Here’s what Utah OC Kevin McGiven is most confident about ahead of debut

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Utah offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven feels like he has the weapons for a successful offense. Now comes the fun part: game planning for opponents and deciding when and where to utilize his playmakers.

There’s a sense of optimism about the offense from Utah’s coaching staff heading into the 2026 season. The return of quarterback Devon Dampier, who threw for 2,490 yards and 24 touchdowns and rushed for 835 yards and 10 scores, is a big reason for it, but McGiven feels like Utah has playmakers all over the field.

That hasn’t always been the case at Utah, especially in the receiver room, but it’s the aspect of the offense that McGiven feels most confident in as he prepares for his debut against Idaho on Sept. 3.

“I think when the ball’s distributed, you’re not really in a panic in terms of whose hand it’s going to fall in,” McGiven said.

That’s a big step forward from previous Utah offenses.

It all starts with Dampier and his ability to extend plays. McGiven gave the senior quarterback perhaps the greatest compliment an offensive coordinator can give a player.

“You don’t have to be perfect as a play caller because he just kind of makes things right when things break down,” McGiven said.

“No, obviously I want to put him in good situations, but that is one of the key components to the ball moving and we’re able to see that in practices when he just kind of takes over or something kind of breaks down and he’s still able to make something out of it.”

Throughout the offseason, McGiven has seen Dampier make progress in all aspects of his game, from leadership to decision making to his processing within the offense.

“I’m really anxious to see it all come to fruition,” McGiven said.

In the backfield with Dampier will be Wayshawn Parker, who rushed for 981 yards and six touchdowns on 149 carries. Parker was in a rushing tandem with NaQuari Rogers for the first half of last season, but this time around, he’s the undisputed RB1. That’s not to say he’ll be the only running back to get touches — Utah’s coaches have been pleased with the progress from Steve Chavez-Soto and Daniel Bray — but Parker will clearly be a focal point in McGiven’s offense.

“To me it’s more just centered around your personnel. We have Wayshawn back there and Wayshawn needs to take on his share of the load and he needs to be able to showcase that and have those opportunities,” McGiven said.

“You also got Bray back there that you can use in some similar ways as Wayshawn, some different ways as Wayshawn in terms of the skill set. So to me, it’s not so much about running and throwing it. It’s just making sure that you’re featuring your personnel the right way and that you’re distributing to the right people at the right times.”

One of the few question marks on Utah’s offense is the offensive line, which will feature five new starters. Last year’s offensive line was the best unit on the team, producing two first-round NFL draft picks and powering the Utes to school records in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns while keeping Dampier clean most of the time.

For this offense to reach its full potential, the offensive line doesn’t have to be as good as last season’s, but it has to be serviceable.

Utah won’t announce the starting five or provide any depth chart ahead of the season, but Alex Harrison, Zereoue Williams, Keith Olson, Solatoa Moea’i, Kelvin Obot, Isaiah Garcia and Cedric Jefferson are expected to at least be in the rotation.

Harrison, Williams, Olson and Moea’i are all seniors that have been in Utah’s program and have a decent amount of game experience, each playing at least 130 snaps last season. Jefferson started every game for FCS national champion Montana State.

Garcia, who was injured all of last season, and Obot are both highly touted recruits that will get their chances to make early marks.

“Still a little bit of mixing and matching going on, but I think as a total unit, there’s enough chemistry there regardless of who you put in there, where the communication is really good because those guys have been around each other and they’ve been in the system now for a little bit,” McGiven said.

“And so I think there’s a comfortability with those guys regardless of who’s in there. There’s trust being developed regardless of who’s in there at what spot and still just trying to solidify things a little bit.”

At the skill positions, there’s a lot of options for McGiven and Dampier to spread the ball around. Last year, Ryan Davis and Dallen Bentley got the bulk of the production, but this year, it feels like it could be more balanced.

Utah State transfer Braden Pegan, who of course is familiar with McGiven’s offense from his time in Logan, should lead the way. Pegan had 926 yards and five touchdowns last year at Utah State, and has been drawing rave reviews from coaches during fall camp. Kyri Shoels, Larry Simmons, Creed Whittemore, Ricky Johnson, Tobias Merriweather and Mana Carvalho could all have roles at one point or another this season.

“I think our ability to mix and match personnel and formation to attack people some different ways. Guys have shown proficiency in being able to execute different things with our schemes and with our presentations. I like the direction that’s headed,” McGiven said.

The tight end position has historically been one of strengths for the Utes. This year, it’s more of an unproven position led by Weber State transfer Noah Bennee and Hunter Andrews, who missed the majority of last season with an injury. There’s also the 270-plus-pound “rhinos,” Semi Taulanga and Sione Motuapuaka.

“Hunter I think was showing this fall camp what we expect him to be all along. Couldn’t really showcase that as much in the spring because he was still coming back from his injury, but starting a guy that can stretch the field and a guy that you can pack some things around,” McGiven said.

“I think they’ve all really, really developed as inline guys in terms of blocking, with their ability to execute things in the pass game and make some plays, contested catches and things like that. So the biggest thing I see in that room is just a bunch of versatility and different guys that you can utilize different ways in terms of your personnel packages.”

There’s one other weapon that Utah has kept under wraps in discussing for the most part — backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin, who was instrumental in several Utah victories last season as a rusher. Ficklin is expected to have a role in the offense, even if Dampier is on the field.

“Byrd has the type of athleticism and talent that you’re going to want to find ways to use him regardless of what that looks like,” McGiven said.

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