Morgan Scalley isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel in his first year as Utah’s head coach.

As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And there’s probably not a lot to fix after Utah went 11-2 and won the Las Vegas Bowl last season.

But there is one thing Scalley is trying to do more of this year: Welcoming former Utes back to the facility.

“They bled and sweat and they love this program and they want to know that there’s a legacy there,” Scalley said after practice last week. “I mean, shoot, our current players didn’t build this building.

“Our current players are building their own legacy. So there’s a lot of guys with a lot of passion for this program. The way it’s been run, the family atmosphere, they need to know that that continues.”

Utah associate head coach Sharrieff Shah is one coach who’s been around the block a bit. He’s seen — and coached — everyone from Jaylon Johnson to Keith McGill and Eric Rowe since joining the program in 2012.

So when it comes to the program’s history, he gets it.

“You want to know that your contribution, whenever you made it — whether it was a year ago, five years ago, 15, or 25 years ago — mattered,” Shah said. “It’s the legacy and foundation which the program was built on.”

Shah said he was just recently at a local cafe owned by Frank Henry, who played for the U. in the 1970s, just to show support. Henry’s restaurant — called Creole and Slider’s Cafe — is located in South Salt Lake. It serves everything from seafood to chicken and cornbread.

Things like that, he said, are something the Utes haven’t always done over the years.

“I wanted him to know that, ‘brother, I see you, and I want to support you.’” Shah said. “I want my players to know that we have a Utah guy — one of our former players — that’s making some pretty good soul food, and it was delicious, by the way.”

Scalley hired former Ute Bo Nagahi to fill some of those gaps as the director of Utah’s alumni relations. His job is to invite and welcome players back to the place they used to call home.

It could be about collaborating with one former player’s business. It could be about helping a player — struggling to make ends meet — find the support that they need.

“There are many guys that need help,” Shah said. “Those are the things that are different right now, and that you’d like to see continue.”