What Utah head coach Morgan Scalley said during his introductory press conference

Scalley discussed his approach to the transfer portal, coaching hires and retaining players over the course of his introductory press conference

Utah Utes head coach Morgan Scalley will go into 2026 with a 1-0 career record courtesy of a win over Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

About a week after earning his first win as the head coach of the Utah football program, Morgan Scalley was formally introduced as the next person to take the helm of the Utes on Tuesday.

Scalley was already 1-0 in his career — thanks to a 44-22 victory over Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31 — by the time Tuesday's introductory press conference rolled around. He got right to work assembling his first-year coaching staff, too, hiring six new faces and promoting another from within in the days following the conclusion of the 2025 season.

Scalley, a former All-American defensive back with the Utes in the early 2000s, was previously the Utes' defensive coordinator, a position he had held since 2016. He helped reinforce many of the characteristics his predecessor, Kyle Whittingham, instilled when he was in the same position, establishing the Utah defense as one of the toughest and stingiest in the country.

Whittingham's decision to step down and expedite a move to Michigan launched Scalley's head coaching tenure just days before the Utes took on the Cornhuskers in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Here are some of the highlights from Scalley's introductory press conference.

On hiring assistants based on immediate needs vs. long-term outlook

"I think it's kind of a combination of both. I never knew when I was going to become the head coach, so you always have names in mind. You go through and you just keep names in positions that you respect, priority being great teachers. In this game, where 30 to 40% of your roster is going to change every year, you want great teachers so that when those kids come in, they get them to learn."

"There has to be a system where you can teach these young men quickly and get an offensive identity established early that allows for that. It didn't hurt that we already had the skill players for that system that had been in that system. Those were things that went into the hiring process, but great teachers, great men; because again, we're about creating and we're about developing great men. So, this is what you're going to see from this staff."

On the decision to hire Kevin McGiven to be Utah's offensive coordinator

"The innovation; if you watch and study the film — at least, if you know football — you'll see the issues that his offense can present."

"I can get into the X's and O's, but then you'd be sitting there like, 'OK, he's speaking Mandarin Chinese right now.' But he's really good at what he does. He's efficient at what he does, and he's done it at a level that hasn't necessarily had the resources that we have so, get ready for Kevin McGiven."

On his approach to the transfer portal

"I've always been about creating culture. Culture is what you believe, it's how you behave and it's the experience that's delivered by that behavior. The experience has to be awesome; if the experience is not awesome, if they don't believe in the culture and they don't see the fruits and the benefit of the culture, they'll leave. You have to create a culture that's strong enough that maybe a higher dollar figure doesn't sway them."

"You have to have a great culture, then you have to have great support, which we have come on any given Saturday to Rice-Eccles Stadium. I think you'll see we got really, really good support, so the biggest thing to me is establishing a culture that people experience right through their behavior."

On how he plans to establish his identity for Utah as a head coach

"The good thing is that my identity is very similar to Kyle Whittingham's; you win with physicality. Yes, I'm going to have my flavor and creativity that goes along those lines, but the identity is the identity."

"The good thing is the majority of these players — more on the defensive side — they know me. They know how competitive I am, how I'm going to pour everything into it. The offensive guys are learning and man, am I so excited to build those relationships with the offensive players."

On retaining players

"At least from the defensive perspective, they've kind of known me, known [defensive coordinator] Colton Swan; so the continuity is a little bit more there, less change there."

"When you see change on the offense — I think the biggest thing is, where were we last year? We were without an offensive coordinator, we were without a quarterback. You had guys transferring on the defensive side of the ball that were key components to our defense. And you had fear, you had questions."

"And so, how many tackles did Jonah Lea'ea make two years ago? Look what he did this year. How many sacks did John Henry [Daley] have two years ago versus this year? How many catches did Ryan Davis have? [How many] touchdown passes did Devon Dampier throw? You have to trust the process that we're going to continue to reload and that we're continuing to get the right people in here. And to those who are fearful and and want to leave, that's OK, because we will bring the ones that want to be here, and we will develop them and love them."