In March, months after he took over for Kyle Whittingham as Utah head coach, Morgan Scalley announced plans to give back. He made a $2 million gift to the Utes football program and, ahead of this week’s game against Houston, he explained why.
Before taking over as head coach, Scalley spent more than 20 years in Salt Lake City. He played for Ron McBride and Urban Meyer, got his coaching start under Whittingham and worked his way up from a graduate assistant in 2007 to defensive coordinator in 2016.
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After 10 seasons as defensive coordinator, Scalley officially took over for Whittingham as Utah’s head coach. But he saw an opportunity to ensure the Utes could have long-term success in the new era of college athletics, which is why he gave $2 million back to the program.
“Utah’s done a ton for me and my family,” Scalley said Friday on The Pat McAfee Show. “My wife went here. My entire family went to the University of Utah. There’s a lot the Utah family has given us.
“This is not a Morgan Scalley thing. I said that early on. It’s about Utah football. It’s about the University of Utah. When I’m gone, again, it’ll still be Utah. We wanted to give back and help this community understand that we’re in this together. I’m not going anywhere unless they kick me out of here.”
Scalley isn’t the first college football coach to give back to their program in the NIL era. Former LSU coach Brian Kelly matched fan donations to help support the schools’ Excellence Fund in 2024. UTEP coach Scotty Walden also gave $80,000 of his salary to help with revenue-sharing this year.
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As a player at Utah, Morgan Scalley was the Mountain West co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 while earning first team all-conference honors. He then returned to Utah in 2006 as an administrative assistant before getting into coaching with the Utes and working his way up the ladder.
So far, through Scalley’s first games as head coach, Utah is off and running. The Utes are a perfect 6-0 after last week’s victory over Colorado, which came after the Buffaloes made a late push in the final minutes.
That sets the stage for this week’s game against Houston. It’s a key Top-15 battle in Salt Lake City as the Cougars and Utes sit toward the top of a tightly packed Big 12 race, and ESPN’s College GameDay will be in attendance, as well.