Speaker 1: All right. Joining us right now is Jason Batacio from
Speaker 1: the Salt Lake Tribune. Of course, he covers the utes,
Speaker 1: uh and and there's nothing better than covering the utes
Speaker 1: right at this moment, because Alex Jensen officially has been
Speaker 1: named the basketball coach for the men's program at the
Speaker 1: University of Utah. Welcome, Welcome, Jason.
Speaker 2: How are you doing, good man? Just a busy day,
Speaker 2: busy day. Been on the phones all day, working the phone,
Speaker 2: doing the job. So yeah, busy, but but fun time
Speaker 2: of the year. Coaching searches are always fun and they
Speaker 2: always have a good story attached to them. So it's
Speaker 2: a good time to be a reporter on the Utah beat.
Speaker 1: So Alex Jensen, of course has now officially been named
Speaker 1: the head basketball coach at the University of Utah. Just
Speaker 1: happened officially. I think everyone felt that it was going
Speaker 1: to happen, and it's now officially happened. Tell me a
Speaker 1: little bit, you know what, why? Why? Why is he
Speaker 1: interesting to the University of Utah. What's what's he going
Speaker 1: to bring to the table?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question, you know. I think the
Speaker 2: first thing is just he brings sort of the culture
Speaker 2: of Utah basketball back for so long, you know this program.
Speaker 2: I mean it's been nine years since his program has
Speaker 2: been to the NCAA tournament, and al really just knows
Speaker 2: what it takes to win here. He knows what it
Speaker 2: takes to engage donors. I mean, he was part of
Speaker 2: the nineteen ninety eight you know, national championship runner up
Speaker 2: team that had Andre Miller, you know, all those things.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's a Utah man through, so you know,
Speaker 2: I can understand why fans are excited. But he also
Speaker 2: has just a bevy of professional experience. I mean, he's
Speaker 2: obviously on the Jazz. He was a big part of
Speaker 2: Rudy Gobert's development, and he was in the finals literally
Speaker 2: last year with Lucy Doncs before the MAVs decided to
Speaker 2: trade him away. You know, So as college basketball starts
Speaker 2: evolving and the transfer portal is sort of becoming a
Speaker 2: big big free agency and all that stuff, I think
Speaker 2: Alex has a lot of the intangibles to bring a
Speaker 2: new foundation to the table for Utah men's basketball.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, it's interesting, and you wonder how how
Speaker 1: much of an impact of course down South, uh and
Speaker 1: hiring a guy was similar type of of NBA coaching
Speaker 1: experience and uh and and the impact of that, because
Speaker 1: clearly it's had an impact on recruiting. We understand that,
Speaker 1: you know, it's dollars and cents is what's really going
Speaker 1: to move the needle with recruiting, But it's also having
Speaker 1: a coach that has that kind of because all these
Speaker 1: players want to go to the NBA. I'm all players
Speaker 1: football want to go the NFL, and and knowing you
Speaker 1: have a coach that knows what it's like, you know
Speaker 1: that that's been there. How I guess I guess my
Speaker 1: understanding with Alex was, you know, he was he was
Speaker 1: looking to kind of go a different path, you know, like,
Speaker 1: you know, he was well respected as a coach in
Speaker 1: the NBA and and and I think he was looking
Speaker 1: to potentially becoming a head coach in the NBA. So
Speaker 1: why does why does he now come back to Utah
Speaker 1: as opposed to maybe sticking around for a shot at
Speaker 1: a coaching job in the NBA.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the big part about it is, you know,
Speaker 2: Alex has I had this job for you know, a
Speaker 2: long time, I mean four years ago, he was he
Speaker 2: was in consideration for it, and obviously Utah opted for
Speaker 2: Craig Smith, which seemed like the good hire at the time,
Speaker 2: and you know, we saw how that worked out. And
Speaker 2: you know, from my understanding, Alex was really you know,
Speaker 2: looking forward to potentially having the job in his hands.
Speaker 2: So now I think, you know, the opportunity to come
Speaker 2: back to his alma mater, to rebuild the program the
Speaker 2: way he knows it should be built, and the opportunity
Speaker 2: to not only you know, bring it back to its
Speaker 2: glory days, but you know, engage with donors, you know,
Speaker 2: engage with the fan base and all that stuff was
Speaker 2: in my mind a big selling point for him, you know,
Speaker 2: And so I think to kind of go to your
Speaker 2: point of you know, he was looking for new opportunities,
Speaker 2: I think, as you mentioned, he you know, he did
Speaker 2: consider head coaching jobs in the NBA, but you know,
Speaker 2: as college basketball, in college football for that matter, and
Speaker 2: just all of college athletics, you know, continues to shift.
Speaker 2: And I know the house settlements waiting approval, I think
Speaker 2: in July, you know, that's just going to further professionalize
Speaker 2: the model. So what better way to you know, basically
Speaker 2: have a quasi professional job and also be it your
Speaker 2: alma mater and re sort of lay the foundation for
Speaker 2: the program that he really cares about, a program that
Speaker 2: you know he loves dearly. I'm sure. I mean so
Speaker 2: I don't know that in that in my mind. You know,
Speaker 2: those were big selling points for him, and he's had
Speaker 2: this job for for quite some time.
Speaker 1: So yeah, how much of an impact does this have
Speaker 1: with boosters because because really, I mean, boosters become a
Speaker 1: big part of your success today, you know, put your
Speaker 1: money where your mouth is and and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: what what kind of impact do you think were there
Speaker 1: possibly donors saying look, we'll invest in the program if
Speaker 1: you get the right coaching here, someone who understands the culture,
Speaker 1: or someone you know or or you know or would
Speaker 1: they now be attracted because of him? What what kind
Speaker 1: of impact does his hire have on the pocket books
Speaker 1: of donors at the University of Utah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it opens up a lot of opportunities.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, Craig before he was terminated, you know,
Speaker 2: I'd spoken to him at lengths about just the struggles
Speaker 2: that Utah was having in the NIL space, and you know,
Speaker 2: there's different factors for the multitude of those things. And
Speaker 2: I'm not going to go too much into that. But
Speaker 2: you know, I think Alex is the kind of guy
Speaker 2: that you know, donors look at and be like or
Speaker 2: just like, we can win with that guy. And he
Speaker 2: also understands the culture of this place. He understands the
Speaker 2: culture and foundation of Utah men's basketball, and so yeah,
Speaker 2: I think it can open up the pocketbooks. And I think,
Speaker 2: you know, that's something that he probably talked about with
Speaker 2: Harlan throughout this process of like, you know, how how
Speaker 2: can they activate the pocketbooks of donors, how can they
Speaker 2: activate that nil funding because especially in the league like
Speaker 2: the Big Twelve, it is so important, you know, it's
Speaker 2: important to have fact crowds, which you know, I'm sure
Speaker 2: that's something that they're going to work on in the
Speaker 2: Huntsman Center. You know, I'm sure there are tons of
Speaker 2: things that they're continuing to look at as things move forward.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I think al can allog a lot of
Speaker 2: those things. You know, I'm not a donor, I can't
Speaker 2: speak to you know, certain people, but I'm sure there's
Speaker 2: a level of excitement bringing Alan into the program.
Speaker 1: So yeah, what's your sense of the commitment from the
Speaker 1: athletic department, uh in the in the basketball program, getting
Speaker 1: back to its prominence it had in the past. You know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of good It's a very competitive league
Speaker 1: basketball wise, and you know, I'm just curious if you
Speaker 1: if you have a sense of where where the the
Speaker 1: athletic department is on Hey we're all in on this
Speaker 1: or you know what, what what's your sense from them?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question. You know, I think I
Speaker 2: think this higher kind of is just the start of
Speaker 2: a domino effect. You know, I can't speak to any
Speaker 2: particulars or anything like that, but you know, hiring Alex
Speaker 2: Jensen as sort of the figurehead for Utah E means
Speaker 2: basketball at this you know, pivotal juncture, I think speaks
Speaker 2: a lot to you know, the urgency that the fans field,
Speaker 2: the urgency that the administration feels, the urgency that you know,
Speaker 2: Mark Harlan feels to get it right because you know,
Speaker 2: I've talked numerous Utah fans. You know, they've told me
Speaker 2: it doesn't feel right not having the running utes in
Speaker 2: the NCAA tournament. You know, it's one thing to you know,
Speaker 2: have deep tournament runs, but this program for so long
Speaker 2: has been so used to just being in the tournament
Speaker 2: and it's just you know, from from people on the
Speaker 2: outside looking in, it's like, what is going on over there?
Speaker 2: And so and by that, I mean that the ben's
Speaker 2: basketball program. So I think hiring Al is a big
Speaker 2: first step in activating a lot of the keys that
Speaker 2: you know that haven't sort of been there for Utah
Speaker 2: men's basketball. I mean, and I Al a big part
Speaker 2: of it. You know, getting fans engaged is a big
Speaker 2: part of it. You know. I think he's the kind
Speaker 2: of guy that can sort of help bring back the
Speaker 2: energy that's been lacking for so many years, you know.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you know, I'm curious now that Utah b
Speaker 1: YU are in the same conference. And you know, Utah
Speaker 1: has been in the Power Power five world in the
Speaker 1: Pact for quite some time, and and the and there
Speaker 1: hasn't been the same type of rivalry with with the
Speaker 1: folks down south. I'm curious how much maybe the success
Speaker 1: be why he was having with basketball this year, how
Speaker 1: much success they had last year in the football program.
Speaker 1: I wonder how how much that's actually driving the the
Speaker 1: decisions and the determination, you know, because I know last
Speaker 1: year the football season was massively disappointed, disappointing for everyone,
Speaker 1: and and and it was made worse because you know,
Speaker 1: b why you did they played well. And you know,
Speaker 1: you kind of feel the same way with basketball right now.
Speaker 1: And I just wonder how how much, uh you know,
Speaker 1: your your rivalry is is now upping your your game
Speaker 1: or your determination to not be second fiddle to to
Speaker 1: your rival.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, obviously I come from Oklahoma. I went
Speaker 2: to the University of Oklahoma, and uh, you know, similar
Speaker 2: conversation I've never heard of had, uh you know, and
Speaker 2: so you know, the Texas ou Red River rivalry thing
Speaker 2: is such a massive thing. And you know, when Texas
Speaker 2: was bad and OU was good, it was like, when's
Speaker 2: Texas going to come back? But now you know Texas
Speaker 2: is good. There's a sense of urgency in Norman, you know,
Speaker 2: I know they just hired Jim Nagy is their their
Speaker 2: general manager, and it's kind of with a fire under
Speaker 2: that administration to just get things right. And so, you know,
Speaker 2: I think the same could be said here for the
Speaker 2: Utes for Utah's administration. I mean, when when things are
Speaker 2: going well for your rival and they're also beating you,
Speaker 2: not only recruiting, but you know, whether it be fan
Speaker 2: engagement or just purely winning games, I mean that has
Speaker 2: to be a driving factor. As much as people don't
Speaker 2: want to say it is, I mean it is. I
Speaker 2: mean you're you're compared to your rival just as much
Speaker 2: as you want to beat them, So it's it's yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm sure it's a big thing. For sure.
Speaker 1: I think it is too. I do. And I think
Speaker 1: you know, rising tides raise all ships, and you you
Speaker 1: don't want your rival to to you know, outdo so,
Speaker 1: so rivalries are good. They're good for a lot of reasons.
Speaker 1: I'm excited about this with Alex Chance, I really am.
Speaker 1: I can't. I I think it's an awesome higher I
Speaker 1: think it's the best thing they could have possibly done.
Speaker 1: And I really really hope that they surround and they
Speaker 1: give Alex the best opportunity and they put all the
Speaker 1: resources available and then some to to help him succeed,
Speaker 1: because it helps everything when that when that happens. Uh,
Speaker 1: let's flip gears here for a minute. If you if
Speaker 1: you're able to do that, you're ready for this, all right,
Speaker 1: we just flipped them. We're going to talk about football here.
Speaker 1: Of course, spring spring football is coming up pretty quick.
Speaker 1: Uh and uh, and there's you know, there's a sense
Speaker 1: of urgency there as well. Where what's your kind of
Speaker 1: general view of of this team going into next year?
Speaker 1: A lot of new faces, But is it is it
Speaker 1: really time to panic? Can you know what what what
Speaker 1: do you think about things?
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say it's time to panic at all. I think,
Speaker 2: you know, I think the biggest piece of panic, if
Speaker 2: if Utah fans were to feel that, was you know,
Speaker 2: getting the offense right. You know, I think I truly
Speaker 2: think that the defense is always going to be there.
Speaker 2: I mean, even with their tackling struggles last year, with
Speaker 2: you know, some of the injuries that they had, like
Speaker 2: they were still a top unit in the country, you know,
Speaker 2: even though it didn't look like at some point like
Speaker 2: statistically they were one of the better units in the country,
Speaker 2: and they had the playmakers to make plays, you know,
Speaker 2: to do all those things. Really the problem was, I
Speaker 2: mean Kyle said himself, was the offense was the quarterback position.
Speaker 2: And so I think this spring will really be sort
Speaker 2: of a kind of a glimpse into you know, what
Speaker 2: is this offense going to look like? What is it
Speaker 2: going to look like? You know, Devin Dan Pierre at
Speaker 2: quarterback with WI Shawn Parker in the backfield, you know,
Speaker 2: you know, can't Dori and Singer come back for a
Speaker 2: fifth year? You know, that's kind of still up in
Speaker 2: the air. But you know, I think getting these pieces
Speaker 2: to acclimate quickly on the offense and developing them in
Speaker 2: the right way is going to be important for Utah
Speaker 2: because you know, if they don't get the offense right,
Speaker 2: then yeah, there's gonna be a sense of panic from
Speaker 2: you know, the fans, There's gonna be a sense of
Speaker 2: panic from you know, maybe even the coaches. But I
Speaker 2: think that's the biggest thing, uh, heading into you know,
Speaker 2: spring camp is is you know, what is this offense
Speaker 2: going to look like? You know what what what does
Speaker 2: Devin damp Here bring to the table as a quarterback,
Speaker 2: you know, as a person, as a leader, especially replacing
Speaker 2: a guy like Cam Rising. Obviously, you know, he had
Speaker 2: injuries the past two seasons that held him out. You know,
Speaker 2: I think he only played two and a half games,
Speaker 2: but he was a vital piece to you know, bringing
Speaker 2: this program to you know, two back to backpack twelve championships.
Speaker 2: He was a leader in the locker room. Everybody looked
Speaker 2: up to him, and so you know, not to say
Speaker 2: Devin has you know, big shoes to fill, but you know,
Speaker 2: he's he's got to sort of establish himself as the
Speaker 2: leader of this offense and the football team. And I
Speaker 2: think the same thing goes for Jason Beck, you know,
Speaker 2: first year offensive coordinator, and we saw the kind of
Speaker 2: success Andy Ludwig had early on as Utah's offensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: So I think it's a big season for the offense
Speaker 2: to re establish itself as a good unit because you know,
Speaker 2: as we've all seen here in Utah, you know, when
Speaker 2: there's a good offense paired with a good defense, things
Speaker 2: can go really far. I mean, that's how they went
Speaker 2: far in two thousand and eight, That's how they made
Speaker 2: it to two back to back Pack twelve championships. And
Speaker 2: I think for Kyle specifically, you know, I think figuring
Speaker 2: out the offense has been sort of the I wouldn't
Speaker 2: say the biggest struggle, but just the biggest piece for
Speaker 2: him to find success, especially as he's entering his twenty
Speaker 2: first or twenty second year. I'm losing track of the
Speaker 2: numbers here, but yeah, it's kind of my take on it.
Speaker 1: No, it's so true, and you know, I think it's
Speaker 1: driven him nuts trying to figure out the offense quite frankly,
Speaker 1: and because you do you have you have any semblance
Speaker 1: of offense, not only not only do you win, and
Speaker 1: you probably win the conference because you know, you look
Speaker 1: at all the games that were really close and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, but it also helps your defense. It helps
Speaker 1: them not to get so worn down. You know, they're
Speaker 1: not on the field so long. So it's it's a
Speaker 1: really valuable thing. And and it'll be fascinating with Devon Dampier.
Speaker 1: I was talking earlier in the show with Sam Brookhouse
Speaker 1: and you know, he's talking about these players who have
Speaker 1: transferred from multiple schools and and how well they're playing
Speaker 1: at at the professional level, and so so you kind
Speaker 1: of I'm fascinating. You see what's going to happen with
Speaker 1: Devn damp here and if he if he happens to
Speaker 1: be one of those players, you know, so moving to
Speaker 1: a new program and even an elevated you know, competition
Speaker 1: level in a powerful for conference. So it'll be interesting. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So anyways, Uh that's all I got to today for you. Jason.
Speaker 1: Really have enjoyed this conversation and thank you so much
Speaker 1: for jumping on the show.
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure, love love when you guys have me on.
Speaker 2: I wish I could be on more. Sometimes my schedule
Speaker 2: does not permit, but I always try to make time
Speaker 2: for you guys.
Speaker 1: So clear your schedule, buddy, come on, let's go talk
Speaker 1: more on the radio. That's my motto. Right, be good,
Speaker 1: we'll talk to you later. That's awesome, We'll see you there.
Speaker 1: You have it. Jason Batacio from the Salt Lake Compune.
Speaker 1: Of course, he covers the huts, interesting stuff about Alex Jensen.
Speaker 1: And of course you know, it's always the it's always
Speaker 1: the freaking quarterbacks. It's always the offense. That's always the question.
Speaker 1: All the quarterbacks get all the glory and they get
Speaker 1: all blah blah blah blah blah. So sick of quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: Actually I like quarterbacks. I'm a favorite