Morgan Scalley career: Utah coach's records, notable achievements, stats and more

Kyle Whittingham has a successor in waiting whenever he chooses to retire. The chosen one is Morgan Scalley, the Utes' longtime defensive coordinator.

That was the news out of Salt Lake City on Monday when Utes athletic director Mark Harlan confirmed what was already on the minds of many Utah fans.

Scalley has been on the Utah coaching staff since 2007, and he has been the school's defensive coordinator since 2016. Here's what Harlan said of the pick:

“Coach Whittingham has built Utah football into one of the nation’s elite programs through a strong culture, tradition and exceptional student-athletes. ... However, we must plan for the future, and Coach Whittingham and I both strongly believe that that future lies with Morgan Scalley.

"Morgan has played a critical role in our success through his embodiment of our core values and his leadership, and I have witnessed firsthand his growth as a coach and as a person over the last several years. He is an elite coach who has been trained by the best — coach Whittingham — and whenever it is time for Morgan to take the helm, I have no doubt that our program will continue to have success.”

Morgan Scalley's football career

Morgan Scalley is a Ute through and through. He started his football journey with Utah in 2001 as a defensive back.

He played four seasons, earning the Mountain West Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year honor in 2004. That year, he also earned a first-team MWC selection and a second-team All-American mention. In 2003, he also had a second-team All-MWC selection. He was twice an Academic All-American.

In 2006, he started his journey beyond the sidelines, being named an administrative assistant, and in 2007 he was promoted to a graduate assistant. In 2008, he was named safeties coach, and by 2009, he was also recruiting coordinator. In 2016, he jumped into the defensive coordinator role.

Morgan Scalley was expected to be the head coach in waiting for a long time. But the delay in the announcement was probably due to an incident in 2020 that almost cost him his job.

It was revealed at the time that he had used racial slurs in his communication with recruits. He was suspended by the university and around a month later, had to take a pay cut to be reinstated.