Editorβs note: This is part of the Starβs month-long βBig 12 Blitzβ series, where we introduce (or in this case, reintroduce) U of A fans to the on- and off-field need-to-know details surrounding each member of the 16-team Big 12. Today: The University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City.
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Kyle Whittingham scoffs at conference realignment.
His football coaching career at Utah was molded by it. The Utes are a part of the four-corners quartet β which also includes Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado β that left the Pac-12 to join the Big 12.
Led by mascot βSwoopβ the red-tailed hawk, Utah takes near the start of a matchup with Arizona at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Nov. 5, 2022.
But this isn't Utah's first β or second β rodeo in conference realignment in the last nearly two decades. When Whittingham took over for Urban Meyer as Utah's head football coach in 2005, the Utes were in the Mountain West. For a decade prior to that, Whittingham was a defensive assistant at Utah, when the Utes were in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). In 2011, Whittingham's seventh season as head coach, the Utes transitioned to the Pac-12, where they played in four conference championship games, winning two.Β
Then-Utah head football coach Urban Meyer, left, and longtime assistant Kyle Whittingham speak to assembled media in Scottsdale on Dec. 31, 2004 ahead of that seasons' Fiesta Bowl, pitting Utah against Pittsburgh in at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The Utes would complete a 12-0 season with a win, and Whittingham would take over as head coach following Meyer's departure to Florida.
"It's a transition we made before," Whittingham said at Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas. "Although when we went to the Pac-12, we were a (Group of 5) school, trying to come up a level, which there was a little bit of a curve there that we had to endure. This is actually the fourth conference I've been in since I've been at Utah. We were in the WAC, the Mountain West and the Pac-12, and now the Big 12. So nothing new for me personally as far as changing leagues."Β
The Utes carry high expectations in their first year in the Big 12: The football program was voted first in the preseason conference media poll.Β
"I think that's a show of respect to our players and coaches that have done a great job competing through the years that the media has selected us No. 1," Whittingham said. "But in the final analysis, that doesn't mean anything. Obviously you've got to play the games, and our players are fully aware of that."
Utah's path to having a reputable football program stems back to when Meyer was hired in 2003, before leading the Utes to a Mountain West championship and Fiesta Bowl to cap an undefeated season in 2004.
Utah fans show their support for their Utes during a men's college basketball matchup against Arizona at the Huntsman Center on the school's Salt Lake City campus on Feb. 24, 2022.
Adrian Denny, a Salt Lake City native, Utah alum, and longtime voice of the Tucson Roadrunners β that team now the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL team now based in Salt Lake City β said Utah fans "owe everything" to Meyer and (former Utah athletic director Chris Hill).Β
Denny
"It put Utah on the map, like, 'This is how we're going to operate around here and we're serious about football.' ... Getting football going is what got Utah into the (Power 5) and into the Pac-12," said Denny, who's also a Utah graduate. "Now it's a nice situation in the Big 12."
Since Utah is one of four schools from the Pac-12 leaving the Big 12, here are some questions we asked Denny about the Utes:Β
Between the Utes, Utah Jazz, the new NHL team and Salt Lake Bees, the minor-league affiliate of the L.A. Angels, how is the sports culture in Salt Lake City?
A: "It's great. ... Utah supports things. It's been a hungry market since they got the Jazz in 1979. Before that, they supported minor-league hockey like it was the NHL. That combined with the civic pride β you're either on the Utah side or BYU side, but you support the Jazz β is what we do. It'sΒ our team. It's all about either Utah or BYU and then the Jazz.
"This market is growing in Salt Lake. There's so many people. It reminds of Phoenix and it's just growing with so many transplants. The market has a lot of people, but you have the base that supports everything. It's contagious and you want to be a part of it."
What is the greatest moment in Utah Utes sports history?
A: "Let's see, 1998 was a lot of fun going to the (men's basketball) national championship game; I know that's a tough one for Tucson. The Rose Bowl two years ago for Utah's first-ever Rose Bowl in the Pac-12. The Fiesta Bowl, the β08 Sugar Bowl. I think when you look at recent memory, there's been some huge football games between USC.
"I'm not sure there's one, but there's a lot to give the sports identity that is has."
Utah fans who made the trek to St. Louis cheer on their "Red Rocks" β an additional nickname given the school's national-power gymnastics program βΒ during the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships on April 15, 2017. Utah has won nine NCAA gymnastics titles, and often sees more than 15,000 β yes, 15,000 β fans show up for meets at the on-campus Huntsman Center.
Besides football, which Utah sports draw the most attention?
A:Β "Men's basketball, but in the last four or five years, Lynne Roberts, who came over from Pacific, has really built the women's basketball program, a lot like Adia Barnes (at Arizona), from nothing into an NCAA Tournament appearance every year and competing to win the conference.
Utah head coach Lynne Roberts high-fives players on the bench after the team's victory over Washington State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament on March 3, 2023, in Las Vegas.
"I've always been really frustrated with Utah baseball, especially in the Pac-12. I just didn't feel like they treated it like a big-time sport. Baseball is a big-time sport in the Pac-12, and I feel like Utah ran it like it was 1980s WAC, kind of like Wyoming, who canceled their program. There was nothing to it or you didn't hear anything about it. They were in the bottom of the conference. This is the University of Utah, everything needs to be good.
"Maybe my favorite Utah baseball memory was in 2016, when they won the Pac-12 with a losing (overall) record."Β
Alabama/Auburn? North Carolina/Duke? USC/UCLA? The Utah vs. BYU rivalry may have every one of them beat. "It's every day of the year," said Adrian Denny, Utah alum, Salt Lake City native, and Tucson Roadrunners play-by-play broadcaster. "I can't imagine anything being worse."
How would you describe the passion in the Utah-BYU rivalry?
A: "It's every day of the year. I've heard a couple of people from out of town say there's nothing like it. I've always said there's nothing like Utah and BYU, because I can't imagine anything being worse.
"It's nasty, it's unfriendly and this is some of the stuff you get with it: 'Oh, good, Utah lost. I'm going to wear my BYU tie to church tomorrow and show them!' Everything revolves around Utah and BYU β and the hate. The fans are nasty to each other. Utah fans are not nice to BYU fans. I've been down to Provo a number of times and never had anything happen, but you get the, 'Oh, you're from Salt Lake, you ... you ...Β you!"
Big 12 Blitz is the Star's way of introducing you β the discerning Arizona Wildcat season ticket holder, would-be road-tripper or cardinal and navy-clad die-hard β to the teams, towns, campuses and more UA coaches, athletes and supporters will get to know across the new Big 12 landscape.
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