Anonymous Big 12 coach expects Utah to look 'very different than what we're used to' in 2025

The Big 12 is a difficult conference to predict. Still, nobody expected the Utah Utes to struggle in their first season in the conference the way they did.

In the wake of a 5-7 season, head coaching Kyle Whittingham made some major changes, particularly on offense. With those, Utah is going to have a new look in 2025. That’s something that one anonymous coach in the Big 12 recently spoke to Athlon about.

“There’s a lot of questions here, mainly on offense,” the Big 12 coach said. “[Andy] Ludwig and Cam [Rising] are gone, and they’re going with a spread and RPO scheme. It’s going to look very different than what we’re used to from this program. Kyle Whittingham’s teams are defined by their physicality, and this is going to be more of a tempo, bang-bang approach to keep pace in the league.”

Cam Rising had been Utah’s longtime quarterback, but after getting injured in the Rose Bowl following the 2022 season, he’s struggled to get on the field. Utah, meanwhile, has struggled to find a replacement for him. After a 2024 season where the Utes finished 115th in total offense, averaging 329.8 yards per game. They were 102nd in scoring offense, averaging 23.6 points per game. Then, Utah was also 98th in passing offense, averaging 199.4 yards per game.

This offseason, Utah moved on from offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig and replaced him with Jason Beck. Previously at New Mexico, Beck is bringing along his quarterback, Devon Dampier. That’s going to be where the new look to the Utes’ offense largely stems from.

The offense remains a question amid all of that. However, as one Big 12 coach shared, there are far fewer questions on the defensive side of the ball.

“Defensively, they’re replacing a ton, but that’s not as concerning,” a Big 12 coach said. “The staff is great, they’re consistent and good evaluators and developers of talent. They’ve got some dudes in that secondary.”

Expectations will be high for Utah as long as Kyle Whittingham is their head coach. However, in the parity-driven Big 12, it’s difficult to project how any individual team is going to do next season. At the same time, it also means there’s opportunities for quick growth.

This new-look Utah team will first take the field on August 30th with a road game against UCLA. Conference play opens on September 20th against one of the Big 12 favorites, Texas Tech.