The culture factor: Utah football’s new recruiting pitch

Utah football’s 2027 recruiting class is largely complete. After a month-long flurry of hosting nearly 40 prospects from around the country on official visits, the Utes currently stand with 20 commits. 

In the program’s interaction with its top recruiting targets, we’ve seen a common theme emerge with every new commit. The draw of Utah’s culture. 

From day one of his tenure, Morgan Scalley has placed an emphasis on establishing a culture that matches his vision for the program. Scalley talked about it in his introductory press conference. He backed it up beginning in the first spring practice session. 

“Culture is not just words on walls,” Scalley said. “You have to practice it and you promote it when you see it. When we see the behavior that we’re asking for, man, you’ve got to shout it to the rooftops, and then don’t permit anything that’s counter to your culture. So it’s a daily thing and you’ll hear that from the players as well. If you’re just talking about it once a week, then it’s really not culture. It’s fake.”

Utah has been intentional in maintaining and selling its culture to its 2027 recruits. Utah GM Joe D’Orazio shared that finding the right personalities is equally as important as finding rare talents. “If you recruit a great human being and they have setbacks along the way, they’ll find a way to overcome those,” D’Orazio told UteZone last month. 

As the Utes have assembled the class, they haven’t taken that factor lightly. And it’s shown in the caliber of prospects that populate the commitment list. 

Selling the RSNB way of being

The concept of RSNB is not new to Utah football. Scalley has used the acronym as a rallying cry for his defense for the past several seasons. For those that haven’t paid attention, RSNB stands for Relentless, Smart, Nasty, Ballhawks. As Scalley explained, RSNB isn’t intended to merely be a catchphrase stenciled on a wall. It’s meant to be a simple daily reminder for the mindset Utah coaches want their players to embody. It’s also a mindset that every Utah recruit we’ve talked to has brought up as a huge positive about the program. 

“It was the culture. Utah has the RSNB culture (Relentless, Smart, Nasty, Ballhawks) and it shows in everything they do. I got to talk to all the coaches this weekend and meet several of the players. They all showed me they have bought into the RSNB culture by living it,” defensive line commit Tiki Teeples told UteZone after his official visit. 

Offensive line commit Ian Aloisio echoed the sentiment. “I love [Coach Scalley’s] RSNB culture. Relentless, smart, nasty, ballhawks. I mesh with that a lot,” he said. 

To a man, every Ute commit we’ve interviewed in this cycle has mentioned RSNB and what it means to them. It’s a clear selling point that helped attract the type of player Scalley wants to build his program with. 

The power of authenticity 

For a program looking to build a foundation on high-character prospects, pitching culture can only work if it’s coming from an authentic place. The authenticity of Utah’s coaches throughout the recruiting process was another common theme we heard from Ute commits. 

“In this process, a lot of people show fake love, or they’re not being real or true to their word or what they tell you. And Coach Scalley and Coach Bumphis were transparent throughout this whole process. They really kept things real with me,” said receiver commit Dillon Sykes.

Linebacker commit Aiden Martin had similar feelings about Utah defensive coordinator Colton Swan. “He’s just been a real, genuine dude from the beginning. When he first came [to my school], he had the same energy as when he comes now,” Martin said. 

Other commits echoed similar experiences. “I love Coach Scalley. From my first meeting with him to the meeting when I committed, he was always very transparent and up front with me,” said tight end commit Braxton Daniel. 

Darrod Jacobs mentioned something similar about cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah. “He’s really upfront about everything. He’s a funny guy, but he’s real. I can relate to him a lot,” he said. 

Individualized development plans

A principal component of Utah football’s recruiting pitch is the program’s ability to prepare personalized development plans for each recruit. These plans include details on how Utah football will help prospects succeed on the field, in the classroom, and beyond. 

“The goal here is to create greatness. We will teach them skill sets and mindsets in this game. And if the only skill sets we teach are how to become a better football player, we are failing them. Because at some point, no one cares about your 40 time. No one cares about how high you can jump. That skill set runs out,” Scalley said in his introductory press conference. 

D’Orazio gave UteZone details on how the Utes are applying that philosophy in every aspect of their training. “Utah has always been a very good development team but then again we’re investing more resources with our strength and conditioning program, with our nutrition, how can we take what Utah has been great at and continue to develop in that area, continue to push the envelope?,” he said. 

Access to some of the best teaching assistant coaches in the game along with a personalized success plan resonated with Utah commits. 

“This is where I can be developed and grow and get mentally better. And this is home,” said Taylan Patterson after committing to the Utes. 

Defensive lineman Jackson West echoed similar thoughts when discussing the ability to learn under defensive ends coach Inoke Breckterfield. “I didn’t realize how amazing a coach Coach Nokes is. The list of people he has coached and put into the NFL is unreal,” he said. 

Offensive line commit Damian Anyasodo mentioned a similar line of thinking about offensive line coach Jordan Gross. “Coach Gross has a lot of experience as he played 11 years in the league so I know what he teaches will translate and give me the best chance to make it to the NFL,” he explained. 

Sealing the deal with a sense of family

With a winning mindset, an authentic culture, and personalized development plans forming the foundation of Utah’s recruiting pitch, the final punctuation on the pitch is the overwhelming sense of belonging and family recruits feel on their visits. Utah has long sold itself as a family-first environment, and that hasn’t changed under Scalley. Recruits are buying in:

“The official visit was awesome. They really made me feel like family. The little interactions people had with each other show they have a strong bond and culture,” said Sire Stewart

“The visit was great. What stood out the most was the atmosphere. Everyone treated each other like a big family and made sure I felt welcomed and included,” Damian Anyasodo echoed.

“Everyone on the staff treated me like family. The culture of Utah is unmatched and they’re just good people,” claimed Taylan Patterson.

“I felt they live their culture on a daily basis. It felt like family,” said Utah’s latest commit Darnell Jackson Jr.

Utah’s recruiting pitch under Morgan Scalley rests on four consistent pillars: establishing the RSNB culture, building authentic relationships, implementing individualized development plans, and creating a genuine sense of family. The Utah staff is betting that the better job they do in holding true to those pillars, the more wins the program will rack up in the future.