Whittingham steps down, Jazz tank and NHL team gets a name

The solely factor fixed is change.

Such was the case for sports activities in Utah in 2025.

We stated goodbye to Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham and hiya to freshmen phenoms like AJ Dybantsa and Avery Neff.

Utah’s hockey team and Olympics obtained new names.

And your favourite scholar athletes obtained new automobiles due to paydays in contrast to any school sports activities have seen earlier than.

These are the tales that outlined Utah sports activities this 12 months.

Tanks for nothing?

The Utah Jazz’s season was arrange for one second.

For 82 video games, the story was extra about who didn’t play than who did; the NBA fined Utah for sitting star ahead Lauri Markkanen, amongst different gamers, regardless of being wholesome.

Losses have been wins and the worst report in franchise historical past put the team in one of the best place attainable to win the NBA draft lottery and draft Duke phenom Cooper Flagg, projected as a future celebrity.

Instead, the ping pong balls fell towards the Jazz. Not simply as soon as for the No. 1 decide, however a whole of 4 occasions, as the utmost variety of groups jumped Utah. Dallas selected Flagg first. Ace Bailey, an athletic wing from Rutgers with large potential however important dangers, ended up the Jazz’s June choice at No. 5.

While Bailey seems comparatively promising, the second highlighted an unpleasant fact in regards to the Jazz in 2025: The rebuild seems prone to prolong far longer than administration and possession envisioned after they traded Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert 4 years in the past.

— Andy Larsen

The excessive worth of faculty athletics

Money can’t purchase you happiness?

Don’t inform that to varsity athletes, coaches and directors.

Schools throughout the nation ponied up thousands and thousands of {dollars} to pay gamers this 12 months, because the House vs. NCAA settlement opened the door to income sharing.

AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 highschool recruit within the nation final 12 months, arrived in Provo with a multimillion-dollar deal and now has the Cougars ranked within the high 10 within the nation.

BYU soccer coach Kalani Sitake flirted with Penn State however in the end stayed in Provo after receiving a new contract that can reportedly pay him $9 million a 12 months.

These prices are including up and many colleges are operating deficits of $20 million or extra. That’s one cause why the University of Utah earlier this month became the first school in the nation to partner with a private equity firm to handle its athletics department’s revenue.

— Aaron Falk

The Millers purchase into soccer

The Miller household is again in main league sports activities.

It didn’t take lengthy after promoting their majority stake within the Utah Jazz in 2020 for the Millers’ curiosity in sports activities to be reignited. The household has led the cost for a Major League Baseball growth bid in Salt Lake City. And in April, Miller Sports + Entertainment bought a controlling interest in Real Salt Lake and the Utah Royals.

RSL has made the postseason every of the final 5 years, regardless of being one of many extra frugal groups in Major League Soccer.

— Aaron Falk

Jake Retzlaff leaves, however BYU rebounds

Before there was a championship berth, there was chaos in Provo this summer time.

BYU thought it had all of it found out after a 10-win season in 2024, however a civil lawsuit rocked this system to its core.

Quarterback Jake Retzlaff — the face of the Cougars reemergence on the national stage — was accused of civil sexual assault in May. The case was later dismissed, however the quarterback admitted to Honor Code violations on the college owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Facing a seven-game suspension, Retzlaff determined to go away Provo for New Orleans to play at Tulane.

In the top, it labored for each the quarterback and the Cougars.

BYU changed its veteran quarterback with true freshman Bear Bachmeier, who took school soccer by storm. Bachmeier hurdled, stiff-armed and juked BYU to 11 wins and a spot within the Big 12 championship sport.

Retzlaff, in the meantime, guided the Green Wave to the College Football Playoff and in the end misplaced to Ole Miss within the first spherical.

The man they known as the “BYJew” is gone. But “Air Bear” has head coach Kalani Sitake’s program retreating.

— Kevin Reynolds

Kyle Whittingham steps down

There has been no larger presence in Utah sports activities over the past 20 years than Kyle Whittingham.

The Utes’ head soccer coach has gained 177 video games, three convention titles and a trio of nationwide coach of the 12 months honors throughout his illustrious profession.

But after 20 years in cost, Whittingham introduced this month that he’s stepping down from his function after the Las Vegas Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley has been named this system’s subsequent head coach.

It’s the passing of the torch that had lengthy been deliberate for — solely now it has a twist.

Whittingham hasn’t dedicated to retiring. Instead, the 66-year-old stated he may contemplate teaching some place else after leaving Utah.

It shall be unusual sufficient to not see him patrolling the sideline at Rice-Eccles Stadium subsequent 12 months. It could be far stranger nonetheless to see him sporting one other college’s colours.

— Aaron Falk

Utah hockey gets a new name

Tusks up, Utah hockey followers.

After taking part in its inaugural season because the blandly named Utah Hockey Club, the state’s NHL franchise has a new name and id.

The Utah Mammoth might not have been owner Ryan Smith’s first choice, however it has rapidly been embraced by the 1000’s of rowdy followers who fill the Delta Center now.

The team unveiled its new brand, uniforms and mascot this 12 months.

Now all that’s left is for the franchise to take the following step in its rebuild and make the playoffs.

— Aaron Falk

Anti-LDS chants mar school video games

Arenas and stadiums grew to become hostile environments for the BYU trustworthy this season.

Opposing fans shouted “F— the Mormons” on several occasions, focusing on Brigham Young University’s spiritual affiliation. It occurred at Arizona, Colorado, Cincinnati, and Providence.

BYU directors grappled with how to reply to the derogatory chants — with some wanting a forceful condemnation and others wishing for fines and extra actionable penalties.

As the 12 months closes, there may be nonetheless no concrete reply. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark stated no matter coverage the league adopts, it wants to alter individuals’s conduct.

“We are going to come together as 16 institutions following this football season and figure out how we can get better,” Yormark told The Salt Lake Tribune. “It’s about changing behavior, and we will do that.”

— Kevin Reynolds

Royals promote their star

The return of the Utah Royals has not produced many wins on the sphere.

But there was hope that the team might construct across the rising star U.S. Women’s National Team participant Ally Sentnor. The No. 1 decide within the 2024 NSWL draft, the 21-year-old Sentnor was a vivid spot for the struggling franchise.

But when Sentnor requested for a commerce, Utah rapidly acquiesced, promoting the midfielder to powerhouse Kansas City in change for $600,000.

– Aaron Falk

Freshmen phenoms

Experience is sweet.

Talent is best.

So it went in 2025 as freshmen athletes dominated at Utah and BYU.

Utah gymnast Avery Neff burst onto the scene regardless of battling severe accidents, serving to lead the Red Rocks again to the NCAA Final Four.

In Provo, quarterback Bear Bachmeier obtained the Cougars to the Big 12 title sport for the primary time. AJ Dybantsa is on observe to be one in all he first names known as within the NBA draft. Runner Jane Hedengren, in the meantime, was arguably one of the best of the younger BYU trio. The cross-country sensation completed second in nationals, setting a variety of information alongside the best way.

— Aaron Falk

Naming the video games

What’s in a name? When it involves the official title of the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Games, not Salt Lake City.

Instead of adhering to the moniker used through the International Olympic Committee’s bid course of — Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 — they opted for one thing significantly much less verbose:

Utah 2034.

Dropping Salt Lake City from the name will make the occasion extra inclusive, stated Brad Wilson, CEO of the 2034 organizing committee. He famous that the footprint of the sporting occasions spans 13 venues in 5 counties.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall stated she desires the 2034 Games to “uplift the state.” Yet, of her metropolis’s exclusion from the brand new name, she stated: “It hurts.”

“I don’t think anyone expected a name change,” she added, “because it’s not a typical thing to do.”

— Julie Jag