that's going to be the key to getting more explosive plays generated on the outside."
 
On the offensive line jelling earlier…
"First of all, they've been playing together longer. We were able to come to the top five earlier this Fall camp, and that was by design. We knew needed that to happen so they could jell. And they have. We've got a lot of guys that have played a lot of football for us. Braeden Daniels, Sataoa Laumea, Jaren Kump, even though [Jaren] was banged up last year. The year before, he played a bunch of snaps for us. So we've got a lot of experience there. We just need those guys to be a cohesive, high-functioning unit from the get-go. That's what we expect."
 
On Mohamoud Diabate's connection to the Florida program…
"He's added some things, particularly personnel-wise about particular players' strengths and weaknesses, that type of thing. That's all he can really add because he's not familiar with any of the schemes they're running."
 
On how much prep is spent on the new coaching staff, versus personnel…
"It's about a 50-50 split. We do it exactly as you outlined. Schematically, for obvious reasons, you watch the way they were. Then to see the different skillsets of the players, you watch the guys you're actually going to be facing. We've been through that before, I can't remember the last time. Maybe Michigan [in 2015]. But we've been through that before…you take the schematics from where the coaching staff came from…then you look at the individual performances and the guys you have to face based on their physical abilities."
 
On how the recipient (Ja'Quinden Jackson) of the Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe Memorial Scholarship is selected…
"Completely a player vote. There really are no parameters other than guys who you think should be representing the spirit of [Ty and Aaron] as far as spirit of competition, the personalities, just everything they embodied and what they were about.
 
"It was a fairly large margin between [Ja'Quinden Jackson] and the next one."
 
On handling the "marquee" label being attached to this game…
"By all indications, very well…you go back to your business, you control what you can control. That's our preparation. Fall camp has gone really well, good focus and concentration. So I would say, by my judgement, [the players have] handled it as well as they could have to this point."
 
On assessing the defense, specifically the depth…
"I would say, up front, just going by position group, Junior Tafuna is the leader of that group. Van Fillinger has played a lot of football for us. Tennessee Pututau has had an outstanding camp. The two young defensive ends, Jonah Elliss and Connor O'Toole, have really matured and become really good players for us. The linebackers are where we had the biggest turnover. We lost two really good ones in Nephi Sewell and obviously Devin Lloyd. We've got Mohamoud Diabate and Karene Reid, Lander Barton, Justin Medlock…the biggest difference is we're much more experienced in the secondary than we have been the last two years. Two years ago, we were painfully young. There's no excuses, you have to play no matter what year you are. But it's almost the same group from two years ago; they're just older and more experienced."
 
NEXT UP
Time is ticking down as Utah prepares to head to The Swamp in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday, Sept. 3 to take on the Florida Gators. The game will air at 5 p.m. MT on ESPN.
 
FOLLOW ALONG!
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