This article was first published in the Ute Insiders newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Wednesday night.
Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley has been in this position many times before.
Last season, he answered questions about how he was going to replace two NFL safeties in Cole Bishop and Sione Vaki.
The season prior to 2023, Scalley answered questions about how the Utes would replace NFL-bound cornerback Clark Phillips III.
As the Utes gear up for spring camp this March, there are two main questions surrounding Scalley’s defense.
The first concerns the departure of cornerback Cam Calhoun to Alabama.
Calhoun, a Michigan transfer, was one of the Utes’ best defenders in his first year in Salt Lake City and was primed for a starting role next season, but he departed for Tuscaloosa this offseason after totaling 21 tackles, an interception and nine pass breakups. He was one of the best Utes in coverage, holding receivers to a 48.8 completion percentage when targeted.
Players move on in every program in the country, and Utah is no different. The Utes bring back nickelback starter Smith Snowden and outside starter Elijah Davis, plus Kenan Johnson, who started the season on the outside but was injured in the first game of the season.
In his sophomore season, Snowden assumed the full-time nickel role, totaling 48 tackles, two interceptions (including a pick-six) and a forced fumble while holding opponents to a team-low 41.5% completion rate in coverage.
Davis helped fill in as a starter when Johnson was injured, starting nine games and totaling 29 tackles, two interceptions and a pass deflection.
“I loved the progress of Scooby Davis throughout last season. Smith Snowden’s a guy that you’re probably going to see outside this year as well. He’s a guy that should not leave the field as good as he is,” Scalley said.
That’s a solid core to work with, and the Utes added UC Davis’ Blake Cotton, Texas A&M’s Donovan Saunders and Garden City’s Jeremiah Caldwell to bolster depth after the graduation of starter Zemaiah Vaughn and the departures of Calhoun and CJ Blocker in the transfer portal.
“I think we did a really good job of evaluating needs in both the portal, also got a JC transfer in Jeremiah Caldwell,” Scalley said. “Love the addition of length. That’s such a huge, huge benefit in this defense, as much man coverage as we play. So Blake Cotton, Donovan Saunders and Jeremiah Caldwell, all 6-foot-2-plus. So really excited for this group.”
Utah is also bringing in three freshmen cornerbacks in Deon Mays, Jason Stokes Jr. and Shelton Fuller as the room goes through an overhaul.
So while the Utes’ cornerback room will have to prove it on the field after some big losses in Calhoun and Vaughn, Scalley — and cornerbacks coach Sharieff Shah — haven’t shown a reason to doubt their ability to reload yet.
“This happens every year. ‘Oh you lost this guy, you lost that guy, how you going to,’ and every year I think we’ve proven that we can do a pretty good job of reloading,” Scalley said.
Perhaps the most pressing issue on next year’s defense is at the defensive tackle spot.
Four-year starter and all-conference standout Junior Tafuna graduated, and two-year starter Keanu Tanuvasa transferred to BYU and contributor Simote Pepa transferred to Washington.
That leaves the Utes with significant holes to fill at the position, but they did not sign any defensive tackles in the fall transfer portal.
Right now, the school has seven defensive tackles on the roster — sophomore Dallas Vakalahi, senior Aliki Vimahi, redshirt sophomore Jonah Lea’ea, freshman Karson Kaufusi, junior Jori Benson, freshman Sione Motuapuaka and sophomore Mike Tauteoli.
Vakalahi (16 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks) and Vimahi (7 tackles, 2 for loss, two pass deflections) are the two most likely players to fill in the two starting spots.
“I love our defensive tackles. You look at Dallas Vakalahi, he was a true freshman, what he did. Very active, very productive. Aliki Vimahi is going to be back, which is a huge plus. He provides leadership and some senior leadership at that,” Scalley said.
Jonah Lea’ea (two tackles last season) is perhaps primed to seize a bigger role this season after going from 260 pounds to 271 pounds this season.
“Jonah Lea’ea is a guy that we’ve been fighting and fighting and fighting to put on the weight and man, he’s finally got there. So this is one of the most athletic defensive linemen that we have and really excited for his length and athleticism to show up with the added weight,” Scalley said.
The question is — do the Utes feel set at the position, or will they try and get someone from the spring transfer portal. Tafuna and Tanuvasa were huge contributors, are Vakalahi and Vimahi ready to fill their shoes, or do the Utes need another option outside of their current roster?
“That’s a question that will be answered through spring. We have three returners that we really like and then (three) freshmen that we’re going to get a look at (this spring),” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “See what they can do and then make a decision after that because the portal will reopen … If there’s a position that we feel needs to be bolstered or we’re a little thin at, then we’ll continue to shop the portal at that time and we have some room in the roster to do so.”
In Case You Missed It
Utah quarterback Cam Rising’s name does not appear on the school’s recently released 2025 spring football roster, seemingly marking the end of the senior’s six-season career at Utah.
From the Archives
Extra Points
-
Utah gymnastics finishes last in showdown with Oklahoma, Cal and LSU (Deseret News)
-
Utah controls the tempo in dominating Oklahoma State for its first Big 12 win (Deseret News)
-
No. 23 Utah can’t overcome turnover issues, poor night in the post in loss at Baylor (Deseret News)
