What Morgan Scalley said after Utah football's first spring practice

One of the many "firsts" of the Morgan Scalley era went into the books Thursday, as the Utah football team kicked off its spring practice session from Salt Lake City.

Scalley's transition from defensive coordinator to the head coach's chair was the most notable adjustment the Utes went through in the offseason, though it was far from the only one. Several newcomers from the transfer portal and high school ranks began to acclimate to their new surroundings, while a few first-year positional coaches and coordinators worked to integrate their philosophies and strategies into the program's foundation so players could then execute on the field.

Here's what Scalley had to say about all that, and much more, after his team's first spring practice.

On his point of emphasis to the team for the first day of practice

"You're gonna make mistakes — make them at full speed. We can learn from those. Learn from your mistakes. Don't make the same mistakes twice, but effort makes up for a lot in a lot of aspects of your game."

"People talk about luck. You make your luck a lot of time by the way you work. A ball's on the ground and a guy's there to pick it up. Oh, how lucky, how fortunate. No, he was running to the ball. He was there for a reason. So, I think you make your own luck. And all coaches, all players, understand that that's the first word in our culture for a reason, and we're gonna hold our guys accountable to it."

On installing a new offense

"Really good. Alignment, assignment, technique — that's kind of the progress. Align correctly, align with speed. 'Okay, what's my assignment?' Master my technique, and then the rest of us is just reps, reps, reps, reps, reps."

"Building a skill takes time and effort, and that's why we're out here doing this. But I'm pleased because a lot of the stuff that we did during the offseason was to prepare for today. This isn't the first time they've lined up in formations, so we've been getting ready for this moment. [Offensive coordinator Kevin] McGiven and that staff's done a great job."

On his first spring practice as head coach

"I don't get to teach as much. I'm not a position coach, so I try as much as I can to get out there and teach what I can teach. It's more, not what we're doing, but how we're doing it — making sure that the efforts there in all aspects, that everyone's being held accountable to the same standard."

"My role is different — still have the same energy, the same passion, but I don't have a position group."

On establishing culture in spring practices

"Culture is not just words on walls. You have to practice it and you promote it when you see it. When we see the behavior that we're asking for, you got to shout it to the rooftops. And then don't permit anything that's counter to your culture. So it's a daily thing, and you'll hear that from the players as well. If you're just talking about it once a week, then it's really not culture."

On Devon Dampier

"The first thing with him is making sure he's fully healthy, which he's not there yet. But we want to see progress. There's some different things that we're asking this offense — maybe a little bit more in terms of reads and stuff like that, but he is so smart, so football savvy, that he enjoys the challenge of that."

"He's very smart, picking up the scheme, but the main thing is getting him healthy to the point where he can be as dynamic as we know he can be."