Author: Jesse

It has almost been forgotten that the University of Utah, now a regular top-25 program, was once an average football team, at best. It was that way for decades, and nobody on The Hill seemed to really care, either. There was one man who changed all that.

Ron McBride. If there was no Ronnie Mac, there would have been no Pac-12, no Big 12, no Urban Meyer, no Kyle Whittingham, no unbeaten seasons, no Sugar Bowl or Fiesta Bowl wins, no conference championships. He was the bridge that led to all of that.

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And to think he was turned down for the head coaching job twice before he landed it.

“He really put Utah football back on the map,” Whittingham told Yahoo recently. “Coach Mac was responsible for the resurgence of Utah football.”

And that is why Utah will officially induct McBride into its Ring of Honor in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday.

McBride, a career assistant to that point, became Utah’s head coach in 1990 and proceeded to turn it into a winner. He raised the program to a different level. He got things ready for Meyer, who took it up another notch to national prominence, and Whittingham, who kept it there and built on it. Utah has since become a brand name in college football, something that was once unthinkable.

He got things ready for Meyer, who took it up another notch to national prominence, and Whittingham, who kept it there and built on it. Utah has since become a brand name in college football, something that was once unthinkable.

Before Ronnie Mac came along, the Utes were almost perfectly mediocre. It was an uncanny effort of sustained mediocrity. They finished the 1950s with a won-lost record of 54-44-4; they survived the 1960s with a 53-48-1 record; they endured the 1970s with a 44-67 record; they staggered through the 1980s with a 54-57-3 record. After 40 years, they had a cumulative record of 205 wins, 216 losses, eight ties — or an average of 5.1 wins per season. They went through head coaches like office temps — two in the ’50s, three in the ’60s, three in the ’70s, three in the ’80s.

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“The bottom line is that (the Utes) are an enigma,” said Utah’s athletic director at the time, Chris Hill. He said this in the fall of 1990 — McBride’s first year.

No one could figure out how a school with the size, location and resources of Utah couldn’t at least play better than .500 football. Not even Jim Fassel, 29-33 in five seasons, could solve the problem, and all he did was go on to take the New York Giants to the Super Bowl after Utah fired him. Wayne Howard, one of Utah’s most successful coaches, once told close friends, “This place is jinxed! It’s impossible to win here. I don’t know what it is.”

So along came Coach Mac, who had been an assistant coach for 25 years at this point and seemed destined to remain such. He applied for Utah’s head coaching job in 1982 and 1985 and was denied both times. He interviewed for the job again in 1990 and was hired. But he was dismayed to discover during the interview process that the Utes were content with mediocrity.

As Mac told the Deseret News in 2011, “The guys who were doing the hiring told me, ‘We just want to be competitive and we don’t want to be embarrassed by BYU. If we just finish in the middle of the conference and we’re respectable, you can stay as long as you want.’ Expectations were not very high. Basketball was carrying things, and football just needed to be respectable.”

Mac’s response: “That’s not the way it’s going to be. We’re going to beat BYU and win championships and go to bowl games.”

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In Year 2, Mac’s team won seven games and lost five, marking only the 10th time in 28 years the Utes had a winning record. In Year 3, the Utes went to their first bowl game in three decades. In Year 4, they were 7-6 and played in another bowl game. In Year 5, they were 10-2, ranked eighth in the nation and beat USC in the Freedom Bowl — their first bowl win since 1964.

In 13 seasons, Ronnie Mac’s teams had a record of 88-63, won two conference championships and beat BYU six times. He revived the rivalry, which had seen the Utes lose 16 of the previous 18 games against BYU before he took charge.

Mac was, above all, a master recruiter. The Utes had had only three players taken in the NFL draft in the previous eight years. Under McBride, 21 players were drafted, including future NFL stars Jordan Gross, Jamal Anderson, Luther Elliss, Steve Smith, and Kevin and Andre Dyson.

He was a master recruiter because players loved him. The players loved him because he was warm and humorous and charming and enthusiastic and positive with everyone — fans, coaches, players, administrators. There might be no one who has made more friends in football than Ron McBride.

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He disarms everyone; he loves everyone; he makes everyone around him feel good. He has a special bond and rapport with Black and Polynesian people. A non-Latter-day Saint, he was among the first coaches to embrace the missionary program and encouraged Latter-day Saint players to serve missions while also holding their scholarships while they were gone. Almost no one was doing that at the time.

“I wanted to be a positive influence in the LDS community,” he said years ago. “I wanted to support the kids going on missions.”

Mac is a people person and football provided a means to meet and interact with thousands. A native Californian, he began coaching in 1965, and for the next six decades he coached 13 different schools and pro clubs (he served three separate gigs at Utah, which always had a strong pull on him), and that’s not counting all the volunteer jobs and clinics he had along the way.

“I wanted to be a positive influence in the LDS community. I wanted to support the kids going on missions.”

former Utah coach Ron McBride on recruiting Latter-day Saint players

One month shy of his 86th birthday, he participated in a seven-day clinic for three high schools in Maui this summer. He still trains players in the offseason. As recently as 2022, he was a volunteer assistant at a local high school.

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His influence has infused the local college football scene. To wit: the current Utah coaching staff. He hired Whittingham as a defensive coach out of Idaho State. Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley played for Mac’s teams. He hired offensive coordinator Jason Beck years ago at Weber State. Other Utah assistants also had their beginnings with Mac — Elliss, Lewis Powell, Colton Swan, Sharrieff Shah. Several members of the BYU staff also tie back to Mac.

On Saturday, the U. will ensure that future generations will remember McBride. His name will be placed on the Ring of Honor inside the stadium.

“It’s for the players and the assistants — they created it, they did it,” the coach says. “It’s really something all of them achieved. That name being up there represents the players, the coaches and the people who work up there.”

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The professional violinist who was taken into custody by ICE in Colorado last month has posted bond. Local Denver musicians met him outside the detention facility.

John Shin, 37, was detained by ICE while on a work trip in Colorado on August 20, 2025. Since then, he has been held at the Aurora, CO, ICE detention center. According to his attorney, Adam Crayk, Shin posted bond and was released today.

Because his release was fairly sudden, Shin’s family was unable to meet him outside of the detention facility. Instead, fellow musician Shana Kirk met him outside.

“The first wave of relief, I didn’t expect, and I don’t even know John,” Kirk said, “Johns’ family is hundreds of miles away and he has no one on the ground here so we agreed to be the intermediary to communicating how things work at the facility.”

Kirk is based in Denver and had never met Shin prior to his release. But she felt compelled to help when she heard about his detainment. She said, “The music world is small. Once word started getting around that a violinist got reprehended by ICE, that sounded like an unusual story.”

“We wanted to be out there, so he doesn’t just release on the street,” Kirk said, with local musicians gathered outside the Aurora detention facility. She was overwhelmed by the amount of support from the music community, “[I’m] unbelievably proud but I’m not surprised. It is an incredibly beautiful community.”

While Shin is expected to return to Utah and to his family today or tomorrow, his release does not mean the end of legal proceedings in this case.

Video Courtesy: Efren de gala

Reportedly, ICE arrested Shin because he has a previous impaired driving charge. In 2019, he was charged with DUI, but resolved it with an impaired driving charge in 2020. Crayk says Shin has since completed probation, treatment classes, and all other requirements of his charge.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Professional Utah violinist arrested by ICE on his wife’s birthday

“The problem that you have, though, is as someone who is coming to the United States and who doesn’t currently have proper documentation because when you get a DUI, DACA gets taken — immigration will not let you have DACA with a DUI,” Crayk said, when Shin was first detained by ICE.

“He becomes a priority, especially under the current administration — so, he was taken into ICE custody because he accepted and did an agreement in Tooele County for an impaired driver, which caused ICE to take him into custody,” Crayk added.

The next step for Shin is to get him a green card, according to Crayk. He said, “John’s not leaving this county. We are going to win. He is going to get a green card and, ultimately, going to become a citizen because this is not the type of case we should have wasted our resources on, not even close.”‘

John Shin has lived in Utah through his elementary school, high school, and college education, graduating from Utah State University. He has worked with the Utah Symphony and Ballet West.

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The influence of Utah football — from the high school to college ranks — continues to be felt in the NFL.

While states like California, Florida and Texas are football powerhouses and churn out NFL stars at a blistering pace, the Beehive State has a growing presence at the highest level of the sport.

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That will be no different during the 2025 season, as there is nearly enough talent with Utah ties to fill an entire roster.

Currently, there are 47 Utah ties on NFL active rosters, with another 20 on practice squads.

What are the top names and storylines to watch for in the 2025 season?

Will Jaxson Dart play as a rookie?

Jaxson Dart, the former Corner Canyon and Roy High star, has been one of the most intriguing rookies during the offseason, thanks to positive impressions coming out of New York Giants camp and the team’s preseason games.

When Dart was going through the draft process, he was largely viewed as more of a project, where he would take over a franchise a year or two down the road.

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Could that process happen sooner, though?

With the Giants, he is behind veteran signal caller Russell Wilson, who will be the team’s starter to begin the season, and a backup alongside another veteran, Jameis Winston.

Dart completed 68.1% of his passes (32 of 47) for 372 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in three preseason games for New York.

On the Giants’ unofficial depth chart for their Week 1 game against the Washington Commanders, Dart is listed as the primary backup to Wilson.

The Giants don’t plan to rush him into service before he’s ready — whether that’s this year or next, or even later.

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“I feel like whenever my number is called, I’m going to go out there and I am going to play my game and ball — that’s my mindset any time I touch the field,” Dart said, according to Fox Sports. “Obviously, Russ is the starter and he’s going to be amazing. He’s had such a great camp and has played at an elite level. So, my job is just be the best teammate and be ready whenever it is.”

What’s next for Puka Nacua and Dalton Kincaid?

At least based on preseason expectations heading into the 2024 season, some may view their sophomore campaigns as a bit of a down year for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (BYU, Orem High) and Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid (Utah).

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Nacua missed time due to injury and came up just 10 yards short of a 1,000-yard receiving season. Even with playing just 11 games, Nacua had 79 receptions for 990 yards and three touchdowns in helping the Rams advance to the NFC divisional round of the playoffs.

Kincaid, meanwhile, had some national pundits hyping he’d become a top-five NFL tight end in his second pro season. A knee injury also forced him to miss some time in 2024, though the former Ute still had 44 catches for 448 yards and two touchdowns, numbers that didn’t match his breakout rookie year after being a first-round selection in 2023.

Can both Nacua and Kincaid bump up their productivity and leadership this season?

The Bills are considered one of the teams with the best odds to win the Super Bowl in 2025, and Kincaid could be asked to be an even bigger producer in Buffalo’s offense that is captained by Josh Allen.

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Nacua, meanwhile, appears primed to have another 1,000-yard receiving season after going for a then-rookie record 1,486 yards in 2023, when he was a fifth-round selection.

His Los Angeles team isn’t considered as strong of a playoff contender as Buffalo, but the Rams have made the postseason each of the previous two seasons Nacua has been with the organization. Los Angeles also added veteran Davante Adams to its receiving group this offseason, which could open things up more for Nacua.

Will there be a Year 3 surge for both offensive playmakers?

Nacua is focused on “just being consistent” heading into his third season.

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“There’s an excitement to go out there and prove ourselves again,” he said in an interview posted on the team’s website. “Last season is over and we’re ready to have a new challenge step in front of us.”

Which guys who aren’t offensive skill position players will have the biggest impact?

While guys like Nacua and Kincaid might earn plenty of the spotlight as offensive playmakers, there are several other NFL names with strong Utah ties that are expected to play critical roles for their teams this season.

In the NFL’s annual countdown of the top 100 players currently in the league — known as “NFL Top 100” and voted on by the players — there are five Utah ties, with BYU and Utah State each represented twice on the list in 2025, as well as another former Utah high school star.

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Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell, a former Desert Hills High standout, is No. 13 on the list, followed by San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner, the former BYU defender, at No. 16.

Nacua clocks in at No. 41, while two former Utah State stars — Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love and Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner — come in at No. 68 and No. 74, respectively.

Another top-100 list also includes a pair of former Utes, in addition to the aforementioned five on the NFL Top 100 countdown.

CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco has Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson at No. 71 on his list, as well as Denver Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles at No. 74.

Who will emerge among a decent rookie group?

There are 15 total rookie Utah ties on rosters right now, with six of those being on active rosters, six on practice squads and three more on injured reserve.

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Dart, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jalen Royals (Utah State), Chiefs linebacker Jeffrey Bassa (Kearns High) and Buffalo Bills tight end Jackson Hawes (Highland High) all were draft picks who will start the season on an active roster.

Former Utah defenders Connor O’Toole and Karene Reid were the two undrafted rookies who managed to make an initial 53-man roster, with the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, respectively.

Dart appears to be in a good position to contribute early in his career, perhaps even this season.

While Royals was ruled out for the Chiefs’ Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday in Brazil because of a knee injury, the former Aggie star will have opportunities to earn a spot in the Kansas City rotation, especially with Rashee Rice suspended for the first six games of the season.

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Bassa, meanwhile, is the backup at weakside linebacker and could factor into the Chiefs’ defensive rotation this year.

Hawes is one of three active roster tight ends with Buffalo, along with veteran Dawson Knox and Kincaid.

There’s also a handful of guys — including Houston Texans defensive tackle Junior Tafuna (Utah, Bingham High), Minnesota Vikings cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn (Utah), Denver Broncos tight end Caleb Lohner (Utah) and Rams offensive lineman Wyatt Bowles (Utah State, Syracuse High) — that could elevate from the practice squad to the active roster sometime this year.

Can Jordan Love get the Packers closer to a title?

Love is headed into his third season as the Green Bay Packers’ starter, and the past two years he’s gotten the franchise into the postseason.

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After reaching the divisional round during his first season as the starter, the Packers bowed out in the wild card round last year to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

With Green Bay adding some young playmakers around him — including taking Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden in the first round of April’s NFL draft and TCU’s Savion Williams in the third — can Love and the Packers make a deeper run in the postseason this time around?

Love has been consistently good in his first two seasons as a starter, going 18-14 while throwing for over 7,500 yards and 60 touchdowns during the past two years, to just 22 interceptions.

His numbers dipped a bit last season, though Love missed two games due to injury.

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Personal numbers aside, he’s got his sights set on the ultimate goal.

“You talk about Super Bowl, that’s the goal for us,” Love told reporters in late May, according to The Athletic. “We talked about that last year, and that’s the same message this year. We’re trying to win a Super Bowl. I’m definitely trying to be that guy to be able to take this team and lead them to that.”

Is Andy Reid still in prime position to win a title?

Kansas City head coach Andy Reid has gotten his Chiefs to the Super Bowl five times in the past six years, with Kansas City winning the title three times. In Super Bowl LIX, though, his team was handed a humbling 40-22 loss by Philadelphia.

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With guys like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones back, the Chiefs will again be a serious contender to capture the Super Bowl next February at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Kansas City has won 17 straight one-score games, an NFL record — that included 11 during the regular season in 2024 and another in the AFC championship, when the Chiefs beat the Bills 32-29.

Will that kind of luck run out in 2025, though? And could that put the Chiefs in a less favorable position come playoff time?

Kansas City is expected to make the postseason for the 11th-straight year under Reid’s leadership, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Chiefs return to the Super Bowl this season.

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Reid pays no attention to outside chatter that Kansas City’s Super Bowl window may be closing, after the team lost in a blowout to the Eagles last season.

“When it’s all said, it’s winning the game. We have winners, and they figured it out. I was proud of them for that,” Reid told Kay Adams in August on the “Up & Adams” podcast, according to NFL.com.

“We don’t listen to all the noise. If you do that, you’re gonna go crazy and then you’re not gonna have fun, right?”

Which Utah ties have the best chance of winning a Super Bowl?

In addition to the Chiefs — which have a number of Utah ties, among them Reid, Royals and Bassa — there are several other NFL teams with prominent Utah ties that are viewed as favorites to win Super Bowl LX in a few months.

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The latest odds have the Ravens, Bills and defending champion Eagles with the best chance to make the Super Bowl, according to The Athletic.

Following that trio are the Chiefs, Lions and Packers, as well as the Commanders.

Any combination of those teams with the top odds would have at least one notable Utah tie vying for a Super Bowl title.

Baltimore has former BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, while Buffalo has Kincaid, Hawes, former Weber State cornerback Taron Johnson and former Utah safety Cole Bishop.

The Eagles recently brought back former Utah star Britain Covey to their practice squad — he won a Super Bowl ring with the team last season — and also have former Olympus High standout Cameron Latu on their practice squad.

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Detroit has one of the game’s best young offensive tackles, Sewell, as well as former Utah running back/safety Sione Vaki.

The Packers have the aforementioned Love, as well as two former BYU players in safety Zayne Anderson and running back Chris Brooks.

As for Washington, the Commanders will be relying heavily on a former Aggie, Wagner, and a former Ute, kicker Matt Gay, this season.

Ainsley Griner stood at bat.

While waiting for the next pitch, she heard the heckling from some of the players on the opposing team.

The reason for the heckling?

Griner is a girl, and not just any girl. She’s the first girl to play on the varsity baseball team for the Utah Military Academy-Camp Williams Marauders.

Griner’s younger brother Tate Griner, a sophomore, plays on the team, too. That’s how she found out the team was down a few players.

“So I came down here and I just put on my cleats, and I just started playing,” she said.

That one practice was enough for head coach Aaron Tilley.

“I wanted her on the team the first time I saw her throw a baseball,” he said.

After practice that day, Ainsley Griner called her mother, Sara Clark, to tell her she’d made the team.

“I got a call, and she’s like, ‘I’m No. 3,’” Clark said. “I was like, ‘You’re No. 3? … You can play baseball?’”

Griner can do more than just “play baseball.” She’s become a key asset to the Marauders as a versatile athlete who can suit up at center field and first base while also pitching.

Trading softball for baseball

Ainsley Griner grew up playing softball on travel teams and, later on, her high school team in Kansas as a freshman until she suffered an injury.

This season marks her return to the diamond.

“I love baseball. I love softball. I love everything softball,” she said.

While her softball experience has definitely helped, she has had to adjust to a few differences between the two sports, such as the ball size, the pitches and now being allowed to lead off before the pitcher throws the ball.

But she’s taking those in stride.

“She’s just really optimistic and positive. She works really hard, and I’m happy for her that that’s what she wants to do,” Clark said.

In addition to softball, Griner played soccer and basketball growing up. She’s also a cheerleader and star volleyball player for the Marauders.

“She’s an excellent athlete,” Tilley said.

Right now, she’s balancing both baseball and volleyball — and her part-time job.

From 3:15-5 p.m. every day, she’s at volleyball practice before heading down to Lehi’s Veterans Ball Park for baseball practice.

Though baseball practice typically ends at 6 p.m., she stays an extra 30 minutes to an hour for extra practice.

Like another player

Though she’s faced some opposition from players on other teams, her teammates have been more than accepting.

“I’ve heard about some boys being upset, not on my team,” she said. “They all just treat me like another boy, like another player on the team.”

There were no administrative hoops Tilley had to jump through to get Griner on the team, but “even if there were, I would have done it,” he said.

Griner is one of two seniors on the Marauders’ squad this season.

“She brought an energy to the team that we didn’t have and a knowledge of the game, experience playing the game,” Tilley said.

For the head coach, it was a “no brainer” to bring her onto the team.

“She’s so positive all the time and encouraging, coaching when she sees things,” he said.

Baseball’s for girls, too

Griner also brings discipline from her softball habits to the young team, like showing up to practice 30 minutes early, which she’s trying to pass on to her teammates.

As a senior, this will be her only season of high school baseball, and she’s planning to make the most of it.

“I’m really excited about making more friends and just team bonding, as well, but also learning different aspects to use that in different sports, in different lives,” she said.

In August, Major League Baseball saw its own gender barrier broken when Jen Pawol became the league’s first female umpire, as the Deseret News previously reported.

That’s a milestone that excites Griner.

“I was so happy about that. I was kind of scared for her because sometimes players can be really mean at umpires — me as well — when they make bad calls, but I’m so happy because maybe it can soften people’s hearts and just not view gender as that. They just view players on the field.”

It was a bruising legislative session this year for public higher education in the state. But University of Utah President Taylor Randall said he’s come to feel it was ultimately “fair” for lawmakers to scrutinize the budgets of each school.

“I think it’s a fair question from legislative leaders to ask how we are spending,” Randall told The Salt Lake Tribune’s editorial board Thursday about his rosy hindsight.

This March, the Utah Legislature passed a measure to cut the budgets of the state’s eight institutions of higher education by a combined $60.5 million. The U.’s share of that was the largest, at $19.6 million.

Schools were told to cut “inefficient” academic programs by looking at which have low enrollment, lead to few graduates or result in lower-paying jobs.

Each institution then has a chance to earn its share of the money back by presenting “reallocation” plans. In those, they must show how the funds would be reinvested in degrees that lead to high-wage jobs the state needs. Legislators have specifically pointed to engineering, business and nursing.

The legislative executive appropriations committee is expected to hear the final presentations and vote next month.

Randall said he heard “harsh rhetoric from all ends” during the session and while ultimately drafting the U.’s plans. The flagship institution is cutting 81 academic programs that have the fewest students. Most came from the humanities, which lost 22 degrees and certificates. Most were around languages or language teaching, such as a German-teaching bachelor’s degree. (Similarly, chemistry and biology teaching degrees in the College of Science were cut.)

Another eight program cuts are in the College of Fine Arts, including a Ph.D. in theater and master’s degrees in ballet and modern dance. Seven cuts affect the College of Social and Behavioral Science.

Many faculty had been fearful that the liberal arts would be on the chopping block based on the metrics schools were instructed to look at.

Randall said he “didn’t get the message” that the Legislature was specifically targeting the arts and social sciences — though some lawmakers said that’s what the bills seemed to suggest.

The U., he added, has plans to bolster some of those general-education offerings that all students, regardless of major, are required to take to graduate. The focus on the new additions, he said, will be civic engagement and dialogue.

“Those are also outcomes we want from college,” he said. “We want great citizens.”

Lawmakers, he added, have “multiple opinions” but they also want the same thing.

“Behind the scenes, there was a lot of dialogue,” he said. “I personally give the Legislature a lot of credit for that.”

At the end of the day, Randall said, “I think we found a very reasonable compromise.” He believes the U. is “better” because of the cut and reallocation.

Other leaders of Utah’s public colleges and universities have made similar positive remarks about the outcome.

U. Provost Mitzi Montoya, who joined the editorial board discussion, said the university does push to get students who graduate “into as high-paying jobs as we can support them in.”

The median salary for college graduates in the state, she and Randall noted, is $49,000. At the U., according to self-reported numbers, it’s $66,000.

“It’s true we’re going to invest in areas where we see employer demands and student demands,” she said, also citing business and engineering as areas the U. has said in its initial plans will be areas for “reinvestment” under the Legislature’s direction.

The U. has also pledged to spend money in responsible artificial intelligence and biotechnology research advancements.

But she said communication and psychology also have a lot of student interest and will get additional funding this coming year. “This conversation hasn’t changed what people want to do with their lives,” Montoya noted.

The U. is working to provide career advising and coaching for all students, in every academic field, to help all graduates land better jobs and higher salaries.

“That art student still wants to get a job and make a living when they come out,” Montoya said. “We help them learn how to start their own business, so that they can also make rent.”

Randall nodded as Montoya spoke. As president, he has pushed hard for streamlining the university’s operations to make them more “efficient.” That included bringing in an outside consultant to study ways the school could improve.

The president said he is not sure at this point if the Legislature next year will continue to poke at higher education, as it has the past couple of sessions — including eradicating diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs at public schools.

When he’s mentioned positives strides at the U. to them, he said, “they’re listening to me.”

But “those dialogues are just really starting right now,” Randall said. “I don’t have a really clear view of where they are.”

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Perhaps Utah quarterback Devon Dampier wasn’t exaggerating when he said during fall camp that sometimes he had eight seconds in the pocket.

Utah’s offensive line entered the season opener with plenty of hype surrounding them. The Utes returned all five starters from a season ago — left tackle Caleb Lomu, left guard Tanoa Togiai, center Jaren Kump, right guard Michael Mokofisi and right tackle Spencer Fano.

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Fano has been consistently projected as a first-round NFL draft choice — appearing as high as No. 3 — and Lomu has received mock draft love, too, appearing in some as a first-round selection. The two talented tackles anchor the ends of the Utes’ front, with three seniors in the middle in Togiai, Kump and Mokofisi.

All offseason long, we heard about how good this group was going to be. Coach Kyle Whittingham said multiple times that this was the best offensive line he’s had since he took over as Utah’s head coach in 2005.

“I can say with confidence, we should be the best offensive line since I’ve been at the University of Utah, which has been forever,” Whittingham said at this year’s Big 12 media day.

There was reason for Whittingham to be confident.

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All five starters have plenty of experience at Utah and already had chemistry along the offensive line from last season. Unlike in previous seasons, when the offensive line has taken a few or more games to get the right personnel and get into a groove, Utah expected this group to be ready to go from the very first snap.

“Our whole O-line has gone through at least an entire season of starting. A lot of experience in our O-line, so that’s probably helped out a lot. Just not a lot of new things for us right now,” Fano said.

As Utah entered a high-profile matchup against UCLA, one of the key storylines was this — would the offensive line live up to the hype?

There’s still plenty of games left in the season, but Game 1 was a resounding success for Utah’s front five.

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The up-front dominance was on display from the very first drive, as the Utes marched down the field on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that established the offensive tone for the game.

On Saturday, Utah’s offense wasn’t particularly explosive, but it consistently got 5-plus yards per run, grinding UCLA’s defense down, run after run and screen pass after screen pass.

It wasn’t just the offensive line making its presence known on the blocking front, it was the running backs, too. Pro Football Focus gave running back NaQuari Rogers a 77.1 grade for his pass blocking on Saturday, and Wayshawn Parker had a key block on the Utes’ first play of the 2025 season.

Parker cleared the way on the screen pass to Snowden, who ran for 11 yards for a Ute first down.

“Our whole 2025 season started off with a block by Wayshawn and you could hear it on the sideline … Wayshawn just gave his whole heart to it and the outcome was really good to start off our season,” running backs coach Mark Atuaia said.

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On the next play, Parker was rewarded with his first carry of the season, which went for 12 yards. He burst through a big hole created by the middle of the Utes’ offensive line.

That’s about how the rest of the first drive went for Utah — no huge plays, but every single one went for three or more yards, powered by the offensive line.

Parker capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run that featured the best showing from the offensive line of the game.

On third-and-4 from the UCLA 13-yard line, the Bruins blitzed. Togiai knocked the blitzing cornerback off of his path and Fano, Mokofisi and Kump set the edge perfectly, while tight end Dallen Bentley sealed off another cornerback, giving Parker the widest running lane he’d see all night.

Another key series for the offensive line came in the third quarter, when Utah purposefully slowed down the tempo for a methodical 20-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that milked 9:44 off the game clock and extended the Utes’ lead to 20 points. The most yardage gained on a single play during the drive was 11 yards, but time after time, Utah converted key third downs.

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Faced with a fourth-and-2 on the goal line, Whittingham decided to go for it, and it paid off. No one touched Dampier as he hit pay dirt, with Togiai providing the key block to clear the path.

“That kind of drive doesn’t happen without a front that’s dominated, and our front really took control of that drive. They had control the whole night,” Whittingham said.

Postgame, Whittingham broke into a huge smile as he talked about the drive.

“That’s a statement drive. Hey, we can lean on you and impose our will if we want, and that was great to see,” Whittingham said.

In its 43-10 win, the Utes had 492 yards of offense (more than double UCLA’s yardage) and gained 5.3 yards per rush (totaling 286 yards), both numbers that paint how successful the offensive line was.

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“I’m going to go against what Coach Harding wants and not gassing them up, but they, as Coach Whittingham has stated, they’re as advertised and they proved it that night,” Atuaia said.

Dampier was kept clean on 71% of his dropbacks, per Pro Football Focus. At least one of the nine times he was pressured should have resulted in a sack, but Dampier somehow spun out of it. In the end, Utah’s offensive line allowed zero sacks and Dampier was never hit as he threw.

“Third down was incredible. I think we were 14 out of 16 on third down. That’s off the charts,” Whittingham said. “I’ve probably never been involved in a game where we had that many third-down opportunities and converted that high of percentage, so that was a huge part of the success.

“Obviously ran the ball well and close to 300 yards and everything I just said doesn’t happen unless your offensive line plays outstanding. So great credit, great tribute to that O-line. Those guys are a big physical group. They were as advertised tonight and we just got to keep on that trajectory and keep working hard.”

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Another number that illustrates just how well Utah’s offensive line played: The Utes held a clean pocket for an average of 5.93 seconds per pass rush, according to PFSN’s Cam Mellor, which was the highest among FBS teams that played FBS teams in Week 1.

“I felt like those boys were working and run or pass,” Dampier said. “I felt very comfortable back there. Yeah, I mean those boys dominated that game for sure.”

As far as blocking for his new quarterback, the dual-threat ability of Dampier made things a little bit more interesting for Fano and the rest of the offensive front.

“He definitely makes it so I have to block a lot longer every single play,” Fano said.

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“There’ll be plays where I’ll have my guy there for like five seconds and then I’ll look around and then Devon’s like a running back, so I have to hurry down the field to help him out. It definitely gives me some good conditioning, I’d say. That’s how it makes me better.”

Jason Beck’s offense also gives some offensive linemen a chance to show off their athleticism in space. Lomu said that was the aspect of the new offense that made him most excited preseason, and getting to block in space on Saturday was a highlight.

“It’s awesome being able to get out there in space and go one-on-one with someone other than a defensive line. So being able to showcase my athletic ability and the entire offensive line athletic ability just shows that they have trust in us and what we can do, and it’s just fun being out there in open space,” Lomu said.

Despite the good start — and the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week award — there’s always things to clean up (starting with less pressures on Dampier) and Utah’s offensive line isn’t letting their egos inflate.

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“It was awesome, but last week is over,” Fano said. “And it’s all about Cal Poly now.”

“The great thing about football is that it ends and you get a new week to handle business. And so it’s got to be something consistent that goes throughout the season. And it was just one start. Let’s see them do it again,” Atuaia said.

The post Utah Jazz 2025-26 season predictions after NBA schedule release appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The Utah Jazz are entering the 2025-26 season with heavy baggage from one of the darkest stretches in franchise history. Last year’s 17-65 finish wasn’t just their worst record ever; it was a sharp reminder of how quickly the bottom can fall out of a rebuild.

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A fan base that once saw the Jazz top the Western Conference in 2020-21 now finds itself clinging to memories rather than milestones, as the present looks more like a prolonged reset than a return to relevance. With the NBA schedule now officially released, it becomes easier to chart the road ahead, weigh the roster against the competition, and predict how this once-proud franchise will navigate another grueling season in a deep Western Conference.

Lessons from a historic collapse

Utah’s 2024-25 campaign felt like a cautionary tale about the dangers of half-measures in a rebuild. Their 17 wins placed them at the very bottom of the league, and they were among the last to secure even a single victory. Injuries, inconsistent rotations, and a lack of dependable stars turned each game into a test of survival. The Jazz lost their edge early, often falling behind by double digits before halftime. The once-feared altitude advantage in Salt Lake City became meaningless as opposing teams repeatedly walked away with lopsided victories.

This was not a one-year anomaly. The franchise has been unraveling since trading away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in 2022. What followed was a slow erosion of the competitive culture that defined Utah for decades. By the time the 2024-25 season ended, the Jazz were no longer viewed as a rebuilding team with upside, but as a franchise drifting without a clear direction. The Jazz’s offseason trades: Kyle Anderson, Kevin Love, and Jusuf Nurkić arriving while Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, John Collins, and Johnny Juzang departed were moves that looked more like shuffling than solving. No free-agent signings underscored a lack of urgency. That quiet summer leaves Utah’s 2025-26 outlook fragile at best.

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Predicting the 2025-26 regular season

The NBA schedule has provided some clarity on how this season might unfold. Utah opens with a home date against the Lakers, followed by a tough road trip to Sacramento and Phoenix. Early stretches like these will likely set the tone: if the Jazz stumble to another slow start, the weight of last season’s failures could resurface quickly.