Guy Holliday is out as the wide receivers coach at the University of Utah, but the circumstances behind his departure are murky.
A Utah athletic department spokesperson confirmed that Holliday is no longer the football team’s wide receivers coach on Monday. This, after Holliday offered a semi-cryptic tweet, indicating he was no longer at Utah. Holliday did not go into detail, while a text message and a phone call to him from The Salt Lake Tribune went unanswered.
“If you know me, no one speaks for me, I speak for myself!” Holliday’s tweet read. “The only thing anyone wants is an opportunity. I’m thankful for the opportunity. At the end of the day, no fan, no game ever meant more to me than my players. Change is consistent in life and I love new challenges!”
Holliday’s departure comes as a pair of high-profile wide receivers hit the NCAA Transfer Portal within the past month. On Feb. 2, redshirt sophomore Bryan Thompson announced his intent to transfer. He has since committed to Pac-12 South foe Arizona State. Late Friday afternoon, senior Samson Nacua, who has played in 45 career games for Utah, opted to enter the transfer portal.
Right behind Thompson’s transfer announcement on Feb. 2, news broke that Jaylen Dixon removed his name from the transfer portal and will return to Utah for the 2021 season. Dixon originally opted for the transfer portal in October.
Holliday revealed his departure on Monday, a day after his son, Justin, a high school wide receivers coach in El Paso, Texas, fired off a series of tweets saying his father had been fired, while bringing into question why Morgan Scalley remains employed. Holliday also demanded an answer about why the team let his dad go.
On June 5, Scalley was suspended with pay as the school investigated a social media post, which referenced a 2013 text message from Scalley that included racist language. Scalley was reinstated on July 1, but Utah athletic director Mark Harlan rescinded his head coach-in-waiting tag. Furthermore, Scalley’s contract reverted back to 2018 terms, specifically a one-year deal worth $525,000.
