Utah names DC Morgan Scalley as Kyle Whittingham's successor - ESPN

The University of Utah formally named defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley as the successor to longtime football coach Kyle Whittingham, the school announced Monday.

While no retirement date has been set for Whittingham, Scalley's most recent contract calls for him to become the school's next coach whenever Whittingham decides to step down.

The contract includes a starting salary for Scalley of at least $5 million per year if he's elevated at the end of the 2024 season, per the contract. That number increases by $100,000 each subsequent year, topping out at $5.4 million after Jan. 16, 2028.

Scalley, who was a star player at the school, is entering his 17th season on the Utah staff.

«Obviously, this is a program that's always meant the world to me,» Scalley told ESPN. «I played here, grew up going to games here. I love this program and where it's headed, and I have a lot of respect for the coaches that have made it what is.»

There's no definitive timeline set for Whittingham to step down. He turns 65 in November. He's entering his 20th season as head coach and is the all-time winningest coach (162-79) in school history.

The contractual formalization of Scalley as the next Utah coach marks the second time that athletic director Mark Harlan has designated Scalley in such a role. In July 2020, the school rescinded that title, which had been agreed to months before, and cut his salary by more than half to $525,000 annually after an outside investigation into his use of a racial slur in a text message seven years earlier.

An outside law firm review interviewed 35 people and found a majority of former players were surprised at the reports and had a positive relationship with Scalley. As part of his agreement to return to the