Gaige Weddle sat inside Utah’s Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center, watching Morgan Scalley as he led a film study with Utah’s defensive unit.
Scalley, the program’s defensive coordinator and next head coach, was preparing the Utes for a ranked matchup versus Cincinnati. And Weddle, the five-star recruit, used this time to take mental notes on Utah’s football operations while sitting in on Scalley’s lesson.
“They knew everything they were doing before they did it,” Gaige, the son of former Ute safety legend Eric Weddle, said of his first unofficial visit in Salt Lake City.
“Coach Scalley had quizzes for the players to see if they were watching film or not. That just shows how genuine he is as a coach, that he’s going to hold people accountable.”
Gaige, who plays both quarterback and safety for Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, has two years until he needs to make a decision on his collegiate future as a member of the 2028 recruiting class.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley as Utah hosts Cal Poly, NCAA football in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
But he already has a top four shaping up, which currently includes the Utes.
Utah has even pitched Gaige the idea of playing on both sides of the ball if he were to commit to the program. The Utes were also the first program to offer him a scholarship during his freshman year of high school.
“I’ll say right now it’s Oklahoma, Georgia, Utah and USC,“ Gaige said. ”Then, I mean, all the other ones are a toss-up because I haven’t been to any of the other schools that have offered me yet.”
Coaches and university staffers can’t currently contact Gaige directly due to recruiting rules. Direct contact will open up next June when he enters his junior season as a member of the 2028 recruiting class.
But Gaige has taken time to get a feel for every program he’s been recruited by.
“Right now he’s just getting an idea of the school and the campus and location,“ Eric Weddle, his father — a former Ute and NFL All-Pro safety — told The Salt Lake Tribune. “To him, the head coach, the philosophy, the culture — those are all priorities.
“His dream is to play in the NFL.”
Gaige grew up a Utah fan and has a “deep love” for the U., due to his father’s allegiance to the program. He’d attend games in the stands of Rice-Eccles Stadium and would cheer for the Utes on TV.
Some of Utah’s current assistant coaches either played with Eric in Salt Lake City or coached him on the sideline, which has allowed Gaige to easily connect with the Utes during his two unofficial visits this season.
“I’ve always had a soft spot for Utah,” Gaige said. “I feel like everyone there cares for me, which doesn’t really make sense, because I’m not even on the team. But they seem like they really want me at the school, and they’re recruiting me hard, and I love what they’re doing out there.”
Despite having deep roots in Salt Lake City, Eric said it’s not a foregone conclusion that Gaige will end up at his alma mater. That decision will ultimately fall on his son’s shoulders.
“He’s got a personal relationship with a lot of the people in that building,” Eric said. “That’s always going to pull at him.
“I know that if he ended up at Utah or BYU — just because of my relationship and my standing with them, per se — I know they would have his best interest. And, as a dad, that is powerful. That means a lot to me. But it’s not my decision. It’s not my choice."
Outside of the Utes, Gaige has also been enamored with the SEC’s Georgia and Oklahoma, two teams that are currently preparing for the College Football Playoff.
When he unofficially visited both programs, Gaige was able to witness Norman, Oklahoma’s, Heisman Park adjacent to the Sooners’ stadium.
When he was in Athens, Georgia, he strolled past some of the Bulldogs’ recent national championship trophies.
He is also a native of California, which has led to a natural connection to the Trojans, his father said. USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn also runs a similar defensive system that Gaige plays in at Rancho Bernardo High School.
“I feel like [USC] is trending up, and in the history of USC he’s enamored with that,” Eric said. “Then Oklahoma and Georgia, those are blue bloods. The history and the big-time SEC football, I’ve never experienced something like that, so seeing it firsthand is just different.
“I would say those places would be ahead of Utah right now.”
There’s still a lot of time for Gaige to make a decision, however. But he does want the process to unfold a certain way.
“I want to make the decision on the school and then ask them what they want me to play,” Gaige said. “It’ll make it easier on me.
“But playing both ways — quarterback and safety — that’s really hard to do. No one’s ever done it.”
Despite having big-time offers from Power Four programs across the nation, the Utes still have the legacy pull with Gaige.
He’s not taking that for granted, even if his decision is two years down the road.
“If I end up going to Utah, there’s going to be a lot of pressure just knowing that my dad went there,” Gaige said. “I love the school, and obviously, that was the team I rooted for growing up. It’s a lot to take in.”