Cameron Rising: Andy Ludwig means 'everything' for Utah offense

This offseason, Utah came close to losing its offensive coordinator as Notre Dame made a run at Andy Ludwig. Ultimately, though, he remained with the Utes — and Cameron Rising made it clear how important that decision was for the program.

Utah has won the last two Pac-12 championships with Rising at quarterback and Ludwig at the controls. Last year, the Utes ranked fifth in the Pac-12 with 466.9 yards of offense per game, and that number was up from 431.5 yards per game in 2021.

In fact, Rising knew his relationship with Ludwig would be special right away.

“Coach Ludwig means everything,” Rising said. “He spends so many hours throughout the week to make sure that our game plan is as good as it can possibly be. Because he does that, that’s why we go out there and have so much confidence and trust the process because he spent the time to make sure that every little part of that game plan is where we want it to be.

“My first experience was when I first got to campus. His first day was my visit. Kind of just got to talk to him. He didn’t even have, like, a game plan of what he wanted to talk to. We got to sit down, talk some ball. I knew he was a coach that I wanted to play for. I know one day he’ll be a great head coach for sure.”

Notre Dame made quite a run at Ludwig this offseason after Tommy Rees left to become the offensive coordinator at Alabama. The pursuit became a public one when Ludwig attended a Fighting Irish hockey game with head coach Marcus Freeman and then-tight ends coach Gerad Parker.

Reports initially indicated Notre Dame had an issue with Ludwig’s buyout, which was cited as a reason he stayed at Utah and the Fighting Irish promoted Parker to offensive coordinator. However, Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick said the buyout wasn’t an issue and ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported it was Ludwig’s decision to stay with the Utes alongside Kyle Whittingham.

Now, Ludwig and Rising are preparing to run it back in an attempt to win a third consecutive Pac-12 title. But the Utes were picked to finish third in the preseason poll behind USC — which they beat in the conference championship last year — and Washington.

Rising sounded like someone with something to prove at Pac-12 Media Day.

“It is what it is,” Rising said. “They can think whatever they want. Just find out come this season.”