Josh is the sports director at KSL and beat writer covering University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s and women's basketball and gymnastics. He is also an Associated Press Top 25 voter for college football.
SALT LAKE CITY — Alone in the locker room of the Rose Bowl Stadium following Utah 's narrow loss to Ohio State on Jan. 1, 2022, wide receiver coach Chad Bumphis and then-defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley had a final chat.
Bumphis had already agreed to return to his alma mater Mississippi State to coach the same position and was cleaning out his locker at the historic venue.Scalley had a simple question for Bumphis: "Did you like it here?"For Bumphis, it was an easy answer. "I loved it," he responded."He was like, 'All right, you'll be back,'" Bumphis recalled four years after that final conversation. "That was literally the last conversation we had."The football program and the state left a big impression on Bumphis and his family, who was "thrilled" to return to a place that "has been so good to us.""My wife was thrilled, our kid was born here, so it really does feel like home," he said.So when Scalley was hired as the team's head coach, Bumphis jumped at the opportunity to return to Salt Lake City. Bumphis sent Scalley a text, where he recalled that moment at the Rose Bowl."Hey, do you remember our conversation?" Bumphis said of his message to Scalley. "Three minutes later, he called me, and he was like, 'Hey, I cannot hire you. I can recommend you to coach McGiven.' And so I got on the phone with McGiven, had a really good conversation, and everything flowed from there. So it was really good."Bumphis had full belief in Scalley and wanted to be back as part of his inaugural season as head coach. But Bumphis wasn't alone in his belief in the man who has been a fan and supporter of Utah his entire life.Sharrieff Shah, who has long been considered Scalley's best friend on the coach staff, said his belief in Scalley began more than 10 years ago. Before a head coaching opportunity was ever on the table, Shah said Scalley was already vetting potential candidates for his future coaching staff and would make notes in a notebook he carried around with him over the years."I think very few people recognize that he has been preparing for this position for a long time," Shah said. "When he became a coordinator 10 years ago, he was thinking 'one day I'm going to be a head coach.' So he would sit with me in my office and say, out of the blue, 'OK, who would you like if you could choose who would be your offensive coordinator? Who would you like to have a ru
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