Kyle Whittingham has seen just about everything during his three decades coaching at the University of Utah.
But he’s never seen this.
When the Florida Gators visit Salt Lake City this week, it will mark the first time in school history that Utah has hosted an SEC football team.
“Groundbreaking in that respect,” Whittingham said. “... It just tells you we are at a place program-wise: not where we want to be, but we have made great strides and inroads to our national brand. It is still a work in progress but [Florida coming] doesn’t happen if our brand doesn’t strengthen throughout the years.”
The Utes’ trip to Florida’s Swamp to open last season and the Gators’ return visit this week are the byproduct of a relationship between the schools’ athletic directors. Florida AD Scott Stricklin and Utah AD Mark Harlan have known each other since Harlan’s time at the University of South Florida.
For Whittingham, who has seen the Utes’ rise from a Mountain West team that has now been to back-to-back Rose Bowls, the series is also about a program’s evolution.
“I think it speaks to our national brand,” Whittingham said. “We are certainly in a different place now than we were even 10 years ago. Certainly, 20 or 30 years ago, it is night and day if you go back that far.”
The game will also be the first true non-conference road game outside the state of Florida that the Gators have played since they played at Syracuse in 1991.
Florida opened the 2017 season against Michigan at a neutral site, AT&T Stadium in Dallas. But a true road game over 2,000 miles away is a different challenge. And the Gators haven’t bothered to do that for a non-conference opponent since a time before Whittingham patrolled the sidelines at the U.
Utah cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah said Florida’s arrival in Utah can’t be overstated. When he played, Utah was lucky just to get a road game against then-Big 12 teams.
“It is sometimes hard to describe,” Shah said. “I remember when I was a freshman and we went to play Nebraska at Nebraska. I had watched Nebraska play my whole life and I never thought I’d be in Lincoln. So to play [at Utah], coach here, live here for 30-plus years and to watch Florida come here to play us, it is special.
“... It is fun to get national recognition for a program that just works hard. We just work. It is almost indescribable the level of joy it brings to my heart. I remember we didn’t have a beautiful building when I played here. We didn’t have these facilities that so many of these players take for granted. So I’m happy that they have that. I’m honored they have it and I’m really, really happy and excited that Florida is coming here. It just says a lot about those who have come before.”
With a marquee season opener, however, there are tradeoffs.
Scheduling a lesser opponent would have given the Utes and Gators another week of preparation before getting to the real meat of the season.
“... It says a lot that Florida is like, ‘Yeah, we’ll come. We’ll play,’ and recognize that it is going to be a dogfight,” Shah said. “It is not going to be one that either team will simply be able to jog off.”
Utah still does not know its quarterback situation for Thursday, Whittingham said. About six starters are in flux. So an opening game against Florida will have plenty of unknowns. But for now, Whittingham is happy it is happening. And he feels as ready as possible.
“You open up with a game like this and you get your player’s attention right away,” Whittingham said. “There is no easy part of the season. You have to be ready from the onset. You are not going to be able to have the luxury of looking at a bunch of players and getting some guys reps you hope to see in a game. None of that. It is like opening essentially with a conference game. It is that kind of mentality and that kind of feel to it.”
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