College Football Live - CFB Live - Big 12 Media Day 2 Reaction

Episode Date: July 8, 2026

On today's episode of CFB Live, Zubin Mehenti, Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill, and Pete Thamel discuss Utah in Morgan Scalley's 1st year in charge of the program. Noah Fifita joins the show to preview the Wildcats season. All this and more on CFB Live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hey, the Big 12 media days have come to an end, though the league hopes this is just the beginning after the Red Raiders broke through last year, who might be this year's team to watch the eight schools that took Center's stage today, including the hip-notoad, think it's them. The answer could be them. We'll hear from that guy in a second, too. With that, we welcome you inside. College football live. Let's get right down to business. Welcome inside. Thanks for being with us 201 days away from the National Championship game.

Will the Big 12 be there? Let's find out. The fellas with us today, Tom Lugan Bill, and joining us from Big 12 Media Days for the second straight day is Dusty Dvorichak. Let's start right away with the Utah U. U.S. And let's just say if you saw the game against Belgium the other night, obviously we do need some help in the back end. And in net, I'm not sure if he can provide the help you need. That's our quarterback. Devin Dampier started his career with Kyle Winningham.

He'll finish it with Morgan Scali. Coach Scali at the podium today on what 100% Dampier would mean. Well, Devin played a lot of last year. Not 100%, you know, sports hernia, but that just goes to show how competitive he is and how tough he is. I'm excited to see him play at full strength. He's got deficiencies that he's trying to improve, and he works tirelessly to improve him.

So cannot wait for the season that he's about to have. And for more on the impending Scali era. We bring in Pete Thammel from Big 12 Media Days. All right, Pete, so Scali ended up getting this job in the once-new vaux, now rarely used coach in Wills. mating moniker. So tell me, after all those years of Whittingham, how is the Scali era in Salt Lake City going to prove to be different? Well, Zubin, I think one place you could look is the quarterback room for all of Kyle Whittingham's success over his 22 seasons as the head coach at

Utah. They had a grand total of zero quarterbacks drafted. Utah hasn't had a quarterback drafted the NFL since Alex Smith went number one overall in Urban Myers final season there in 2004. I brought this up to Scali today, and he smiled. He said, you don't have to tell me about it. I think about it every day. The good news for the Uts is they have one of the most dynamic quarterback rooms in the country. There's New Mexico transfer, Devin Dam Pierre, who was solid in his first season with the Utes last year and led him to double-digit victories. There's also a true software named Bird Fickland, Zubin.

Bird Fickland from Muskogee, Oklahoma, came in and spot duty last year when Dan Pierre was injured and really impressed. Morgan Scali really accentuated today the amount of the Bert Fickland has developed both physically and mentally between those two quarterbacks look for that NFL streak to eventually end

for the Utes. One of the big differences the Morgan Scali era is he has said he's going to really focus on player development and how players develop in the wait room and that quarterback position is where that's going to start. Yeah and one last note on the Wittingham era in the offseason it came to light that he wasn't that thrilled

with Utah, and maybe more surprisingly, Utah wasn't that thrilled with him at the end. That's another story for another day, and that's our Keith then. And this is the Utah schedule, notably absent. Texas Tech, they'll have an early October by, look at week two. Late Saturday night, 1015 Eastern game with Arkansas. That'll be an interesting non-con affair. All right, let's talk about the U.S. Dusty, I want to start with you because I know you had a chance to talk to the guys that Pete was

just referencing there, head coach Morgan Scal. and the quarterback, Dan Pier. What did you take away from your one-on-one time with these guys? Yeah, look, Morgan Scali's been waiting for this opportunity. He's a great player at Utah. He's been on staff there since 2006. He's been the coach in waiting, and I'm curious, what looks different?

And he told me him and Kyle Whittingham, his former coach and mentor, they've got the same mentality, meaning toughness, physicality is what they believe wins, but different personalities. And he said practice is going to look and feel different. the weight room is going to look and feel different, but still they're going to try to go about winning at the same cliff. 11 wins a season ago.

And Devin Dampier, boy, he was fired up and excited to be here. You could tell he's healthy. And he's excited about his new offensive coordinator, Kevin McGiven, who comes over from Utah State, comes from the same tree as Jason Beck. So that continuity will be there. Remember, Devin Dampier paid for Coach Beck when he was at New Mexico and then also at Utah.

But a lot of things will stay the same. He'll have a little bit more ownership at the line of scrimmage, but Devin Dampere already feels extremely comfortable in this offense. And Luke's a healthy, comfortable Devin Dampier is a problem for Big 12 defenses. Well, he's a problem even when he's not maybe fully healthy. I think this guy is a special player. I felt that way coming into last season. Now, the difference between 2025 and 2026 now is Utah is having to replace a lot of components up front.

So it's important that he is healthy. And you mentioned Kevin McGinnon, McGiven coming over from Utah State. He's coached a dual threat quarterback there in that system. He's also bringing wide receiver, Braden Pagan, over a 6-foot-3 target to help maybe create some of those big explosive plays downfield, which they had more of those last year than they had in years past, which is why former coordinator, Jason Beck, was brought on board. But I think if you get the quarterback position right, everything else can fall into place. And coach talked about player development.

Well, that player development is going to have to happen in a hurry in the offensive line. And the thing I think that's interesting about Devin Dampier is that he's a dual threat quarterback, but he's a thrower first, runner second, and then improviser with his feet when things aren't perfect. So that's what puts so much strain on opposing defenses. And you know, Dusty, it's interesting, that conversation you had with Coach Scali. I just think it's such a challenge more now than ever before. to become a first-time head coach. When you consider all of the different components now

that fall into place for a head coach and if you haven't done it before, man, it can hit you like a ton of bricks. It's going to be different. There's no question. Being a defensive coordinator is one thing. Being the head man to make all these decisions, it's different. He actually said, Luke, he's missed having his own room,

but it's kind of cool to go over to the offensive side, peer in there and give him a player or two to try to run to see if his defense can stop it. Love that. Love that anecdote there at the end. We should mention on November 21st, Utah will be in Fort Worth to take on TCU. And on that note, Hornfrogs, coming off back-to-back pretty darn good seasons. Here's their head coach Sunday Dykes on his new starting quarterback, the Harvard Transfer Harvard.

Jaden Craig. You know, in our program, wherever the quarterback is, we hand him the keys to the program. And so there's a lot of responsibility that comes along with that. and I feel very confident handing those keys to him. He's such a bright football mind. I've already learned a ton from him, and there's still so much more that I can learn from him.

So I'm really grateful for the opportunity to get coached by him. And it's a pro-style offense. It gives me a lot of responsibilities. And, you know, I'm really excited for the opportunity that the offense gives me. He sounds like a Harvard man, polished, ready to go. Tom, let's start with you. It feels like TCU is just chasing 2022 and that magic. season felt like they dipped a little bit, got back on track. What kind of elevation can somebody

like Craig give them? Well, listen, you know, Josh Hoover moves on to Indiana and with him is going to go a lot of risk taking. And oftentimes that risk taking resulted in non-necessary turnovers. And I think Jaden Craig comes over and he's been really good with the football, protecting the football, minimizing risk. He's thrown 48 touchdowns to 10 interceptions over the course of the last two years. And to take a page out of Kurt Signetti and Indiana's playbook over the last two years, go out and find somebody in the portal

that has played. Forget about if they were a high profile prospect coming out of high school. If they haven't played, they likely can't help you. This guy has played a wealth of football. I also think he's going to bring a run game element to the offense that's really going to add another addition and make them a little bit more

dynamic. So I'm excited to see this one. I think this guy is really talented. I'm with you, Lou. Look, there's a lot of excitement about Jaden Craig. He is a must-see type of player. And one thing that Sunny Dykes told me today, from a leadership standpoint, some of the intangibles he's brought to the locker room is already permeating. So he's checking the boxes on the field.

He's checking the boxes off the field. But one thing that Sunny Dykes was lighting up about was the line of scrimmage, guys. He talked about this offensive line, headline by Ben Taylor Whitfield, the defensive line by Paul O'Yolale and company. he said this is the strength of this football team. And when you're good in the trenches, ladies and gentlemen, you're going to be a good football team. And he told me this might be his best team he's had at TCU up front on both sides of the ball. So whether it's Jaden Craig or anyone in the backfield, that's a great sign that this is a veteran offensive line that's going to play with some physicality,

going to provide protection for Jaden Craig, and a defensive line that's got front and talent, got some real depth, and got the ability to create negative plays. If TCU can be as dominant up front as their head coach thinks they can be, watch out for this football team. They've got a chance to make some waves in the Big 12th. I'll tell you what, Dusty, they'd better break in that quarterback early because they have a brutal schedule in the month of November, man.

That is a good reminder that somewhere Max Duggan is smiling because he came on late and we know what happened in 2022. for the horn frogs. Great. We'll see what happens with TCU this fall. On the way, Arizona's Noah Fafita,

maybe the best quarterback in this league, why the biggest moment he's had at Arizona actually took place on the basketball court at the McHale Center instead of on the football field

in Tucson. He will join us next and we'll go down memory lane with that next. Hey, y'all's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if,

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is the fastest growing sport in the world. Third annual NFL flag football championships, ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN, 2NFLag.com for more. This dude right here is the first team, all Big 12 preseason quarterback, and these are the numbers why. One of the most prolific passers in Arizona Wildcat history maybe on his way to becoming one of the greatest wildcats to ever step on the gridiron in Tucson.

And of course, we are talking about quarterback Noah Fafita, who joins us live from Big 12 Media Days. I want to start at the beginning of the Fafita fandom, November, 2023. Nobody knows who you are. You're taking over for Jane Deloria. You throw up for 527 yards in Tempe to destroy your rivals. After that game, what do you thinking about your career? Yeah, it's been a long time coming. It really has been a lot of ups and down since that moment.

But, I mean, I wouldn't change anything for the world. I think God has written a story. He has a plan for me that I can never ask or imagine, and I'm excited to see what he has in store. Now, in January of the next year, after that moment, that got everybody buzzing, you go to an Arizona basketball game, you and McMillan, and you say,

we coming back together. Now, this is a question a lot of people in college football are wondering. With your talent, why didn't you entertain the portal like seemingly everybody else of your skill level? Yeah, I think me and my boy team, we talked about it,

and we talked about it with the team. And it was bigger than anything that the portal had to offer. For us, it was about relationships. It was relationships with the coaches. It was relationships with, more importantly, the locker room, and the people in that locker room.

We felt that we could stay at Arizona and do something special. And then there's a chance to leave a legacy. And now you have a T-MAC who became the eighth overall pick at the Panthers, so it's going right for him. And mine has been a different timeline, a different story. But like I said, God has a plan. I'm excited to see it unfold.

Yeah, I mean, it was amazing. You guys played together in high school in California. We're a college teammates. He's in the NFL. I presume you'll be in the NFL next. There's a lot of talk you might go down as an all-time Wildcat legend. You're already getting Heisman hype. It's there.

We really haven't seen anybody other than you on the old. Big 12 preseason team for Arizona. What's it like to be a Heisman Trophy contender on Wednesday, July 8th? It's a blessing. It's a blessing to be just kind of in that conversation because growing up, I think every kid that plays football, it's the greatest award in sports. So it's a blessing to be in that conversation. But like you said, it is July 8th. So at the end of the day, preseason rankings, preseason watch list.

All of that stuff is just fluff. I got a lot of stuff to prove. I got a lot of stuff that I got to do to get ready for this season. And once the season comes, it's about this team. And it's about putting my team in the best position to succeed. And we have the coaches to do it. Coach Degey is the greatest I've ever been around. Coach Brennan is a fantastic head coach.

And we believe in them that they're going to take us to where we want to be. So for me, it's a blessing, but it's also just kind of a reminder that preseason is preseason. We're worried about these postseason rankings. Yeah, Degey is your offensive coordinator. And for those that may remember, if you're old enough, you're probably not a little. of sadly I am. Seth Diggie was a great quarterback at Texas Tech who could just fling it around, and now he's teaching you how to fling it around.

Last couple things for you here. When you committed on that night at the McHale Center that we showed everybody went nuts, your coach was Jed Fish. What was it like transitioning from him to Coach Brennan, who you earlier invoked in your relationship with him? It has been a smooth transition. It really has been. And Coach Brennan, he's the ultimate player's coach.

And he has a genuineness to him. There's a love that he has for you. And there's a passion and a fire that he has that makes you just want to play for him. So he's a player's coach. You're going to follow him to the end of this earth. And there's just like a belief that you have in him and that he can lead us to a college football playoff and lead us to a Big 12 championship. So the transition has been smooth.

We've had our ups and downs as a team. But the faith that I have in him hasn't wavered. And I know that he's a guy for the job. All right. Last one for you. Don't kill the messenger here. But I want you to push back at this statement. You ready?

So I heard you say Your dream is to take Arizona to the Rose Bowl, which is commonplace for a kid that grew up in California, the Rose Bowl. Do you know that Arizona has never not once ever in its history played in the Rose Bowl? Why is this

year maybe going to be the year? Yes, sir. We've also never won an outright conference title, at least in a Power 4 conference. So we're aware of it. We're aware of what's happened in the past, but my faith, the God that I believe in has moves mountains, and the God I believe in, allowed a small shepherd boy in David to defeat a giant in Goliath. So that's the God I serve.

Anything is possible in him, and that's just my belief, and that's how I was raised. But even more so, when you look at the people that we have in the building, when you look at our leaders, Coach Brennan, Coach Degey, Coach Gonzalez, and Coach Kniver, then you go down to the personnel that we have. We can achieve it, and I truly do believe that. I believe we have the scheme in place. I believe we have the culture in place with Red Line. and we're going to go put our heads down.

We're going to go to work. It doesn't matter what the world says it's possible. We believe it, and we're going to go work for it. I don't know if you're going to win the husband trophy, but the way I've spent the last four minutes with you, you're going to give a hell of the speech if you do, because you're pretty good at talking and you're pretty good at balling, man. Good luck to you this season.

Can't wait to watch you finish off your career in one place, an incredible rarity, and my hat tip to you for your loyalty to the Wildcats, man. Great to catch up. Thank you so much. God bless. Thank you. On the way.

Another Big 12 legend. Fafita's already won. This guy played at Kansas State. Now he's back to rescue the program. Pete Dammel with more on what we can expect from Colin Klein 2.0 as Big 12 Media Days have come to a close in Frisco. Moving closer to the start of the regular season. Back before college football live after this. We're back on College Football Live.

And Big 12 Media Days have come to an end, the multi-day affair. Up next for the power for the 8th. ACC from Charlotte next week. Full coverage, of course, on the ACC Network and right here on College Football Live. Now, the coaching carousel was a bit more of a cyclone this offseason, you might say. And that whirlwind propelled Jimmy Rogers into the head coaching job in Ames. While it's worth remembering that coaches have been nomadic in their career for years, this meteoric rise is perhaps the best example of the new era of college football. This guy is coached at three schools in three years, in three different conferences,

and two different levels of football. Way back in 2024, he took his alma mater, South Dakota State, to the FCS semifinals a year after winning the title with the Jack Rabbits. The very next year, he jumped up to Washington State and the FBS and won six games at a place that despite incredible fan support has been decidedly tough to win at consistently.

He then parlayed that into the Iowa State job this fall. Now, this type of rapid growth would be applauded in any line of work or industry, but in football, it's kind of oddly criticized. There's no reason for it. Rogers is putting himself in the very best position he can. His large new group of cyclones that he just met is pretty much doing the same. I know there's a lot of general curiosity about our roster, just with so much change from one season to the next, both in coaching staff but also players.

I'm very confident in the players that we've been able to bring in, the team that we've assembled, that we will be extremely competitive this fall. I had to sit back and realize that there have been kids that are in this program that have been there for two years that hadn't experienced walking in that locker room after winning a conference game. And so that was something really unique for me. We needed a hard reset, I felt like. I've had opportunities to do everything within the program except coach offense. I've been, I worked in the weight room.

I worked as the NFL liaison, the academic coordinator. You name it. I've done it. and I think it's uniquely prepared me for this opportunity. The biggest thing was trying to build relationships with the players as fast as I could and really get to bridge that gap with them to understand where they were at, what they were thinking, doing our own evaluations to see and feel who and how we were going to retain and hold that together.

You know, for more on Colin Klein, let's welcome Pete back into the show. Pete, I don't need to tell you and a lot of our fans of age that this guy was a Heisman trophy finalist for the Wildcats, and he's got a very talented quarterback to work with. So how's he going to mesh with Avery Johnson? Well, he's going to mesh well with Avery Johnson because he recruited Avery Johnson and coached him during his true freshman season at Kansas State three years ago. Avery Johnson was effusive when talking about the return of Colin Klein today. Look, Avery Johnson's path at Kansas State has not been linear. His production has perhaps not matched his star ranking, and his development has been

stunted at times. Avery Johnson's told me that he feels like the return of Colin Klein has helped him to return to his roots of his game. There's going to be less indecisiveness when he's on the run. It's either going to be a decisive decision to throw the ball or to use his legs, which have always been a powerful part of Avery Johnson's game. Look for a revived Avery Johnson to have those blonde locks flowing in the wind in Manhattan, Zubin. We should mention that A lot of people thought Avery Johnson was going to be the next Michael Bishop. Hasn't worked out that way. In fact, the last guy to look like Michael Bishop with regards to wins was probably Colin Klein.

And that's our Pete Tamill. And this is Dusty. And Tom, Dusty, let's start with you down there. Talk to him both, the quarterback, Avery, the head coach, the old quarterback, Colin Klein. What did you take away from your one-on-one time with those two? This is going to work very well, in my opinion. Look, Avery Johnson even told us that he just feels more free working with Colin Klein. And that decisiveness that heard Pete talk about is exactly what you're going to see.

Less thinking, more reacting and just playing. And the one thing talking with the head coach Colin Klein that he talked about was he's going to tailor fit and build this offense around him to everything Avery does well. It's going to give him great opportunity to have success. Luz, they got to rebuild that offensive line. but the quarterback head coach combination feels like it's going to be a big success. Yeah, I think it's a perfect marriage on that side of the ball. And if you can look at the transfer portal in the junior college editions that they made, particularly on the defensive side of the football,

they've brought a lot of disruptiveness over through the portal, maybe two of the best players on one team to come over in Oklahoma State transfer, Wendell Gregory, and then Elijah Hill out of Kennesaw State. That's almost 30 combined tackles for loss. and 13 combined sacks. So I would expect this defense to start to get after people, get up field. They got some guys that can really run on that side of the ball. And as we know, with every new head coach and every new football team,

how quickly can they become a team? A lot of pressure on Colin Klein, but he succeeded under duress in Manhattan before. See tomorrow.