Utah Early Signing Day: 5 takeaways on the Utes’ roster needs, Kyle Whittingham’s future and more

The first part of Utah’s offseason is over.

The Utes signed 21 players in their 2025 recruiting class during the first day of the early signing period this week. After heading into the offseason with many questions following a 5-7 campaign, Utah and Kyle Whittingham quelled some of the concerns facing their program with a strong push in recruiting this week.

After entering the signing day with two four-star recruits committed to their class — linebacker Cyrus Polu and safety JJ Buchanan — Utah ended the evening by flipping four-star running back Raycine Guillory in its favor. By landing the Alredo, Texas product, the Utes’ recruiting class jumped from being the 46th to the 38th-ranked recruiting class in the nation, according to 247Sports’ Overall Team Rankings.

So far, Utah has topped its class from last cycle, which ranked 40th in the NCAA. It’s also the 10th time in a row that the U. landed a top 40 recruiting class in the nation, dating all the way back to 2016.

Clearly, this was a good start to the offseason for Utah, but there are so many questions still facing the program.

Here are some of my thoughts on where Utah might go the rest of the offseason and what this recruiting class means for the future.

Utah finds its next OC in Jason Beck after long search

The U. indicated it would have an offensive coordinator hired by early signing day.

“That’s going on right now,” Whittingham said of the offensive coordinator search on Nov. 18.

“We’re evaluating what we’re doing and what the attractive candidates are outside the program. I’m evaluating everything right now and getting the shortlist ready, but, yeah, that’ll be job one. As soon as the timing is right to get that filled, recruits want to know who the coordinator is going to be, and that’s something that we will need to have solved sooner rather than later.”

And, while that didn’t happen, the Utes seemingly found their guy in New Mexico State’s OC Jason Beck.

Yes, there was been buzz for some of the popular candidates on the market. Utah was rumored to be a front-runner for former Washington State OC Ben Arbuckle until he landed with Oklahoma at the last moment on Tuesday night. He signed a three-year deal with the Sooners and said it was a program he “instantly wanted to be a part of.”

After Utah was in the mix for Texas State’s Mack Leftwich, he signed a three-year deal to become Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator on Thursday.

Then it was back to the drawing board for Utah before it landed on Beck, a former BYU quarterback from 2004-06.

Despite not having an offensive coordinator before signing day like they planned, the Utes still landed a nice recruiting class on the offensive side of the football.

• Raycine Guillory might be the most intriguing prospect of the bunch. He chose Utah over SEC programs like Georgia, LSU and, most notably, Mississippi. As a junior in 2023, the Texas running back finished with 1,236 rushing yards and 17 TDs on 8.47 yards per carry. He also caught 10 passes for 175 yards and 4 TDs.

• Three-star quarterback Jamarian Ficklin is an underrated pickup out of Muskogee, Oklahoma. He’s a crafty lefty with dual-threat ability. He also has the ability to scramble and make throws on the move.

• Three-star tight end Drew Clemens has the size and ability to be the next great Utah tight end. Standing at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Clemens will have the chance to be another in-house, development project that turns in the Utes' favor.

Now it’s up to Beck to make the most out of the Utes' recruiting class.

Utah building strong depth on defense

It was another strong recruiting class for Utah’s defense this week.

Of its highest-ranked recruits, Buchanan, a safety, and Polu, a middle linebacker, are at the top of the Utes’ 2025 class. Both could very easily continue the tradition of impactful Utah players landing in the NFL, but that’s a long way away.

Whittingham’s developmental pipeline has played a massive part in that as a recruiting sell. As an assistant or a head coach, 103 of Whittingham’s players have signed contracts with NFL teams, with 60 of those players being draft picks, including 15 first or second-round selections, and 43 of them being undrafted free agents.

With Utah already having strong personnel on its defense, Polu and Buchanan both likely won’t make an early impact in their careers, but with some veterans on Utah’s defense running out of eligibility — senior linebacker Karene Reid and a senior safety Alaka’i Gilman — they could find their way into playing time.

The Utes making their way into ... the South?

There’s no doubt that Utah is trying to build a new pipeline in SEC country.

In this recruiting class, the Utes signed six players from Texas, one player from Missouri and another from Oklahoma. This is probably weird for some Utah fans to see after a decade in the Pac-12.

But, that reality is no more. Utah is in the Big 12, which means it has an opportunity to extend its brand into new states.

“(Our recruiting) shifted a little bit east — south and east,” Whittingham said in October. “We were in Texas already, but we’ve got a bigger presence in Texas, and we’ve put more manpower into the southern states in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, so we’ve shifted a little bit in that direction. We still have a good, solid presence in California, but not as much as it was before.”

The key to all of this, however, was trying to make it work. And the Utes had a good chunk of success on Wednesday, enough to keep trying again in the 2026 and 2027 recruiting cycles. For the first time in a while, Utah landed more players in the Lone Star State (6) than in California for their 2025 recruiting class (4).

Last season, for example: California trailed only Utah as the top state for the program’s recruiting class with four signees. The Utes had only three commitments from the state of Texas.

That’s all flipped on its head this recruiting cycle, and it’s something you can expect to continue.

Kyle Whittingham is still hard at work, for now

For those wondering whether or not Utah’s head coach is pondering on retirement, here’s a glimpse into how he’s taking on the offseason:

In a video posted on Utah football’s X account, the app formerly known as Twitter, the 65-year-old is shown making a phone call to a recruit.

“We’re so fired up we can’t stand it,” Whittingham said, while on the phone with a signee in the 2025 class. “Early Christmas present. We can’t wait to get you up here in a uniform.”

Clearly, the Ute head coach is all smiles and still a big part of Utah’s future.

Maybe that’s an early sign he’s returning to the program next season. Or maybe he just hasn’t had time to step away from the game and think about his decision with the churn of the offseason in front of him.

Nobody really knows but him, so the waiting game continues.

What’s next at quarterback?

For now, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Utes can go into the spring knowing they’ll have at least two quarterbacks on their roster.

With Ficklin and three-star quarterback Wyatt Becker locked down for the 2025 season, the Utes must turn their focus to the three other veteran options on the roster.

The first, and most pressing question, is what will Cam Rising’s upcoming decision be. The seventh-year quarterback sustained yet another season-ending injury in 2024, meaning he has only played in 2.5 games since 2023. When healthy, Rising is one of the best quarterbacks in college football.

But, staying healthy has been his biggest problem.

For now, the seventh-year quarterback has been mum about any sort of decision to enter the transfer portal, return to the Utes on an eighth year of eligibility or declare for the 2025 NFL Draft. It’s likely that a decision on his future will come soon, with the transfer portal set to open up on Dec. 9.

Next on the list is redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Rose. For the last three seasons, he has either been injured or waiting for his opportunity silently on the bench. This season, after Rising went down with an injury and freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson was benched, Rose finally showcased his talents in his first collegiate start against BYU.

He finished that game with two touchdown passes, 112 passing yards and 55 rushing yards. After the loss to BYU, it was later revealed that Rose went down with a season-ending Lisfranc injury in the first half.

It’s unclear what Rose’s future is, especially with a recovery window lasting several months.

Rounding out the rest of Utah’s options is Wilson, who unexpectedly started seven games in his freshman season in Salt Lake City. The former four-star quarterback recruit finished the year 1,510 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while completing 56.4% of his passes.

With a rocky freshman campaign behind him, it’s unclear whether or not Wilson will jump in the portal in search of other opportunities. It’s also unclear if Utah feels confident enough to make him its starter next season.

The Utes will answer many of these questions soon with the transfer portal window opening up.

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