The University of Utah football program has had a lot of continuity on its staff over the years — wide receivers coach being the one recent exception.
As injuries mounted to the tight ends during the 2022 season, the Utah wide receivers seemed to be on a trajectory towards a breakout. Led by Devaughn Vele and coached by Chad Bumphis, the group finally seemed to be in steady hands.
Bumphis has since left to coach at his alma mater, while Vele elected to return. In Bumphis’ place, the Utes hired former NFL receiver Alvis Whitted. Whittled comes with seven years of experience playing in the NFL and 12 years as a college coach. He also is coming over from Wisconsin — a school that is run-oriented like Utah.
“I’m getting acclimated, acclimated to everything,” said Whitted. “It's been a great transition so far. I’m excited about this opportunity, excited about our players, our locker room, our coaching staff. It's been amazing. I’m just taking it one day at a time, finding ways to get these guys better.”
For Whitted, heading back to the mountain west region was a big plus due to his familiarity with it.
“The mountains, the people, the general being out in the fresh air. I lived in Colorado for 8 years. That's one of my all time favorite places,” said Whitted. “It’s very similar to that. More importantly than that, the people here, they’ve been very welcoming. The transition has been great so far. I’m just excited for this transition and ready to go.”
As nice as the surroundings are, there’s one very specific thing that drew him to Utah.
“Championships. They’ve won two championships back-to-back. I’ve played Utah twice in my career, I came here in 2011 when I was at UCLA, a tough football team, played at night, they were tough,” said Whitted. “Fast forward to 2014 and I played them in the Las Vegas bowl when I was at Colorado State, same team, tough. Just the consistency of who they are, the identity.”
When he first faced Utah in 2011, that was their first year in the Pac-12. The Utes finished that season at 8-5 and 4-5 in conference play. However, Whitted says he could see at that time, the signs that have made Utah the Pac-12 powerhouse they are today.
“I had no doubt about that just from outside looking in and again it goes to the consistency of coach Whitt is, his plan, his standards, how he goes about his business,” said Whitted. “It filtered down to the staff and to the players, that consistency breeds success and that is a thing I've always wanted to be a part of and to win a Championship.”
As good as the receivers were last year, they’re still viewed as the group on offense that needs the most improvement. They need to move past the point of just being reliable, and develop multiple elite playmakers. Whitted is liking what he’s seeing so far with his group.
“They’re talented, but young and willing. I love Devaughn Vele, Money Parks; the second tier guys,” said Whitted. “Makai Cope hasn't played a whole lot of football, but he’s extremely talented. Mikey Matthews, who's a freshman, has some ability and done some good things in the time I've seen him. Then you have Luca, Chris Reed, Tiquan Gilmore. Those second tier guys are the ones getting the majority of the reps here in spring.”
Whitted is confident that he can help added to the progress the group began to make under Bumphis.
“What I feel I can bring to this group is just showing them how to understand the game, how to study, how to go about your business on a daily basis as a pro, and how to prepare,” said Whitted. “Learning your opponent, that way you have a better idea of how you’re going to execute a certain route or if you can see something pre-snap, that we’ll be able to adjust post snap.”
For Whitted’s group to succeed, it’s the small things to master that will add up to success for the unit and the whole offense.
“We need to have an attack mindset, be as detailed as we possibly can, so we can go about our job and help the other 10 around us become better and play football,” explained Whitted. “More importantly the attack mindset in your routes, blocking and then in every aspect. Being alignment perfect and assignment perfect. Just going out and playing the best football we can.”
