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Kylie Fitts might've worn USC's cardinal. He wore UCLA's sky blue. He wears Utah's red.

Cornered by cameras and recorders, a reserved Fitts declined to go into detail about why he first sided with one, then the other, then the other.

But what he considers to be his guiding principles, he wears on his sleeve.

It started when Utah's junior defensive end was a freshman at UCLA, tattooing Isaiah's 41:10 at the top of his ample left forearm.

It reads: "Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Fitts was raised Catholic but rarely went to church until his family was invited to a nondenominational service as Fitts was a high school freshman.

His father, Matt, had left behind his job as a police officer in Northern California to work construction with his uncle in Southern California. They had done well for themselves. And then, as so many of those success stories ended, came the recession.

"My parents lost almost everything," Fitts said. "... We had nowhere else to turn to."

A righteous right hand, they believed, was there for them when they required it. Fitts was baptized as a junior at East Valley, where he was a four-star recruit and imposing enough that he was compared by an opposing coach to "the 'Cloverfield' monster."

He'd ink another verse. A cross. A crown for the king of kings and lord of lords, and under his hand left, the word "Unashamed."

"Unashamed of the gospel," he explained.

Along the back of his upper arm, in capital letters: "MYMAKE," the initials of his father, his mother, Ysabel, brothers Matthew and Anthony, himself and his sister, Emily. His dad found his footing as a private investigator, Fitts said, and his parents are now able to travel to a majority of his games.

He pays extra tribute to Ysabel, Emily and his grandmother — "the women in my life" — with tattooed roses.

And discretely, amid all the biblical imagery and family symbolism, his left arm bears the letters "CA," in the Los Angeles Angels' font.

Utah may be part of his family now. But California is home.

Fitts first committed to join USC — his childhood favorite — in spring 2013, but when the Trojans gave away his early entrant spot and told him he'd have to wait until summer to enroll, it rubbed him the wrong way.

After re-opening his recruitment, he visited Utah but settled on UCLA and joined the Bruins in April 2013.

He has little to say about his time in Pasadena. At first, he "liked it a lot," he said. "I got along with all the coaches and players."

But for nonspecific "personal reasons," on and off the field, he soured on the experience. His parents declined comment for this story, and Bruins head coach Jim Mora addressed the topic of his transfer by saying simply that he considers Fitts a "tremendous young man" and is pleased to see him succeed at Utah.

Fitts' final word on the matter: "It just wasn't a good fit for me. I didn't enjoy it there, at all, and it was some hard times in my life that I just lost the love of the game. I didn't think I wanted to play anymore."

Although he knew he wanted to try to rediscover that love at Utah, he first had to appeal the Pac-12's strict intraconference transfer rule, which mandated that, in addition to the usual NCAA-mandated one-year period of noncompetition, a student-athlete must lose one year of eligibility. Had he not won the appeal, he might've gone to San Diego State or Fresno State. But his wish was granted, and at Utah — where "we were trying like crazy to get him out of high school," Kyle Whittingham said — he was a prized commodity.

Media began to hear murmurs about Fitts' performance as a member of the scout team, even as he was consigned to the sidelines, in street clothes, while the Utes went 9-4 without him. "It sucks right now," coaches told him, "but in the future, it'll be worth it."

It no longer sucks. Fitts has the team's second-most sacks, with 4.5; pass breakups, with 6; and is tied for the Pac-12 lead with three forced fumbles.

Mora said you can count him among the unsurprised: "We thought he was a great player when he was here. You're just seeing it on a more consistent basis, because he's getting to play a lot more."

The 6-foot-4, 268-pound Fitts has what coaches and teammates have been described as a rare blend of size and agility, combined with an innate ability to get his hands on the ball. During camp, defensive coordinator John Pease, having followed the team closely before taking the job this offseason, didn't even wait for a reporter to finish his question before revealing that his biggest in-person revelation had been "Fitts."

Fitts, who is still tight with UCLA linemen Eddie Vanderdoes and Kenny Clark, said his feelings toward UCLA have simmered, even if this week's game "kind of triggers some old feelings."

He's heard some things, he said, not caring to elaborate.

He does have more he'd like to say: on a leg, or his still-bare right arm. Except the Cloverfield monster does not have free rein, it seems.

"I don't think my mom is going to let me do it."

mpiper@sltrib.com Twitter: @matthew_piper

mpiper@sltrib.com Twitter: @matthew_piper —

UCLA at No. 18 Utah

P Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

TV • FOX