Why did Utah miss out on Ben Arbuckle and Mack Leftwich as offensive coordinators?

Here’s some advice from one old man to another.

When you retire, Kyle Whittingham, move on. If you’re not going to retire, don’t and make it clear that you’re sticking with it.

Such a move would have helped Utah football in general in one way or another because it would have let everyone in on the secret – future recruits, recruits through transfer portals, parents of those recruits, current players, parents of those current players, NIL people , fans, assistant coaches, including future coach Morgan Scalley, and also in that very specific sense – a new offensive coordinator.

Welcome, Jason Beck.

Good luck.

By many accounts you were the third choice for the job.

Utah lost its top two candidates to fill the OC job vacated by Andy Ludwig during the season: Ben Arbuckle, the Utes’ first-round pick who ended up at Oklahoma. Understood. Losing a prospect to the Sooners is acceptable regardless of the details. But Utah also lost Mack Leftwich, the offensive coordinator at Texas State, who agreed to transfer to Texas Tech. The Utes should be able to keep up with the Red Raiders and win.

The Utes now have their – or at least a – man.

But the way things unfolded showed that the Utes had two clear disadvantages when it came to attracting a smart, innovative offensive mind to their team. The first was Whittingham’s pending decision. The coach said Scalley will be involved in all major steps of the program until Whittingham’s official departure. But where is all this? Who is responsible? Who is really the general? Who actually oversees the operation?

Is it Scalley, who has never been a head coach in college before and so it’s a mystery how this will play out, what philosophies he will not only favor but rely on, not just through spoken words in advance, but when on the The actual action is raging on the pitch and the pressure is increasing in the football offices?

Or is it Whittingham, who was a great coach overall but who, if he has a weakness, was overseeing and shadowing an offense that was sometimes good, sometimes bad and sometimes inconsistent? That’s the second problem. Previous Utah OCs may deny this, but Whittingham is strong enough, demanding enough, dominant enough as a head defensive coach to establish himself as a kind of dark overlord of Utah football. Maybe most head coaches are like that, but the combination package of Ute offenses that were anything but enlightened and had the saloon doors flying open in both directions for extended periods of time, over and over again, with coordinators coming and going with them The regularity of the calendar change is hardly an attractive selling point.

Come to Utah, where you won’t be sure who the big boss is, whether it’s the tough, grizzled veteran who chased away two handfuls of previous offensive coordinators, including the one who left last season, or the new head coach , who is still a big unknown at this point.

Not exactly a winning pitch, a deal-sealing throw.

Be that as it may, if a candidate knew exactly who he would be receiving instruction from in the next few years, that would have set the stage for bringing him into the company.

Maybe I’m exaggerating here. Perhaps Whittingham has informed the potential offensive coordinators what his specific plan is, what his schedule is, how long he’ll stay and when he’ll get out. If I’m a hot OC, someone who’s being courted by multiple programs, someone who’s seen as having a promising future, and who has more than a single option as to which opportunity to pursue, then I’m not rushing headfirst into a coaching situation, which could result in facial injury. Such decisions are risky enough without the added mystery.

The matter is settled. The ink dries.

But that joke certainly cost the Utes. Left foot in, left foot out, right arm in and shake everything back and forth.

Now it’s time for Whittingham to jump in with his whole body, his whole mind and his whole soul. Or jump out.

He has earned the right to make that call. But do it.

Kyle, you recently said that you would base this decision not on what’s best for you – which is kind of a bogus claim given all you’ve already contributed to Utah football’s success – but rather on what’s for you the best is program.

Here’s what would have been best for the program: A decision made and then announced so everyone can celebrate your legacy and everyone knows what’s going on. Because keeping a secret, for example who is the big boss, to yourself and only yourself is a secret that does no one any good.