Utah finished a deeply disappointing season with no quarterback, no playcaller and no sense for the program’s offensive identity in 2025.
Two weeks later, clarity is emerging.
Coach Kyle Whittingham announced his return for season No. 21 and hired Jason Beck from New Mexico as the Utes’ new offensive coordinator.
Then the transfer portal opened and talent started flowing to Salt Lake City.
The Utes landed Devon Dampier, one of the top quarterback transfers on the market. The sophomore needs to refine his passing skills from the pocket but is dangerous on the move, with six games of at least 100 yards rushing for the Lobos this season.
The Albuquerque double dip (Beck’s playbook and Dampier’s skill set) will transform Utah’s offense.
Gone is the methodical, complicated style that thrived in the pre-portal era when quarterbacks stuck around long enough to gain mastery of a complex scheme.
With Beck and Dampier on board, the Utes seemingly are committed to a simpler, faster, plug-and-play approach that should work long after Dampier moves on.
It’s a sign that Whittingham, after 20 seasons and 167 victories, is willing to evolve. The Big 12 is wide open every season — the lack of a prohibitive favorite is the conference’s blessing and its curse — but the window to make the College Football playoff is closing for the 65 year old.
(He knew a change was needed. He even spoke publicly about a change being needed. And it seems clear that at some point during his period of introspection, Whittingham came to fully embrace the change.)
The transfer portal also has provided the Utes with Donovan Saunders, a long-armed cornerback from Texas A&M, Jaxson Jones, an edge rusher from Oregon, and Creed Whittemore, a big-play receiver from Mississippi State.
And in a surprising development, the portal produced a familiar name. Quarterback Issac Wilson, the former blue chip prospect who struggled as a freshman last season after starter Cam Rising was injured, announced he would return for 2025 and compete with Dampier for the job.
From no quarterbacks to two quarterbacks, the Utes are one of the biggest winners from the first week of the transfer season.
Here are four more:
Colorado. The portal has been beneficial for CU despite more than a dozen departures, including all-conference linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green — all because of one name.
The Buffaloes landed the best player on the market at an essential position: Jehiem Oatis, a 320-pound defensive tackle from Alabama and former four-star prospect. Linemen like Oatis are prevalent in the SEC but rarely seen on the rosters of teams in the western third of the country.
The defensive line was CU’s most improved unit during the regular season. With Oatis on the roster in 2025, the group could be even better.
Oregon. Another quality-over quantity selection as the Ducks have secured two starters for a secondary that must be rebuilt next season.
Cornerback Theran Johnson (from Northwestern), a second-team all-Big Ten honoree, should slide into the spot occupied by departing star Jabbar Muhammad.
And Dillon Thieneman (Purdue), who received Big Ten honorable-mention accolades, offers the Ducks an elite option at safety.
He was the No. 1 player at his position in the 247Sports transfer portal rankings.
Stanford. That’s not a mistake in the 247Sports database. The Cardinal has secured the services of player who didn’t transfer from Vanderbilt, Rice, Northwestern, the Ivy League or MIT.
Nor is he a graduate student.
Tyson Ruffins is an interior lineman from Nevada with three years of eligibility remaining.
Ruffins is sharp — he had scholarship offers from Ivy League schools as a senior at Long Beach Poly. But his arrival from Reno could signal that Stanford coach Troy Taylor has more room to maneuver within the portal.
Arizona State. As of Tuesday morning, the Sun Devils had landed exactly two transfers, according to the 247Sports database. One, Noble Johnson, had a grand total of three catches in his rookie season at Clemson. The other, Jesus Gomez, is a kicker from Eastern Michigan.
Granted, ASU needs a dependable kicker — coach Kenny Dillingham made that abundantly clear during a mid-season plea for help. But Johnson and Gomez aren’t exactly top-of-the-market commodities.
The Sun Devils are listed here as a portal season winner because of what they haven’t lost, not because of what they have gained.
So far, their two-deep is largely intact. While the stability might be expected of teams in the College Football Playoff, several already have been hit by attrition.
Will ASU retain its core after the CFP concludes? We’ll revisit the situation in January.
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