Jason BatacaoMorgan Scalley has emphasized the importance of bringing back former players to the football program.
“They bled and sweat and they love this program and they want to know that there’s a legacy there,” Scalley said during fall camp. “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.”
In short, tradition is important to Scalley.
And he made sure to continue the one that began after tragedy struck the program early in the decade.
At the end of the third quarter in Utah’s 66-14 win over Idaho, the lights at Rice-Eccles Stadium dimmed, kicking off the Moment of Loudness.
But this time, it had a different twist.
Since its inception after the deaths of former Utah players Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe in 2020 and 2021, the tradition has featured former head coach Kyle Whittingham’s soft-spoken voice.
With Whittingham gone, former Utah players — and a couple of coaches — have taken over the role.
Former Utah stars Clark Phillips, Devin Lloyd, Britain Covey and Dalton Kincaid are now featured in the video introducing the moment, alongside Scalley and associate head coach Sharrieff Shah.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Two Utah Utes fans hold up two fingers on each of their hands between the third and fourth quarters, a Utah Utes tradition to honor two former players who died, during the second half of the game between the Utah Utes and the Idaho Vandals at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026.
Here’s what fans heard when the Moment of Loudness began Thursday night:
“This moment has become our tradition. A tradition that honors the lives of Ty Jordan and A-Lowe. Being a Utah man is bigger than one person, one game, or one season. It’s about being 22% better. Better for the guy next to you, better for the guys who came before you, and those who will come after you.
With the tradition comes a commitment to be infectiously optimistic. To work hard. To give 22% more and be 22% better. To lift one another. To stand together. To carry forth the legacy for those who helped build this place.
And to embrace each day with the same joy, purpose and energy that Ty and Aaron shared with all of us.
So with love in our hearts, we invite you to stand, to smile and let your voices ring from the mountains to the heavens. This is Utah. This is family. This is the Moment of Loudness.”
So whose decision was it to include the former players?
“I would like to say it was my choice, but it was our creative team,” Scalley said. “That was something that happened in our program that really shook our program.
“It just shows how tight we are as a family, and the health of a college football program really, when you look at it, it’s determined by your alumni giving back.”
Scalley said he was “so grateful” for former program legends to make the trip and appear in the video.
The Moment of Loudness wasn’t the only thing different at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Thursday. Utah also added to its gameday atmosphere with LED lights that flash when Utah scores or makes a big play.
When the regular white lights were dimmed, the field was still lit by a Utah-red hue. Those changes have only added to the atmosphere surrounding the Moment of Loudness.
Utah’s head coach is just happy to continue the tradition started by his predecessor.
“What a special moment [it is] just to keep that thing going,” he said. “We’ve just had, unfortunately, some tragedy in this program that has caused a lot of tears, but now it really allows for us to really celebrate the heck out of them.”
