This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's signing day class had a particularly territorial feel this year.
Linemen from Hawaii. Receivers from Texas. Corners from California. Safeties from junior college. This year might've been easier than others to trace to specific assistants, coach Kyle Whittingham acknowledged.
"That's why you don't want to shuffle guys year after year," Whittingham said. "You want a guy to get in there and work it and get to know an area inside and out and build a reputation in that area. Lewis Powell has a great reputation in Hawaii, and Coach [Guy] Holliday in Texas. Sharrieff Shah is making a big impact in California. [Morgan] Scalley's, you know, everywhere."
Like many other college staffs, Utah assigns regional responsibilities. This year again, the most recruits came from California, where Shah, Jim Harding and Fred Whittingham bear a lot of the responsibility. But pipelines in Texas, from which Utah had five players with ties, and Hawaii, which netted three, grew and could be almost directly linked to the influence of Holliday (second recruiting cycle with Utah) and Powell (third). In particular, Whittingham mentioned that getting back into Hawaii, where Utah drew Bradlee Anae from last year, has been positive for the program.
Whittingham also said offensive coordinator Troy Taylor and running backs coach Kiel McDonald played a role in getting a few prospects to sign, despite the short amount of time they've been in the program.
"We got them on the road virtually the day they were hired," he said. "Troy Taylor made numerous home visits particularly to the offensive recruits we were on, and Kiel McDonald visited the running backs we were on."
One pipeline that was noticeably absent: Florida. Last year the Utes got five high school preps out of the Sunshine State, but this year there were none. Retired coach Dennis Erickson played a big role in pulling recruits from the Miami area where he once coached, and the Utes have eight players on the roster from Florida recruited at least in part by Erickson.
ESPN Pac-12 recruiting analyst Erik McKinney told the Tribune that pipeline may not necessarily wither even with one down year, but the Utes will have to decide whether to invest in it again with Erickson gone.
"With how visible every Power 5 program is now, it doesn't really matter if you have a down year, because those areas don't really dry up," he said. "You just kind of have to wait and see if they decide to hit Florida hard moving forward."
What about the walk-ons?
Amid a 19-man signing class, there's a few players who came in off scholarship who have sparked intrigue.
None moreso than Cooper Bateman, a former four-star quarterback from Cottonwood High who has enrolled at Utah after four years at Alabama. Whittingham indicated that Bateman, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior with one year to play, has joined the football program. While the Tribune reported last week that Bateman would likely get a look at receiver were he to join the team, Whittingham indicated that he will also take reps at quarterback this spring.
"He will get some turns at quarterback, at least in practice and individual drills," Whittingham said. "We'll try to make an assessment as to where he is in relation to the other two. But we feel like we're going to have him on the field at least somewhere, and we're elated to have him in the program. He's got a great attitude. Talked to him this morning, and he just wants to help us win."
Two other walk-ons from other programs figure to boost Utah's depth at linebacker: Weber State transfer Karsen Liljenquist has finally enrolled at Utah after taking the fall semester at Snow College. Whittingham confirmed he's been working out with the team, although he hasn't seen much of any of his players since recruiting for most of the last month.
He'll see even less of Arizona transfer Cody Ippolito, a linebacker who is rehabbing his third knee injury and accepted a walk-on opportunity with the Utes. He's expected to recover by June, meaning he'll miss a chance to participate in spring football.
Utah did sign one player it expects to play linebacker on Wednesday: Devin Lloyd from California. Whittingham said Utah's walk-ons didn't influence how it recruited the linebacker position.
On hiring McDonald
On the road for almost all of last month, Whittingham hasn't been able to say much to the media about his hire of running backs coach Kiel McDonald back on Jan. 17.
With 15 days under his belt since completing the staff, Whittingham said hiring McDonald should be key to installing offensive coordinator Troy Taylor's offense this fall.
"For Troy to have another guy in the room that knows the offense inside and out is a great benefit to him," he said. "When you got five coaches on the offense and two of them know the offense inside and out and the others are learning, it's better than one and four. It helps us out in that transition."
Whittingham added that he was also impressed with McDonald's work in improving Eastern Washington's run game in his time there. Predecessor Dennis Erickson, who coached McDonald at Idaho, also gave a positive recommendation, according to Whittingham.
"Kiel's a great football coach, has got a great background," he said. "I was all in favor of him when Troy proposed him to me."
Godfrey headed out
Whittingham said at the beginning of the year that the entire team had reported for the beginning of the semester for conditioning, but in the weeks since, at least one player has changed his mind about his future.
The rising senior safety informed the coaching staff in the last few days of his intent to transfer, Whittingham said. It is not yet known where Godfrey will head for his next destination or if he will qualify under the graduate transfer rule. He would have two years to play one season at his next school.
A native of Florida, Godfrey made his only start in three years as a freshman, and totaled 15 tackles for the Utes mostly on special teams. In recent seasons, he was outshined on the depth chart by fellow safety Marcus Williams and quarterback-turned-defensive back Chase Hansen. There was also writing on the wall: Two of Utah's four-star recruits, Corrion Ballard and Marquise Blair, are safeties, and Hansen and senior Jordan Fogal return after seeing playing time last year.
Twitter: @kylegoon