What Utah's Kyle Whittingham said during Big 12 media day

As Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham addressed reporters Wednesday during Big 12 media days, the conversation began to steer itself toward the Utes' additions on the offensive side of the ball.

Utah's revamped offense, built around dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier and his trusted offensive coordinator, Jason Beck, figures to solve the myriad of issues that led to a lackluster 2024 campaign, in which the Utes finished outside the top 100 in scoring offense and dealt with inconsistencies at the quarterback position.

Whittingham expects his defense to embrace the same rugged identity that's defined the group throughout his leadership, though the Utes' success in 2025 will largely hinge on the effectiveness of their offense.

Here's more on what Whittingham had to say during Big 12 media days.

On hiring Jason Beck as offensive coordinator

"Myself and [defensive coordinator Morgan] Scalley were on the exact same page that Jason Beck was a great fit for what we're doing and what direction we wanted to go."

"Jason has complete autonomy to do what he wants. Offensively, we're going to be almost a carbon copy of what New Mexico was in philosophy. He does a great job, Jason does, of utilizing personnel, getting guys in position to be successful. So you'll see some different twists than what you saw last year, but that's just because he's making the most of the players that he has available."

On Devon Dampier's leadership

"He's got the respect of his peers, having been voted on the leadership Council. He's got that it factor that you look for in quarterbacks. He's got the field general mentality that you look for. He's a guy that everybody gravitates towards. There's no doubt who's in charge on offense."

"It's not like he commands the huddle, but everybody looks to Devon as the leader of the offense, and that's pretty impressive. There's things he needs to work on. We got to get the completion percentage up a little bit higher. We've got to get the touchdown-to-interception ratio a little bit better. But he was just a sophomore last year, and he definitely made improvement in those areas through spring ball."

On Utah's wide receiver battle

"As far as the wide receiver position, that's probably the biggest question mark on the football team right now. As far as the hierarchy, who's going to be wide receiver, one, two and three, etc. — we didn't come out of spring with any true pecking order. We've got a lot of good players there."

"I think we have four or five transfers at the position, and so that will continue to be a battle and a competition going through fall camp. And probably the most important thing that we can do at fall camp is to sort those wide receivers out and determine who are going to be the go-to guys."

On what he expects to see from Utah's defense in 2025

"The defense has been very consistent, something that you can count on from year to year. Can't remember the last time we've had a real down year defensively. And so the defense just needs to do what they've been doing for for a lot of a lot of years."

"One thing we can do a better job of is taking the football away; if there's a if there's a knock on last year's defense is we did not create enough takeaways, and that's something that will help out the offense tremendously. We could have used that, obviously, to help out our offense last year. But as far as defending the run, defending the pass, red zone production, totally yards a game — all those things are in line. But we've got to get back to taking the ball away, which historically and traditionally, we're very good job. Last year was probably the least efficient year in a long time, as far as taking the ball away."

On Keanu Tanuvasa's comments and how they add to the Utah-BYU rivalry

"As far as that goes, you just move on. An old experienced coach once told me: you win with the players you got, you don't worry about the players you don't have. So I really have nothing to add to that."

"The rivalry ... it adds a different dimension to it and more meaning to it when you're both in the same league, which we haven't been for years and years, but now we are. And so that not only is a rivalry game, but a game that could and should be instrumental in who ends up winning the Big 12."

On whether Utah's offensive line is the best in the country

"That's a tough statement, because I haven't studied the entire country as far as what people have coming back. But I can say with confidence: we should be the best offensive line since I've been at the University of Utah, which has been forever. We're going to lean on them heavily, and if they play like we think they're going to play, that's going to be a huge plus for our offense."