Morgan Scalley gives positive update on Utah football's progress midway through spring practices

About halfway through spring practices, the identity of the 2026 Utah football team is starting to take shape.

With several position groups undergoing changes (both in terms of player personnel and coaches), the first handful of practices helped establish a foundation the Utes will look to build upon during the back-half of spring ball and eventually, fall camp.

Here's what head coach Morgan Scalley had to say about his team's progress following Tuesday's spring practice.

On the team's progress going into the third week of spring practices

"I'm excited with the progress. You're seeing the offensive line continue to make strides. I think the offense maybe got a little bit better of the defense in some of the scrimmage work we did on Saturday. It was good to see the defense bounce back."

"It was good to see Hunter Andrews back out there today, and some of these guys getting more reps. I'm pleased with the progress. Seven [practices], down eight to go."

On quarterbacks coach Ryan Gunderson

"He's a good one man, and I've gone against him. When we were in the in the Rose Bowl playing UCLA and [Dorian Thompson-Robinson] was up and down the field on us — Ryan was a big part of that."

"He brings a ton of experience, but he's also a pretty good calming influence for those guys when stuff's hitting the fan. He's a very good teacher."

On the Utes' defensive line

"Really am looking at Karson Kafusi as a guy [who] needs to make that jump from freshman to sophomore. The good thing is that leadership wise, he's a pleasant surprise. He's a guy that we didn't necessarily expect to become that guy. The way he works, the way he call guys out."

"Jireh Moe is exactly what we wanted. He provides a little bit of athleticism and twitch and the ability to slant and do some things with him. Pupu [Sepulona] — another guy, freshman, the sophomore year, really needs to make that jump."

"That's where we're going to make our money this year: offensive [and] defensive line. How we develop those guys and get them ready for the season. And I would say Luther [Elliss] and Jordan [Gross] do a really good job."

On the offensive line's progression

All of them are making progress. You know, you had [Kelvin] Obot go down early, just with a little bit of an ankle deal. But he's only missed one practice. He was back today. He's every bit of what we saw in his recruiting film."

"Jordan is such a good teacher with those guys, and they're having a lot of fun. You're seeing progress at every single position. I would say the center position is one that we need to be more consistent with the snaps; that affects the entire efficiency of an offense if that ball is high, if it's off target. So, between Alex and Isaiah, we got to get that that figured out."

On the running back room

"You're seeing LaMarcus [Bell] make a ton of progress. Both he and [Steve] Chavez-Soto need to spend every day catching the ball, because they can run. They run hard. You have to have the ability to split out and be versatile, so that teams can't just key in on, 'OK, when he's in the game, he's pass protecting or running.' So it's those backs becoming more complete backs."

"Loved what I saw out of [Wayshawn Parker] today; physicality, leadership when things aren't going right, he's the guy that you can hand the ball to, and he's gonna give you everything he's got.

"And then Bray — the biggest positive so far is him."