‘Clearheaded, aggressive and confident’: Utes’ new offensive line coach Jordan Gross lays out vision

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As new Utah head coach Morgan Scalley assembled his staff after six former Ute assistant coaches, including offensive line coach Jim Harding, followed Kyle Whittingham to Michigan, he had one name in mind to be Utah’s offensive line coach.

Jordan Gross.

Gross, who starred at offensive tackle at Utah from 2000-02, was drafted No. 8 by the Carolina Panthers and to this day is still the Utes’ second-highest selection in the NFL draft. Gross enjoyed a successful 11-season career with the Panthers with one All-Pro season and three Pro Bowl appearances, becoming a lineman the Panthers could depend on.

He could have played longer for the Panthers, but retired on his own terms following the 2013 season, stepping away from playing while he was still healthy. Even though he wasn’t on the field on Sundays, he continued to stay around the game as a color analyst on the team’s radio broadcast.

In 2022, he was given the opportunity to get into coaching by taking over as head coach of his alma mater in Idaho — Fruitland High. The first-time head coach rebuilt the program, finishing the 2025 season with a 10-1 record and making it to the Idaho 4A state semifinals.

Along the way, he gained valuable experience about what worked in coaching.

“The thing that’s funny about football is, I think any coach will tell you, the more that they are in football, the more they realize they don’t know very much,” Gross told the Deseret News. “And what I mean by that is I played offensive line for my entire life and then to end up as a head coach at the high school level, man, there’s sure a lot about football I didn’t know, whether it was special teams or defensive play or wide receiver concepts, you name it.”

“So that really increased my overall football knowledge. It helped me understand what it takes to run an entire team, run an entire program, and try to put your flavor on it and your ideas of what’s important. And really it helped prepare me for this role because now I know more about the game. I’ve been working with young people for quite some time now.”

Though he’s never been a position coach at the college level before, Gross has had discussions about joining other college staffs in the past.

When Scalley called him, though, it was a bit different than those conversations.

“When Morgan called me, he was very clear that it wasn’t just conversations. He said, you’re my guy. I want you to do this job,” Gross said.

On that phone call, Gross’ former Utah teammate laid out his vision for the program, and he was all in.

“Morgan is very organized in his messaging. He’s consistent with what he says he expects out of us and what he wants us to look like as a program each and every day,” Gross said. “There’s not any waxing and waning with his energy, his enthusiasm and what he cares about.

“And so it’s very clear what’s expected of us as coaches and of players in this program, and it’s also very clear that he cares a great deal about everybody, that he’s to be a part of this journey with him. So you feel very honored and fortunate to be on board.”

Gross has big shoes to fill as an offensive line coach at Utah. His friend Jim Harding elevated Utah’s offensive line room during his 12 seasons in Salt Lake City, developing six offensive linemen that were later selected in the NFL draft. Two more, Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, are expected to be drafted this April.

In more years than not, a strong offensive line and running game were hallmarks of Utah’s identity, so there’s expectations for Gross to come in and continue that level of play in the room.

‘Pressure just to do the job well’

Gross said he doesn’t necessarily feel pressure in following Harding.

“I feel pressure just to do the job well as a coach. … Coach Scalley took, I don’t want to say it’s a chance, but it was an unconventional hire bringing me in to do this job and I want to do well for him,” Gross said. “… I want to do well for my teammates that are watching and rooting for me, the old alumni from Utah, and the fans.

“So it’s a big job, not something I take lightly, and I know that I’ve got work to do, but there’s a great staff around me and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Gross is still settling into his new job — spring football is still about a month away — but he’s already starting to make an impact. His NFL experience and knowledge of offensive line play is vast, and he’s been able to instill that knowledge during his first two months with the program.

“I give them all everything I have, man, all my knowledge, all my information, all my tricks, everything. I just want to see these young guys succeed,” Gross said.

Clearheaded, aggressive and confident

On the whiteboard in his office at Utah’s football facility, Gross has three words that are a mantra for how he wants the offensive line to play — clearheaded, aggressive and confident.

“Let’s be clear on what their job assignment is and on their techniques. Let’s let them be aggressive and reward that behavior and not be negative when it doesn’t work out. And then let’s let them be confident,” Gross said. “So they need to know that I support ’em, that if they’re trying the techniques and the assignments that we’ve talked about, they need to feel good that whether it ends up good or bad, I’m going to support the decisions they made because a confident and clearheaded offensive lineman is a dangerous thing.”

Gross didn’t inherit a blank slate, but Utah does have to replace all five starters on the offensive line — Fano, Lomu and seniors Michael Mokofisi, Jaren Kump and Tanoa Togiai.

The Utes appear to be confident in their internal replacements, as they only picked up two offensive linemen in the transfer portal — Ohio State freshman Isaiah Kema and Montana State redshirt sophomore Cedric Jefferson. Jefferson started at tackle for the FCS national champions and earned an All-Big Sky honorable mention nod, while Kema played 31 snaps for the Buckeyes.

Jefferson should be in the mix to start at one of the tackle spots, with five-star tackle Kelvin Obot also in the running to start in his first year under his former high school coach.

At Fruitland, Gross passed his NFL expertise onto Obot, helping develop him into one of the best offensive line prospects in the nation.

The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Obot was rated a five-star prospect by 247Sports composite and had his choice of schools, including Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida, USC and Washington. In the end, he chose Utah and became the school’s highest-rated prospect ever.

At that time, the offensive line was coached by Harding, but even after the man who recruited him left, he stuck by his decision.

It didn’t hurt, of course, that Scalley hired his high school head coach to join him at the college level.

Already, Obot is showing glimpses of his potential.

“What makes him special is he’s an incredible athlete, just a special body type, lean, excellent feet, can bend, long arms, aggressive, smart, so it doesn’t matter where you’re from, that’s what’s going to get you that notoriety that he received,” Gross said. “He’s in here now. He came in as an early enrollee.

“He’s going through the winter program with us and just looking like he belongs. Doesn’t look like a freshman out there when he plays physically or mentally.”

No special treatment

Obot arrives at Utah with high expectations and pressure to live up to his high rating, but for Gross and the program, all of that is outside noise.

“Nobody’s treating him any differently than anybody else on the roster right now, and especially me as his coach,” Gross said. “I’ve known him for so long. It’s just Kelvin to me.

“I know what he needs to work on, what he needs to get better at, kind of know what makes him tick, and I don’t care if he was the highest or the lowest rated prospect from Utah. I just want him to succeed, so I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”

In the middle, there will be plenty of competition. Seniors Alex Harrison (143 snaps last year) and Zereoue Williams (156 snaps) bring experience to the room, and so does junior Keith Olsen, who played 295 snaps last year.

Harrison and Williams, who were out of eligibility after the 2025 season, appear to have been granted an NCAA waiver, as both are on Utah’s recently-released spring football roster.

“I‘m preparing for them to be a big time part of what we’re doing. They’re both very healthy, they’re both excited for the opportunity to start potentially their senior years being great leaders for us. Just a joy to coach. So very excited about those guys,” Gross said.

Solatoa Moea’i (336 snaps) is also expected to be in the mix for the starting jobs, along with four-star redshirt freshman Isaiah Garcia, who suffered a season-ending injury last fall camp.

Realistic expectations

It’s not fair to expect this year’s group to live up to last year’s lofty standards — Utah set school records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns behind their veteran offensive line — especially with a new offensive line coach.

But the 2026 season could hinge on if Gross’ group can be good.

It’s not a completely blank slate, but it’s a fresh start for the Utah offensive line in a pivotal season.

“It’s a fresh start for everybody, right? So you lose five starters, three to graduation, two to the NFL draft. It’s a unique situation, but I’m coming in with a new head coach. I don’t have any history with anybody. So I think the room has enjoyed that. Everybody’s kind of got the same fair shot in this journey together,” Gross said.

“So I’ve been very impressed with the work ethic, with the attitude, with the intelligence of these guys. They’re athletic, they’re strong. So I could not have asked for a better group to come into as a first-year coach than this because they just want to work. They want to please, they like to have fun. I’ve got no problems, behavioral issues with them or anything, just a real treat to coach these guys.”

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