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In electing five captains last week, the Utah football team made some noteworthy choices.
The most-discussed might just be Troy Williams, the junior quarterback who joined the program in July and http://bit.ly/2bkZ1tv";>now is not only a starter, but a captain on offense along with senior center J.J. Dielman. Coach Kyle Whittingham said Williams earned the captaincy by "quite a margin."
"That lets you know what his teammates think about him and the respect level they have for him," he said. "Which is good, you want your quarterback in that position."
On defense, the Utes selected senior defensive end Hunter Dimick, whom Whittingham called a "grinder" on that side of the ball. But interestingly, the Utes also selected senior Dominique Hatfield, entering his third year as a starter at cornerback.
Hatfield's off-field troubles nearly derailed his career last year, but he rejoined the team in the 2015 season and in the spring entered http://bit.ly/205T563";>a no contest plea in abeyance for an assault charge from last summer.
Whittingham said Hatfield's leadership has stood out this fall.
"Great to see that happen, the success story of him," Whittingham said. "The situation he was in last year to where he is now is incredible. He's got his degree in hand, he's got the respect of his teammates. He's been a great leader all fall camp long, and the players recognized that."
There was also a changing of the guard on special teams, where senior safety Jason Thompson took over for two-time captain Andy Phillips. http://bit.ly/1z29FFu";>A former transfer from Wyoming who changed positions, Thompson is on every special teams unit this fall, though he isn't slated to start on defense.
"He's very popular among the players," Whittingham said. "He's unselfish. He does whatever he's asked. … I can't say enough about his unselfishness. He's a great teammate."
Whittingham stands by grad transfer rule • The Utes have seen some valued players leave the program this offseason with degrees in hand, but that hasn't changed Whittingham's view on the somewhat controversial grad transfer rule.
The rule allows student athletes to transfer to another school once they've graduated without a waiting period. While quarterback http://bit.ly/2b5M1SV";>Brandon Cox's transfer to Hampton via this rule leaves Utah thin at the position, the transfer of http://bit.ly/1UAzsm6";>Stevie Tu'ikolovatu to USC bites a little more — the Utes face the Trojans in their conference opener on Sept. 23.
Tu'ikolovatu was named a defensive tackle starter over the weekend at USC, which Whittingham said didn't surprise him. But he still would rather have it than not.
"I think it's a good thing, and I've said it before," he said. "A player comes to a university and does everything he's asked to do and graduates — which is the No. 1 reason he's coming to the university — and gets that degree in hand and thinks he has an opportunity to play somewhere else, he's done his part, in my opinion."
Whittingham declined to offer his opinion on Tu'ikolovatu's transfer, but said perhaps the one change he would make would be to not allow intra-conference transfers or between scheduled opponents, "but that's an NCAA decision."
Some quick hitters:
• Andy Phillips was named to http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17331972/2016-espn-college-football-preseason-all-american-team";>ESPN's preseason All-American list. Surprisingly, he didn't make the ESPN All-Pac-12 list, which featured http://www.espn.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/102574/preseason-all-pac-12-team-2";>Dielman, Lowell Lotulelei and Marcus Williams.
• At tackle, the Utes still have a three-man race listed for both spots. In practice, Garett Bolles has played left tackle and Sam Tevi has played right tackle. But Whittingham said Jackson Barton has "been too good" to not get playing time this fall.
kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon