Utah
3 storylines to follow as Utes open spring camp
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The weather is warming and spring is in the air, which means that the first taste of college football is just around the corner.
Utah will begin its spring camp on Thursday, March 19, officially kicking off the Morgan Scalley era.
With seven new position coaches on staff and a bevy of new players, this spring camp for Utah will be important, setting the tone of the program under a new head coach.
After a bounce-back 11-2 campaign in 2025 in what would end up being Kyle Whittingham’s final year with Utah, the Utes enter spring with momentum, especially after retaining key pieces like quarterbacks Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin and running back Wayshawn Parker.
Still, with a mostly-new coaching staff and plenty of new faces on both sides of the ball, there are questions surrounding Scalley and the Utes as they begin practicing next week.
Here are three storylines to follow as the Utes embark on spring camp.
New offensive line takes shape
Utah’s offensive line will look a whole lot different in 2026.
There will be five new starters along the offensive line this season for the Utes, plus a new offensive line coach — former Carolina Panthers star Jordan Gross, who replaces longtime position coach Jim Harding.
Last season, the front five was the strength of Utah’s offense, powered by two future NFL draft picks in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu and three seniors in the middle. Now, the unit gets a new beginning.
It’s not all new faces competing for those starting jobs, however.
Seniors Alex Harrison (143 snaps last year) and Zereoue Williams (156 snaps) are on Utah’s 2026 roster and look to have received NCAA eligibility waivers. The two veterans provide some continuity from Utah’s previous group and will be in the mix for starting jobs, alongside Solatoa Moea’i (336 snaps last season) and junior Keith Olsen, who played 295 snaps last year.
Other holdovers that could be in the mix for starting jobs or rotation snaps are four-star redshirt freshman Isaiah Garcia (suffered a season-ending injury last fall camp) and Roger Alderman (134 snaps).
There are a few new players that could challenge for starting jobs right away — five-star freshman Kelvin Obot and Montana State redshirt sophomore Cedric Jefferson could very well end up starting at the tackle spots.
Obot is the highest-rated prospect to ever sign with Utah and, at 6-foot-5 and 295 pounds, already has the size for the college game. Gross, who coached Obot at Fruitland High in Idaho, says the freshman phenom is already looking like he belongs on the field physically and mentally. The next steps for Obot, starting in spring practice, will be continuing to get used to the speed and size of the college game.
By the end of spring, Utah should have an outline of their starting lineup and know which players work well together.
New full-time starters on the edge
Just like on the offensive side of the ball, Utah will be replacing every full-time starter on the defensive line.
Star defensive end John Henry Daley, who had 11.5 sacks in 2025 before his season was cut short in the final month, transferred to Michigan; defensive end Logan Fano declared for the draft; defensive tackle Jonah Lea’ea went to Ann Arbor; and Aliki Vimahi graduated.
While Luther Elliss remains at Utah as the defensive tackles coach, the defensive ends will have a new boss — Inoke Breckterfield, who arrives in Salt Lake City after coaching Baylor’s unit for the past two years.
Daley was a special talent, so it will be hard to replace him, but Utah has two players from the 2025 team ready to step up, plus a new transfer that will also compete for the starting job.
Kash Dillon played 340 snaps and started three games last season, totaling 35 tackles and 3.5 sacks as he made the first-to-second-year jump. Lance Holtzclaw, the Washington transfer, played 341 snaps, started the Las Vegas Bowl, and totaled 26 tackles and 1.5 snaps.
Both players improved over the course of the season and are in good spots to land starting jobs.
Utah also added Ethan Day from North Texas, who started all 13 games for North Texas in his junior season, racking up 53 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
Those three will be the main rotation players on the edge for the Utes, but a spring subplot will be how the depth behind them shakes out. Senior Paul Fitzgerald, Lehi High freshman PJ Takitaki and sophomore Nicholas Igwe are among the names trying to get in the rotation this season.
Which receivers stand out?
Each season, the question is posed: Is this the year that a Utah receiver breaks the 1,000-yard mark? The last Ute WR to do so was Dres Anderson in the 2013 season, and though Darren Carrington was close with 980 receiving yards in 2017, that mark hasn’t been crossed in over a decade.
Braden Pegan, who caught 60 passes for 926 yards and five touchdowns last year at Utah State, is the early favorite to lead the Utes’ wide receiver room. Whether he can get close to the 1,000-yard mark remains to be seen — Ryan Davis was the closest receiver last year with 725 yards — but he enters spring as Utah’s WR1.
Pegan has the advantage of knowing new offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven’s offense, having played in it last year, and if he can develop chemistry with quarterback Devon Dampier, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior should turn into one of his favorite targets.
There’s going to be plenty of competition elsewhere in the room, and it will be one of the biggest storylines this spring camp.
Utah brings back Creed Whittemore, who took time to find his footing last season, but once he got playing time in the last month of the season, he showed flashes of potential with 12 catches for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Daidren Zipperer came on strong at the end of the 2024 season, but suffered an injury in fall camp that cost him the 2025 season. Now healthy, what will he show this spring?
Other players to watch in the wide receiver room include Kyri Shoels, who had a productive 2025 for San Jose State with 59 catches for 768 yards and two scores, and Larry Simmons, who had a good final third of the season and finished with 280 yards and six touchdowns on 15 receptions.
Wide receiver has consistently been a question mark for the Utes over the years. Under coach Chad Bumphis, who makes his return to Utah as receivers coach, can the Utes finally shake that narrative with a group of productive players?
In case you missed it
Utah’s 2025-26 season, the first under new coach Alex Jensen, ended with a familiar result as the Utes fell to Cincinnati in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
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RAWLINS, Wyoming (KUTV) — A man wanted for alleged rape and domestic violence in Utah was arrested in Wyoming.
He is “behind bars thanks to the work of eagle-eyed troopers with the Wyoming Highway Patrol,” WHP said on social media.
Troopers were alerted to a Be On The Look Out (BOLO) call at approximately 7 a.m. on Thursday for a suspect in a white Chrysler Seabreeze.
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Troopers in Rawlins, Wyoming, spotted the vehicle just after 8:30 a.m.
The suspect was arrested without incident and transported to the Carbon County Jail.
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CLEARFIELD — A program empowering northern Utah children to discover the possibilities of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will end after more than a decade of operation.
This week, Hill Air Force Base announced that it is ending its sponsorship of the Starbase program.
Starbase, a U.S. Department of Defense program, is offered throughout the country to provide hands-on learning experiences to young students — primarily fifth graders, according to a description on the curriculum’s website.
Starbase at Hill Air Force Base opened in 2011, and over the past 15 years, has ignited early STEM interest in more than 25,000 students in Davis and Weber counties.
Heather Ingle, a mother of two daughters — 14 and 11 — who have been in the program, said she was sad to hear that Starbase will no longer be offered at the northern Utah base.
“Just the thought of other kids not being able to have that guaranteed program, I think it’s sad,” she said.
Ingle’s oldest daughter participated in the weeklong Starbase program in Montana while their family was stationed in the Great Falls area. More recently, her 11-year-old daughter participated in it at Hill Air Force Base while the family has been stationed in Utah.
She said her 14-year-old was “strongly influenced” through the exploration of hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics experience and has shifted her career goals around based on what she learned.
Her younger daughter, on the other hand, wasn’t initially as interested in it.
“And then the first day happened, she came home and she loved it, and totally denied that she didn’t want to go that day,” Ingle told KSL. “She really enjoyed it — she likes to learn new things.”
A Hill Air Force Base press release issued Tuesday didn’t go into specifics about why they’re concluding the program, but it did allude to a funding issue.
“Today, northern Utah benefits from a robust network of STEM programs, many of which were inspired or accelerated by Starbase’s early success. This expansion, combined with changes in national program funding, marks a natural moment for transition. Concluding the program allows Hill AFB to realign resources to meet the growing demands of its core national security mission, confident that the community is well supported by a diverse and vibrant STEM landscape,” the base said.
Starbase’s final days at Hill Air Force Base raised a question for Ingle regarding the program’s future elsewhere, as their family will soon be relocating back to Montana and hopes their youngest child has an opportunity to experience it.
“I have a 5-year-old as well, and I really am hoping that the Starbase program in general continues,” she said.
A spokesperson for Hill Air Force Base said the program there will finish out the remainder of the school year and that it’s still active “at some other bases currently.”
Northern Utah benefits from a robust network of STEM programs, many of which were inspired or accelerated by Starbase’s early success.
–Hill Air Force Base
The base said it’s thankful to the many people who helped make Starbase a cornerstone in local STEM education.
“The base remains deeply committed to community partnership and will continue supporting educational outreach that inspires the next generation of innovators, leaders and problem‑solvers,” the base said.
For Ingle, she’s grateful for the opportunities her daughters have had at Starbase and for how it showed them a career they, too, can one day pursue.
“Outside of the doctor, lawyer, cop, firefighter — you know, it opens their eyes into so many different careers and specialties out there that you can touch, and I love that exposure,” she said.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
SALT LAKE CITY — The “Flame of Hope” made its way to the Utah State Capitol Wednesday morning as Special Olympics athletes and law enforcement came together for the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run.
The event is part of a 45-year tradition that raises awareness and support for Special Olympics athletes while strengthening the partnership between law enforcement and the community.
Paralympians ski in shorts and T-shirts, and some ask: Shouldn’t these Games be earlier?
“Law enforcement across the country teams up with Special Olympics chapters throughout the country and we do a torch run which is a fundraiser,” said Bill Newell, Law Enforcement Torch Run Council Chairman.
Organizers say the goal goes beyond fundraising — it’s about visibility and recognition for athletes across Utah.
“We want them to be recognized. We want the community to see these athletes and what tremendous people they are and what great contributions they make,” Newell said.
For athletes, the Torch Run is also a chance to be seen and celebrated for their accomplishments.
“I would like to thank the First Lady, Commissioner Mason, Chief Reed, Special Olympics Utah and everyone who joined us today. Thank you for being here. Because of you, athletes like me are seen, heard and celebrated,” said Special Olympics athlete Josh Roberts.
The Torch Run will continue across Utah throughout the month, leading up to the Special Olympics Utah Summer Games in Cedar City on May 28.
“Join us in Cedar City for the Special Olympics Utah Summer Games. Come cheer, come celebrate and be a part of something very special. It’ll be the best thing you’ll do all summer,” Roberts said.
Law enforcement agencies across the state will continue participating alongside Special Olympics athletes as the Torch Run moves from community to community ahead of the final leg in Cedar City.
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