Morgan Scalley Weekly Press Conference: Idaho
8/31/2026 1:43 PM | Football
SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah head football coach Morgan Scalley held his weekly press conference on Monday with members of the media inside the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center.
Selected quotes from Coach Scalley can be seen below. Click here for the full press conference video.
Opening Statement…
Welcome. Excited for this home opener, get this thing going. We've been hitting each other for some time now. Fall camp went really well, established a two-deep. The majority of our position groups with some injuries still lingering a little bit, so we'll see come gameday. Nothing that's going to keep guys out of the mix for the most part. Really healthy fall camp. Pleased with the coaches' energy, the players' energy, getting a leadership council and captains in place that really determine where things go from here on out. I'm excited. I know our fans are excited. I think it's been 95 straight sellouts and we've got an unbelievable fan base. So, home opener versus Idaho. We were able to get a sneak peek of them last week and nothing but respect for Coach Ward and that group. Got an offense, a dynamic quarterback that was very efficient, both throwing, and when you add in the running element, it causes some issues for a defense. Really good wide receivers, tight ends that are athletic, seasoned offensive line. On the defensive side of the ball, very twitchy up front and active. You can kind of tell how a team is coached by how they run to the ball. These guys run to the ball. So, with that said, I'll open it up for questions.
On what getting his first home win as head coach would mean…
A win. I'm excited for our players. It's all about them and the preparation that they've put in, buying into our culture and our way of doing things. We've got, like I said, a really good group of leaders. They hold each other accountable, which is an awesome thing to see. It's not always easy to hold each other accountable and to bring others along. A lot of people shy away from that, but we've got some good ones. These players are ready and cannot wait for them to let it loose.
On what it's been like working his way from a graduate assistant at Utah to now being the head coach…
I guess I'm not one for nostalgia. I just go from day to day. Obviously, Utah means a lot to me. The program means a lot to me, and I've had unbelievable coaches to learn from on my way up and very blessed that way to have learned from some really good minds and really good leaders, but this is not a Morgan Scalley deal. This is a University of Utah deal and we've got an entire staff and facility. It takes a village to really run this group and we've got unbelievable people. We expect to do good things.
On the gameplan for Idaho…
I think Kevin [McGiven]'s done a nice job of having enough throughout spring and fall that you're always going to see something new. With this offense and the amount of threats that we have, playmakers that we have, you may see something new every single week in terms of, not just play selection, but personnel. That's what I think makes this offense difficult to defend is that, we're sitting there in a four-wide group, sitting there in 12 personnel, and then all of a sudden, it's 13 personnel with your two rhino tight ends. There's something for every defense to be worried about.
