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The University of Utah Athletics
Quotes From Kyle Whittingham's 2020 Signing Day Press Conference
12/18/2019 4:18 PM | Football
Opening statement…
"To this point, we feel really good about our class. There are still some things that we expect to happen in the next couple of days, so we will see what we can add to what we have going on already. The overriding theme to this class is defense. We were down in defensive numbers last year, so there is going to be a pretty decent imbalance of defensive to offensive guys to try to catch up, but we feel like we are getting some really good players added to our roster. We had an excellent year in-state. We think when all is said and done that we are going to come away with five of the top six players in the state of Utah, which is huge. We have five returned missionaries that we signed two years ago that will join us either midyear or in the fall. We had a nice in-state production overall. There will be nine scholarship players on the roster from the state of Utah this fall, which is a big number. Football in the state is getting better every year. We also had Texas, California, Hawaii, the usual places we have been. Overall we feel good about what has transpired so far, but again we have two and a half more days of this signing period and then it will shut down, and then in February for the second one we think we will only have two or three left to give, which isn't a bad thing. Because then you can regroup, check the transfer portal and look for the right guys to add."
On what has changed on either the coaching staff or elsewhere that has allowed them to get some of the top recruits in the state…
"Winning, being in the Pac-12, our brand growing. We believe our brand is growing. We are going to finish up this season with a good ranking, and we have gone back to the Pac-12 Championship game the last two years. Being in the Pac-12 in a Power Five conference and being a team that has been on the national forefront of the College Football Playoff rankings for the last part of the year, all of that adds up to more positive stuff for your recruiting."
On getting Jake Bentley here…
"Jake is a big addition for us. In today's world, with the portal and how things are changing, the quarterback room can change dramatically from year to year. That is the position that undergoes the most change. We are excited to have Jake in the room. He has a big arm and is more of a pro-style guy. He played in the SEC, put up 500 yards in one game against Clemson, which is a pretty good accomplishment since Clemson is an outstanding football team. Coach Ludwig got a chance to see him up close and personal while at Vanderbilt and really loved him. So, when he became available, we went to work on it. He came out on a visit, loved it, and committed on the visit. So, we are excited he is going to be joining us. Cam Rising will be in the room. He will be eligible for the bowl game. And then we are hoping to have Drew Lisk back. He is graduating in May, so he might be back, but he may just go on with his life. There is a good chance that Jason Shelley can play in the secondary for us in the future, but that is still being talked about."
On how important it is to recruit guys that can make an immediate impact like on defense…
"It is great. We are excited about a lot of those guys that we have gotten so far and we are hoping to get a couple more this week. The biggest deficiencies are at corner – we are taking a big hit at corner – we are losing virtually almost every snap with Josh Nurse, Jaylon Johnson and Tareke Lewis. Then we are losing Julian and Terrell, so that secondary will get a complete overhaul. We are thin at linebacker. Fortunately, Francis and Devin were able to stay healthy all year so that depth never became a factor. So we will add to that. The front is probably where we have the most depth, seems to be year-in and year-out where we have a whole stable of guys and this year is no different, but we've added some really good players. Van Fillinger, he's from in-state, from Corner Canyon, and that is a huge addition for us."
On getting quarterback transfers and if it is understood to those guys that there will be a quarterback competition at Utah…
"Yeah we have a master plan for quarterback from year-to-year and like I said with the transfer portal, that can change. What we try to do is that once the dust has settled, then we know what we need to get for the next season and we are completely up front with the quarterbacks. So, if we are going to take two, we are honest with the guys that we are recruiting that we are going to take two."
On the in-state signees…
"Alex Harrison is a big, strong offensive lineman that had a lot of offers – pretty much everyone in the Pac-12 wanted him among other schools in the country. He played both ways in high school, but we are going to use him exclusively on the offensive line. He played every rep for his team up in Bountiful. We think he is a guy that is ready made. He is a big, strong kid that is ready to show what he can do."
"Sione Fotu, from Bingham High School, he is a tough kid. He has great range. He isn't the biggest guy, but he is physical. He is very instinctive and was very productive for Bingham this year. He has a lot of upside."
"Van Fillinger, from Corner Canyon, he was a national recruit. He could have gone pretty much anywhere. He was committed to another school for a period of time and when he didn't feel right about that we were right there to try and get him to Utah, and he fell in love with us the last part of the recruiting period."
"Jaren Kump, a returned missionary from Herriman. We think he is a prototypical offensive tackle. When he gets back, we will put some weight on him, but he has that huge frame and great length that you look for in your offensive tackles."
"Nate Ritchie was a big get for us. With our safety situation, Nate is going to fill an immediate need. He was another guy with multiple Pac-12 offers along with other offers from around the country. He has size, and runs very well."
"We have two more Pututau's, Tennessee and Taniela, who will both be on the defensive line, at least initially. Taniela was an excellent in tight end in high school as well, so we might take a look at him there."
"Hunter Lotulelei, another Lotulelei who is Star and Lowell's cousin, who is back off a mission. Big, strong offensive lineman. He is very agile."
On if there was something vital on next year's roster that made it important to get a grad transfer QB…
"Well you don't want to get caught with your pants down when it comes to quarterback. That is the last position that you want to be in that situation. Jake is a proven commodity when it comes to the room. Jason Shelley, will most likely be moved to the defensive side of the ball and Drew Lisk might be moving to the private sector, but that necessitated us to get a guy with experience. So, that was the reason for that and we think that really bolstered us. We will probably add another quarterback in some shape or form before fall camp starts."
On if it is rare to have three safeties in one recruiting class and if he anticipates them switching positions when they get here…
"We don't anticipate them switching positions at all. It is a little atypical to bring in there, usually it is one or two. We took a big hit this year with losing those two seniors and we were already thin there. So, that was the reason for taking three. I talked about Nate, but Kamo'i Latu, he is a hitter. He is a guy that had a lot of good offers as well. So it will be good competition at safety this fall and this spring for some of them."
On where they are with linebackers and if they plan on moving any current roster members to that position to fill holes…
"Are we all set right now? No, but we hope to add a couple to this class. Nephi Sewell is a guy that could play safety or linebacker, he is right on that verge. So, that could factor on how many more to bring in, but if we don't get who we are hoping to get in the next couple of days, then that would start the linebacker hunt for at least one more."
On Ty Jordan…
"He is fast. He is a 10.50 100-meter guy. He is thick, he isn't very tall, but he is put together really well. He had a lot of offers and was very sought after. He is a guy that we think will be very dynamic in this system and we think Andy will put him to work right away."
On if he felt like there was a chip on his shoulder after seeing in-state guys leave in recent years for other schools…
"We have always placed the highest priority on the in-state recruiting. That is our starting point. Every recruiting class starts with properly evaluating everyone in the boundary of our state. We do the best we can of keeping those guys home, like I said we are keeping who we deemed five of the top six players in the state at home, so it is always a priority. It is always a great effort on our part to make that happen, but that doesn't mean it always happens. Nobody puts a fence around their state and gets everyone. I don't care who you are, at any level. We do the best we can, we always do as much work as we can in-state and just hope that we can get our fair share."
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"To this point, we feel really good about our class. There are still some things that we expect to happen in the next couple of days, so we will see what we can add to what we have going on already. The overriding theme to this class is defense. We were down in defensive numbers last year, so there is going to be a pretty decent imbalance of defensive to offensive guys to try to catch up, but we feel like we are getting some really good players added to our roster. We had an excellent year in-state. We think when all is said and done that we are going to come away with five of the top six players in the state of Utah, which is huge. We have five returned missionaries that we signed two years ago that will join us either midyear or in the fall. We had a nice in-state production overall. There will be nine scholarship players on the roster from the state of Utah this fall, which is a big number. Football in the state is getting better every year. We also had Texas, California, Hawaii, the usual places we have been. Overall we feel good about what has transpired so far, but again we have two and a half more days of this signing period and then it will shut down, and then in February for the second one we think we will only have two or three left to give, which isn't a bad thing. Because then you can regroup, check the transfer portal and look for the right guys to add."
On what has changed on either the coaching staff or elsewhere that has allowed them to get some of the top recruits in the state…
"Winning, being in the Pac-12, our brand growing. We believe our brand is growing. We are going to finish up this season with a good ranking, and we have gone back to the Pac-12 Championship game the last two years. Being in the Pac-12 in a Power Five conference and being a team that has been on the national forefront of the College Football Playoff rankings for the last part of the year, all of that adds up to more positive stuff for your recruiting."
On getting Jake Bentley here…
"Jake is a big addition for us. In today's world, with the portal and how things are changing, the quarterback room can change dramatically from year to year. That is the position that undergoes the most change. We are excited to have Jake in the room. He has a big arm and is more of a pro-style guy. He played in the SEC, put up 500 yards in one game against Clemson, which is a pretty good accomplishment since Clemson is an outstanding football team. Coach Ludwig got a chance to see him up close and personal while at Vanderbilt and really loved him. So, when he became available, we went to work on it. He came out on a visit, loved it, and committed on the visit. So, we are excited he is going to be joining us. Cam Rising will be in the room. He will be eligible for the bowl game. And then we are hoping to have Drew Lisk back. He is graduating in May, so he might be back, but he may just go on with his life. There is a good chance that Jason Shelley can play in the secondary for us in the future, but that is still being talked about."
On how important it is to recruit guys that can make an immediate impact like on defense…
"It is great. We are excited about a lot of those guys that we have gotten so far and we are hoping to get a couple more this week. The biggest deficiencies are at corner – we are taking a big hit at corner – we are losing virtually almost every snap with Josh Nurse, Jaylon Johnson and Tareke Lewis. Then we are losing Julian and Terrell, so that secondary will get a complete overhaul. We are thin at linebacker. Fortunately, Francis and Devin were able to stay healthy all year so that depth never became a factor. So we will add to that. The front is probably where we have the most depth, seems to be year-in and year-out where we have a whole stable of guys and this year is no different, but we've added some really good players. Van Fillinger, he's from in-state, from Corner Canyon, and that is a huge addition for us."
On getting quarterback transfers and if it is understood to those guys that there will be a quarterback competition at Utah…
"Yeah we have a master plan for quarterback from year-to-year and like I said with the transfer portal, that can change. What we try to do is that once the dust has settled, then we know what we need to get for the next season and we are completely up front with the quarterbacks. So, if we are going to take two, we are honest with the guys that we are recruiting that we are going to take two."
On the in-state signees…
"Alex Harrison is a big, strong offensive lineman that had a lot of offers – pretty much everyone in the Pac-12 wanted him among other schools in the country. He played both ways in high school, but we are going to use him exclusively on the offensive line. He played every rep for his team up in Bountiful. We think he is a guy that is ready made. He is a big, strong kid that is ready to show what he can do."
"Sione Fotu, from Bingham High School, he is a tough kid. He has great range. He isn't the biggest guy, but he is physical. He is very instinctive and was very productive for Bingham this year. He has a lot of upside."
"Van Fillinger, from Corner Canyon, he was a national recruit. He could have gone pretty much anywhere. He was committed to another school for a period of time and when he didn't feel right about that we were right there to try and get him to Utah, and he fell in love with us the last part of the recruiting period."
"Jaren Kump, a returned missionary from Herriman. We think he is a prototypical offensive tackle. When he gets back, we will put some weight on him, but he has that huge frame and great length that you look for in your offensive tackles."
"Nate Ritchie was a big get for us. With our safety situation, Nate is going to fill an immediate need. He was another guy with multiple Pac-12 offers along with other offers from around the country. He has size, and runs very well."
"We have two more Pututau's, Tennessee and Taniela, who will both be on the defensive line, at least initially. Taniela was an excellent in tight end in high school as well, so we might take a look at him there."
"Hunter Lotulelei, another Lotulelei who is Star and Lowell's cousin, who is back off a mission. Big, strong offensive lineman. He is very agile."
On if there was something vital on next year's roster that made it important to get a grad transfer QB…
"Well you don't want to get caught with your pants down when it comes to quarterback. That is the last position that you want to be in that situation. Jake is a proven commodity when it comes to the room. Jason Shelley, will most likely be moved to the defensive side of the ball and Drew Lisk might be moving to the private sector, but that necessitated us to get a guy with experience. So, that was the reason for that and we think that really bolstered us. We will probably add another quarterback in some shape or form before fall camp starts."
On if it is rare to have three safeties in one recruiting class and if he anticipates them switching positions when they get here…
"We don't anticipate them switching positions at all. It is a little atypical to bring in there, usually it is one or two. We took a big hit this year with losing those two seniors and we were already thin there. So, that was the reason for taking three. I talked about Nate, but Kamo'i Latu, he is a hitter. He is a guy that had a lot of good offers as well. So it will be good competition at safety this fall and this spring for some of them."
On where they are with linebackers and if they plan on moving any current roster members to that position to fill holes…
"Are we all set right now? No, but we hope to add a couple to this class. Nephi Sewell is a guy that could play safety or linebacker, he is right on that verge. So, that could factor on how many more to bring in, but if we don't get who we are hoping to get in the next couple of days, then that would start the linebacker hunt for at least one more."
On Ty Jordan…
"He is fast. He is a 10.50 100-meter guy. He is thick, he isn't very tall, but he is put together really well. He had a lot of offers and was very sought after. He is a guy that we think will be very dynamic in this system and we think Andy will put him to work right away."
On if he felt like there was a chip on his shoulder after seeing in-state guys leave in recent years for other schools…
"We have always placed the highest priority on the in-state recruiting. That is our starting point. Every recruiting class starts with properly evaluating everyone in the boundary of our state. We do the best we can of keeping those guys home, like I said we are keeping who we deemed five of the top six players in the state at home, so it is always a priority. It is always a great effort on our part to make that happen, but that doesn't mean it always happens. Nobody puts a fence around their state and gets everyone. I don't care who you are, at any level. We do the best we can, we always do as much work as we can in-state and just hope that we can get our fair share."
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Players Mentioned
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DB
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S
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QB
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