What Utah's Morgan Scalley said ahead of Las Vegas Bowl vs. Nebraska

Utes head coach fielded questions regarding Kyle Whittingham's departure and the transfer portal ahead of matchup with Cornhuskers

Morgan Scalley makes his debut as the Utah Utes head coach in the Las Vegas Bowl against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Roughly 24 hours away from the Las Vegas Bowl, Morgan Scalley addressed the media for the first time as the head coach of the Utah football program.

Scalley, the Utes defensive coordinator for the past decade, moved into the head coach's chair following Kyle Whittingham's decision to step down after 21 seasons at the helm. The Las Vegas Bowl was supposed to be Whittingham's final game with Utah, though Michigan was able to pry him away with a five-year contract on Dec. 26, putting Scalley in charge with about five days left before taking the field against Nebraska.

Scalley fielded questions regarding Whittingham's departure, the transfer portal and more during Tuesday's media availability session.

On Kyle Whittingham and managing his departure over the past week

"I love Kyle Whittingham. He's given me my start in the profession, and has kind of mentored me throughout, like I said, my entire career. To sort of see him step down and move away — lot of lot of tears and and then, also a lot of excitement for my continued journey, my path.

"But for the players-part of this program ... this is a not only a program, it's a family, and that's going to continue. And you know what the standard that Kyle Whittingham said, right? It's always tough. You don't want to be the guy that follows the guy, and that's who I am. But I'm extremely confident moving forward."

On the transfer portal and potentially losing coaches in the offseason

"We're focused on this bowl; sending out our seniors the right way. Is there a plan in place? You better believe it. And and our players understand, this is what college football is now. Change is going to happen, right? And how you handle that says everything about your program. So my job is to sell Utah and to prepare for the future of this program. And that's what we're doing. But the priority number one is sending these guys out the right way and then we'll move on from there."

On his biggest challenge taking over as head coach

"My biggest challenge taking over as head coach, I think, is to be able to be true to myself and who I am as a coach, and not be try to be Kyle Whittingham, not try to be Urban Meyer, not try and be Ron McBride — the coaches that have mentored me along the way."

"Culture is what you believe, how you behave and the experience that's delivered by that behavior. And the number one thing that I want to be able to establish is: what is that culture? And a lot of those elements are going to continue from what Kyle did, but it's getting people, getting everyone on board, and moving that same direction as what our culture is going to be. You cannot outperform the culture you want in your program; you just can't do it."