The Utes have two talented quarterbacks on their roster.
Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin both found ways to contribute to No. 13 Utah’s win over Baylor on Saturday.
But keeping both of those players on the roster next year could be a challenge. Dampier is the current starter on Utah’s offense, but the true freshman Ficklin has emerged as a talented option — and both might garner interest on the transfer portal market.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham — while he still has a retirement decision to make at the end of the season — said he hopes the Utes can be in a situation to hold onto both players.
“We sure hope so,” Whittingham said. “That remains to be seen, and that’ll be addressed.”
With new rule changes, the portal is now set to be open from Jan. 2-16.
“Obviously, they’ve tweaked the recruiting a little bit now, where December is now completely a dead period, and the portal does not open until January now,” Whittingham said. “So you have a little more time after the regular season to sort those things out than before.
“Before, you’d have to start those conversations now with a lot of your players, as far as what their plans are and that type of thing. But with what Byrd has done this year and what Devon’s done for that matter, we’re going to have to really step up to hang on to those guys.”
That likely means the Utes will need more money through name, image and likeness deals and revenue sharing.
“That’s really an administrative thing,” the Utah head coach said. “That’s not in my court. It’s about what kind of resources we can come up with to keep the roster together.”