⚡ CFB Dashboard

Utah safety coach Derrick Odum has a wealth of talent at his disposal as the spring practice window closes. With three players who have started and one additional player with a sizeable amount of experience, there is a lot to like despite the limited amount of reps to go around. "I've been mixing and matching the groups each and every day. Each guy will be with a different guy and rotate who's with the first group and the second group. They end up getting the same amount of reps. It's not much different in that regard, but it's been a good thing," Odum said. "They're so competitive as well, and it just makes the guy next to them even better, because they want to be the guy, and so it's like a big cycle, this guy goes, and he does well, this guy jumps in, he wants to do well, and just keeps rolling that way." Jackson Bennee, Rabbit Evans, and Nate Ritchie make up the group that fans have seen the most of, but Odum says Nate Tilmon has made large strides this spring. "His confidence is through the roof, and he's playing faster, he's playing more confident. He's around the ball a lot. And out of that group, I think he's really made the biggest strides from where we started. And so, I'm really excited about what he's done up to this point now, and to finish off spring and carry that into the summer and all the things that go with that. But to this point, I'm really pleased with what he's done so far," Odum said. Fellow singee from the 2025 class, Manny Fuller, has also been making some big strides this spring to put himself in the conversation for possible playing time. Last year, the safety room accounted for 50 of the team's 146 total missed tackles, and that is a number Odum hopes to see go down in 2026. "I think we've gotten better at tackling in the open field. We work a bunch on that each and every day. It's a point of emphasis for our group, and I've seen a lot of improvements so far in that area. And the guys have a lot of confidence when they get in those positions to make open-field tackles. And that's really what you want, for them to feel really good and feel like this tackle is getting made, and I'm not worried about missing it, and so that's a big improvement I've seen so far," Odum said. The group still needs to improve in one major area, according to Odum. "Playmaking ability. We want to try to get the ball out of the air. I don't think we have that many interceptions this spring, and that's a credit to the offense and not giving us those opportunities. But we're always looking to get the ball out," Odum said. He did add that for some of the younger members of his room, he hopes there continues to be some sound development in the understanding of the defensive scheme. Watch Odum's full presser below, including his take on how Rabbit Evans looks after coming back from his injury: