After a tragic Monday night on campus, the University of Utah football team tried to ?go about our business? during practice on Tuesday.
The Utes are on a short week as they prepare to face the UCLA Bruins on Friday night.
Reaction to campus shooting
?It was horrible,? head coach Kyle Whittingham said of the shooting near the gates of Red Butte Garden that killed ChenWei Guo, a University of Utah student. ?It?s tragic and we communicated with our guys last night about the situation, making sure everyone was OK. If anyone needed extra assistance with anything, we let them know it was available.?
Tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham added that senior tight end Harrison Handley was in class during the lockdown. He said during position meetings on Tuesday that the first thing the tight ends talked about was the shooting.
?We talked about what happened, the mood on campus, how everyone was feeling,? the tight ends coach said. ?You know, it was something they were all concerned about and saddened by the loss of a fellow Ute student. It?s definitely on our minds today. I think it was good we went to practice and tried to go about our business the best we could.?
The team has yet to have a meeting to discuss if it will do anything to honor Guo during its game on Friday.
?Personally, I think it?d be great, whether it?s a moment of silence or a sticker,? Freddie Whittingham said. ?If it was my choice, I would love to do something for him.?
Coaches adjust to move
Last week?s game against Oregon marked the first time offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Troy Taylor coached from the booth instead of on the sideline. He swapped places with Freddie Whittingham, who said he thinks the change went ?really well.?
?As a coordinator, he liked being up there. You get a better view of everything that?s going on. You see the coverages they?re in, the fronts,? Freddie Whittingham said.
?For offensive coordinators in the box, you can see what the defenses are doing,? he added. ?You can see the coverages (the opponent) is running. You can see them adjusting to different route structures, passing it off in man coverage, stuff you normally don?t pick up right away on the sideline view.?
While there are perks from coaching upstairs, there are things that most people don?t think about when coaching from the box ? such as going upstairs 10 minutes before kickoff. Those coaching from the box miss some pregame rituals in the locker room and giving the players one last bit of information or trying to fire up their group. There?s also adjustments to getting to the locker room at intermission.
?You?re hustling down at halftime from the box, trying to get from the box as fast as you can so you can gather together as a coaching staff and talk about the adjustments you need to make, then delivering it to the kids over half,? Freddie Whittingham said.
As for being on the sideline with his tight ends group, the position coach said he enjoyed the change and loved being on the field with the ability to talk to his players as they came off the field.
?I like talking to my guys as they come off the field, talking about adjustments, things they?re seeing, things we could be doing that they?ve picked up,? Freddie Whittingham said. ?I need to let them know if we decide to change a blocking scheme because of the way (the opponent) is lining up that we didn?t see on film."
Communicating to Huntley
The Utes hoped Taylor?s switch from the sideline to the box would help them against Oregon last week.
Although it?s hard to come to legitimate conclusions after one game, it didn?t appear to make a huge difference as Utah still struggled and lost its fourth-consecutive game. The Utes are still working out the kinks in the new system as quarterback Tyler Huntley doesn?t have Taylor to talk to during timeout or after possession changes.
?He was still able to talk to him on the headset,? Freddie Whittingham said. ?Any time (Taylor) wanted to talk to him, we got a headset to Tyler and he was able to talk to him about whatever it was that he needed to say to him.?
If Taylor had something minor to tell Huntley, he?d have wide receivers coach Guy Holliday relay the message to him.
With one game down with the coaching move, Huntley and Taylor are expected to be more comfortable with the situation against UCLA on Friday.
Facing adversity
With four-straight losses under its belt, Utah has dealt with its fair share of adversity. Kyle Whittingham continues to say his team ?treats every week the same.?
?We don?t have any defend approach or mindset,? he said. ?We try to be in the best mindset we can be in for the game and come out with some passion and energy, ready to compete.?
The head coach said the team has had two great practices to start the week with an ?outstanding mindset.?
?We need to have that same mindset on Friday night. If we hit a little adversity, that mindset has to stay intact,? Kyle Whittingham emphasized. ?This team has handled adversity well for most of the season. The last couple of weeks, we haven?t handled it very well.?
The Utes are on a short week as they prepare to face the UCLA Bruins on Friday night.
Reaction to campus shooting
?It was horrible,? head coach Kyle Whittingham said of the shooting near the gates of Red Butte Garden that killed ChenWei Guo, a University of Utah student. ?It?s tragic and we communicated with our guys last night about the situation, making sure everyone was OK. If anyone needed extra assistance with anything, we let them know it was available.?
Tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham added that senior tight end Harrison Handley was in class during the lockdown. He said during position meetings on Tuesday that the first thing the tight ends talked about was the shooting.
?We talked about what happened, the mood on campus, how everyone was feeling,? the tight ends coach said. ?You know, it was something they were all concerned about and saddened by the loss of a fellow Ute student. It?s definitely on our minds today. I think it was good we went to practice and tried to go about our business the best we could.?
The team has yet to have a meeting to discuss if it will do anything to honor Guo during its game on Friday.
?Personally, I think it?d be great, whether it?s a moment of silence or a sticker,? Freddie Whittingham said. ?If it was my choice, I would love to do something for him.?
Coaches adjust to move
Last week?s game against Oregon marked the first time offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Troy Taylor coached from the booth instead of on the sideline. He swapped places with Freddie Whittingham, who said he thinks the change went ?really well.?
?As a coordinator, he liked being up there. You get a better view of everything that?s going on. You see the coverages they?re in, the fronts,? Freddie Whittingham said.
?For offensive coordinators in the box, you can see what the defenses are doing,? he added. ?You can see the coverages (the opponent) is running. You can see them adjusting to different route structures, passing it off in man coverage, stuff you normally don?t pick up right away on the sideline view.?
While there are perks from coaching upstairs, there are things that most people don?t think about when coaching from the box ? such as going upstairs 10 minutes before kickoff. Those coaching from the box miss some pregame rituals in the locker room and giving the players one last bit of information or trying to fire up their group. There?s also adjustments to getting to the locker room at intermission.
?You?re hustling down at halftime from the box, trying to get from the box as fast as you can so you can gather together as a coaching staff and talk about the adjustments you need to make, then delivering it to the kids over half,? Freddie Whittingham said.
As for being on the sideline with his tight ends group, the position coach said he enjoyed the change and loved being on the field with the ability to talk to his players as they came off the field.
?I like talking to my guys as they come off the field, talking about adjustments, things they?re seeing, things we could be doing that they?ve picked up,? Freddie Whittingham said. ?I need to let them know if we decide to change a blocking scheme because of the way (the opponent) is lining up that we didn?t see on film."
Communicating to Huntley
The Utes hoped Taylor?s switch from the sideline to the box would help them against Oregon last week.
Although it?s hard to come to legitimate conclusions after one game, it didn?t appear to make a huge difference as Utah still struggled and lost its fourth-consecutive game. The Utes are still working out the kinks in the new system as quarterback Tyler Huntley doesn?t have Taylor to talk to during timeout or after possession changes.
?He was still able to talk to him on the headset,? Freddie Whittingham said. ?Any time (Taylor) wanted to talk to him, we got a headset to Tyler and he was able to talk to him about whatever it was that he needed to say to him.?
If Taylor had something minor to tell Huntley, he?d have wide receivers coach Guy Holliday relay the message to him.
With one game down with the coaching move, Huntley and Taylor are expected to be more comfortable with the situation against UCLA on Friday.
Facing adversity
With four-straight losses under its belt, Utah has dealt with its fair share of adversity. Kyle Whittingham continues to say his team ?treats every week the same.?
?We don?t have any defend approach or mindset,? he said. ?We try to be in the best mindset we can be in for the game and come out with some passion and energy, ready to compete.?
The head coach said the team has had two great practices to start the week with an ?outstanding mindset.?
?We need to have that same mindset on Friday night. If we hit a little adversity, that mindset has to stay intact,? Kyle Whittingham emphasized. ?This team has handled adversity well for most of the season. The last couple of weeks, we haven?t handled it very well.?
