What’s going to happen to senior players with delay of Utah’s football season?

Quarterback Jake Bentley calls signals during a drill as the University of Utah football team opens spring camp at the Eccles Football Facility practice fields in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 2, 2020. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — With the Pac-12 football season being postponed until early next year or perhaps even until next fall, an obvious concern for a football team like the University of Utah is whether it will lose any players, either to professional football or to another school by way of transfers.

According to Ute coach Kyle Whittingham, it’s “so far so good” at this point.

Whittingham said no players have left the team since spring football was shut down in March and he doesn’t anticipate players leaving, although he’d understand if some wanted to pursue an NFL career.

“We’ve had zero conversation with anybody about transferring,” he said in his media availability last week. “That’s not to say it might be in their mind, but it would have to happen pretty quickly and the odds are against that. No one’s approached me — no second-hand information about that.”

He was complimentary of the NCAA’s decision to allow players an extra year of eligibility if teams play an abbreviated spring schedule and he said some upperclassmen might want to try to play professionally.

“If you put some really good things on tape and you think your stock is as high as it’s going to get, you go ahead and enter the draft. If you feel like you still have things you want to get better at, you have the option to come back in the fall.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

“If you put some really good things on tape and you think your stock is as high as it’s going to get, you go ahead and enter the draft,” he said. “If you feel like you still have things you want to get better at, you have the option to come back in the fall.”

After seeing seven players drafted last spring and several other players sign NFL deals, the Utes won’t have nearly as many pro prospects from this year’s team. The Utes only have 16 seniors on their current roster and only about a half dozen are likely starters when the Utes play again.

Among the seniors is South Carolina transfer quarterback Jake Bentley, who had three good seasons for the Gamecocks and possibly wouldn’t want to wait until next year to play, if he felt he had a chance to play in the NFL.

Other top seniors are defensive back Vonte Davis, long-snapper Keegan Markgraf, receivers Samson Nacua and Tyrone Young-Smith, offensive linemen Orlando Umana and Bam Olaseni and defensive linemen Viane Moala, Mufi Hill-Hunt, Hauati Pututau, Pita Tonga and Maxs Tupai.

In the depth chart released before spring practice, only Davis, Umana, Moala, Hill-Hunt, Pututau and Markgraf were listed as starters with Bentley as a possible starter.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Utah Utes defensive tackle Viane Moala (98) practices at the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 5, 2020.

When asked about the possibility of a pro day for his seniors this fall or next spring, Whittingham said, “We want to give our seniors every advantage possible. Any exposure we can give them, we’ll certainly try to do.”

Whittingham acknowledged that having such a young team during a layoff is an advantage because his young players will have more time to mature and develop. He said 60 of his players are underclassmen, including 45 freshmen.

“It’s going to be an exceptionally inexperienced team and any extra time we have with these guys will work in our favor,” he said.

But that does leave a future challenge if his team isn’t allowed to increase the number of scholarships from the current maximum of 85. He wonders how it will work when a school has incoming freshmen and a senior class held over.

“It’s really going to put an interesting spin on the class of ’22,” he said. “You might have 85 scholarships with your junior, sophomore and freshman classes and have 15 of 20 seniors, so after the season those 15 seniors depart and then you still have 85 scholarship players and that’s your limit. So to clear space for the ’22 recruits that’s going to be interesting.”

Whittingham spoke before recent rumors surfaced about the Big Ten starting its season around Thanksgiving or the Pac-12 playing a five- or six-game schedule with a Rose Bowl against the Big Ten winner in the spring. He did say he wishes there was more uniformity among NCAA teams.

“It would nice to have some uniformity and consistency,” he said. “Different parts of the country have different stages and it’s interesting the NFL is playing, three different Power-Fives (are playing), and a bunch of high schools are and some aren’t. I don’t have all the answers, but it does pique your curiosity.”

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