SALT LAKE CITY — University of Utah football has named Kevin McGiven as its new offensive coordinator, head coach Morgan Scalley announced Saturday.
McGiven comes to Salt Lake City after a standout 2025 campaign calling plays at Utah State and boasts 25 years of collegiate coaching experience, including 17 seasons coordinating offenses and mentoring quarterbacks.
Scalley was glowing in his thoughts of McGiven — calling him “one of the brightest offensive minds in college football” with a scheme and mentality that fits exactly what Utah wants to do on offense.
“His ability to innovate and adapt to different personnel is extremely impressive and he brings a scheme and mentality that are perfect for the playmakers we have here at Utah. Ute Nation is going to love this guy!” Scalley said in the official release.
McGiven’s résumé is diverse. The Orem, Utah native has coached at stops at San José State and Oregon State to multiple stints at Utah State, where his offenses consistently ranked among the Mountain West’s best.
In 2025, he mentored Utah State’s offense into a productive unit, helping mentor quarterback Bryson Barnes into one of the Mountain West’s top dual-threat signal callers.
Why Kevin McGiven for Utah?
The belief in Salt Lake City is that his offensive philosophy, scheme, and terminology mirrors closely with what Utah had enjoyed Jason Beck.
McGiven runs a balanced, versatile system that adapts to its personnel, a concept eerily similar to the flexible, mismatch-oriented approach Beck installed during his time with the Utes.
Given those similarities to Beck’s offense this past season, that should help in retaining key pieces to the offense.
His track record shows an ability to blend a strong passing attack with an effective run game and quarterback decision-making at the center of it all.
Utah fans will eventually notice similarities to Beck’s system in how McGiven structures play calls — creative formations, stress concepts that aren’t one-dimensional, and a willingness to adapt based on matchup and rhythm.
McGiven’s offenses at Utah State and San José State were multiple and effective on the ground and through the air.
His units produced top-tier passing numbers and built strong running games, often pushing tempo and finding efficiency by putting the ball in playmakers’ hands, not on rigid play calls.
People who’ve charted tape on McGiven’s offenses note the same priorities Beck embraced — schemes that adapt to personnel, stress defenses horizontally and vertically, and keep the quarterback central to both the run and pass game.
The Bottom Line
McGiven brings experience, flexibility, and a philosophical continuity that should make attacking defenses feel familiar to players and fans alike.
The system might wear a different playbook label, but the DNA and verbiage — balance, creativity, adaptability — is very much like what made Utah’s offense effective before.
Again, major reason why this hire happened, is the fact that McGiven’s scheme and terminology is similar to Beck’s offense this past season, which should help in retaining key pieces to the offense.
Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.
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