Utah’s offensive staff is settling in fast, and after three days of fall camp, Kevin McGiven sounds like a coach who likes what he’s seeing.
The Utes are working with a new group on offense, with only one assistant coach returning from the 2025 season. That hasn’t slowed the group down. Since arriving on campus, the staff has been grinding to get the offense ready for 2026, and the early camp work has given them a clearer picture of where things stand.
McGiven’s biggest point was simple: quarterback play drives everything. He said the offense has to bring out the best in both Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin, not force either one into a box that doesn’t fit.
Dampier, in particular, has drawn plenty of attention. McGiven said he looks and moves like he’s healthy, and that he’s becoming more comfortable in the offense as camp goes on. That combination has the staff feeling good about where he is right now.
There’s also a practical side to that optimism. McGiven said the coaches are being careful about how many hits Dampier takes this fall.
At the same time, Dampier has been giving the offense more of his own personality. McGiven described him as even more vocal, and said he’s adding his own flavor to the system.
That includes checks Dampier already has established with his receivers, some of which the coaches didn’t even know about until they showed up in practice. For Utah’s offense, that kind of chemistry is a good sign this early in camp.
In Other News...
Utahs New Defensive Era Is Already Putting Young Utes In Focus
A new look on Utahs defensive staff is already putting some of the programs younger players under a sharper spotlight as fall camp gets going. Sharrief Shah, Luther Elliss and Colton Swan are back in the fold, while Derick Odum has taken over the safeties and Inoke Breckterfield is now working with the defensive ends, giving the Utes a mix of continuity and fresh voices as they settle into the 2026 season.
Swan is also entering his first fall camp as Utahs defensive coordinator after taking over for Morgan Scalley, and he has been talking openly about how he wants the room to develop. In a recent press conference, Swan pointed to the growth of players such as Cyrus Polu and Trey Reynolds, along with the broader progress of the defensive tackles, as early signs of where this defense may be headed under the new setup. [Read more 🡒]
Utah Enters A Big 12 Race That Feels Wide Open
The Big 12 is already looking like one of college footballs most crowded races heading into 2026, and Utah is in the mix before a snap has been played. Alongside Texas Tech, BYU, Arizona and Houston in the preseason coaches poll, the Utes enter a league where the early attention is landing on Texas Tech and BYU, but the overall picture still feels fluid enough for a team with Utahs profile to make a move.
Elsewhere in the conference, TCU and Oklahoma State are drawing notice as possible College Football Playoff sleepers, which only adds to the sense that there are multiple paths for teams to break through. TCUs recent success under Sonny Dykes has kept it on the radar, while Oklahoma States coaching changes and new transfers under Eric Morris give the league even more uncertainty, the kind that can turn a preseason race into something far more interesting by November. [Read more 🡒]