Why Is Isaac Wilson Back With Utah?
When Isaac Wilson entered the transfer portal on December 8th no one batted an eye.
The freshman was thrust into the spotlight early on in the season after the injury to Cam Rising and was in and out of the lineup as the Utes offense struggled to put up more than 24 points a night.
Utah was expected to compete for playoff positioning with a savvy veteran group of skilled players, but instead had to rely on youth taking steps before they had learned to walk.
In most other situation’s the former Corner Canyon High School gunslinger would have been given a larger leash, but this wasn’t Kennesaw State or Sam Houston.
Saddled with preseason expectations and the pressures of a new conference Utah didn’t have the patience most would have with a true freshman starting quarterback.
Thus, Wilson’s inexperience and Utah’s expectations proved to be a disastrous combination as the Utes finished 5-7 with only two wins in the Big 12.
In the 9 games Wilson got action in he completed about 56 percent of his passes on 225 attempts to pair with 1,510 yards, 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
As a starter, Wilson won two games: At Utah State and At Oklahoma State.
A fresh start made perfect sense for both sides and it appeared to be headed in that direction.
Not only did Wilson enter the portal on the 8th, but Utah received a commitment from former New Mexico QB, Devon Dampier, only days later, a sign that Utah had likely found their new QB.
Dampier is expected to hit the ground running as Utah’s new offensive coordinator, Jason Beck, just came off a top 5 offensive campaign with Dampier as his main man for the Lobos.
Utah had seemingly found a new path, so what was next for Wilson?
According to KSL Sports and Steve Bartle, Wilson was receiving interest from UCLA and his brother Zach’s alma mater, BYU.
Blair Angulo of 247 Sports says that squads like Mississippi State, San Jose State, Vanderbilt, Virginia, UAB and Utah State all had a level of interest themselves.
So where would he go get that fresh start?
Apparently as of Monday the 16th, he wouldn’t want one.
Wilson withdrew himself from the transfer portal and recommitted to Utah.
Why would he do that? It seemed so certain that a split was inevitable.
But something as simple as getting to to chat with the new faces in Salt Lake City, namely the new offensive coordinator, can really help one make a choice.
Continuing to learn and develop consistency can be elusive to those who transfer and Wilson could very well make more of himself by hanging around.
If he didn’t have that mindset already Utah was able to convince him of it.
Wilson would tell 247 Sports that he:
"Got to sit down on Friday with (offensive coordinator) coach Jason Beck and (quarterbacks) coach Koy Detmer and go over the offense." (ANGULO, 247SPORTS.COM)
"It's a lot more of what I did in high school and I'm very excited to compete and to see what I can do in it. They've had a lot of success with quarterbacks in the past." (ANGULO, 247SPORTS.COM)
With no guarantee of a starting spot or even playing time, Wilson was impressed enough by what Utah's plans and aspiration were at the QB position that he didn’t waste much time deciding to rejoin.
That alone is a good sign that what Utah anticipates as a unit and more so as an offense could very much be on the right track.
If that success translates to Wilson and his career is to be seen but you have to respect the decision to give things another try with Utah and vice versa.
One thing is certain, Utah’s quarterback room has a much clearer and more promising path ahead with both Dampier and Wilson going in for the 2025 season.
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