The Crimson Collective was launched at the University of Utah on Friday, giving hope to the program and the fanbase that Utah’s dominance on the gridiron can persist.

Led by Matt Garff, the collective is looking to drive home the message, “Our team. Our town.”

Heading into Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham’s 19th season — 30th including his time as an assistant — Utah Football is constantly praised for their “family” vibe in the program. That’s why it’s important for the collective to get as many past players involved as possible, being liaisons between the current players and the community.

One glance at the Board of Directors and the advisory board reveals many former Utah players who helped build the football program into a perennial Top-25 powerhouse. This group is deeply committed to the success of this new collective.

While it’s quite the collection of former players, they didn’t just jump on board immediately. With the lack of guardrails in the NIL landscape, Garff and his group needed to be persuasive to ease concerns. In the end, several players jumped on board with the Crimson Collective’s vision.

“I had a conversation with Alex Smith back in November and it was a great conversation,” said Garff. “Again, the same sort of thing, you can feel the desire of people to want to make a difference. He clearly wanted to make a difference. I invited him to come be a member of our board and immediately his next question was, ‘Well, do you have the endorsement of the University of Utah?’”

At that time, the NCAA did not permit universities to endorse collectives. However, two months later, the NCAA changed their guidelines and the endorsement came to fruition.

With the school’s endorsement in hand, Smith quickly joined the Crimson Collective as a board member and fellow Ute-great and future NFL Hall-of-Famer Eric Weddle soon followed. From there, a flood of former Utes came on board.

Smith, Weddle, and Kevin Dyson all sit on the Board of Directors. The Player Advisory Board includes Kenneth Scott, Steve Tate, Britain Covey, Star Lotulelei, Kia Misi, Robert Johnson, Lauvale Sape, Terrell Burgess, Stevenson Sylvester, Jordan Wynn, Matt Asiata, and Bo Nagahi.

Harlan believes with the evolution of college athletics, involving past players in the NIL collective is a key component in making it successful.

“It was critical, absolutely critical (to get them on board),” Harlan said. “And, it’s a journey talking to those guys because NIL in some quarters, is not the most popular thing. If you talked to some of the former players, they’ll say, ‘Gosh, everything this university gave for me.’ But, as (Whittingham) I thought articulated well a bit ago, whether you like it or don’t, it’s here. So, if it’s here we have to be good.”

“Our players have bought into that — our former players,” Harlan added. “Eric has been incredible in the structure of this. Certainly Alex is passionate about this, but again, they want us to do this the right way. That’s their expectation of their alma mater and I’ve pledged to them that we’re going to do that, as has Matt Garff and this board.”

They’re on board to do it the right way, while also further strengthening the bond of players past and present. It was a powerful move by the Crimson Collective, and the former players are eager to keep their beloved program winning conference championships, “the Utah way.”