Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig is resigning following the team's poor offensive performance

SALT LAKE CITY — After losing his third straight game following a lackluster offense, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said everything will be tested in the next 48 hours following Saturday's loss to TCU.

“Everything is up in the air at the moment, everything is up for evaluation,” Whittingham said Saturday evening. “And we will evaluate.”

On Sunday evening, Whittingham announced that long-time offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig had decided to “step down” from his role with the Utes.

“Andy is the consummate professional and we would like to thank him for his total commitment to our program throughout his 10 seasons with us,” Whittingham said in part in a statement. “Coach Ludwig has been instrumental in our success here at Utah, and I personally have great respect and admiration for Andy, both as a coach and as a person. We wish him nothing but the best in all his future endeavors.”

In Utah's three losses this season, the offense scored a total of 36 points and struggled to produce much of the time. But Whittingham said it was “no secret” what the team’s problems were and that “some difficult decisions” had to be made.

Whether Ludwig leaves his position as offensive coordinator — a position he held for the second time at Utah, most recently in 2019 — is the only change necessary remains to be seen.

Although not official, offensive analyst Mike Bajakian, who has helped with quarterbacks this season, is expected to be promoted to help call the team's plays and provide some consistency. The offensive coach shared responsibilities with Ludwig over the course of the year and was responsible for the running game.

Utah ranks 72nd overall in offense this season, but has struggled most in the red zone, where the Utes' offense scored on just 80.8% of all trips inside the 20-yard line – and just 46, 2% of these successful drives resulted in a touchdown.

Although Ludwig's system hasn't been working recently, he was credited with turning Utah's offensive system around when he returned to Utah in 2019. Ludwig became a key asset to then-quarterback Tyler Huntley in Utah's second straight Pac-12 Championship Game appearance.

This system only grew with the emergence of Cam Rising under center, culminating in back-to-back Pac-12 championships in 2021 and 2022. In those two seasons, Utah averaged 36.1 and 38.6 points, respectively, putting them among the ranks the best offenses of the season in the country.

Going into the 2024 season, Utah was expected to have arguably the deepest and most talented offensive roster, but when Rising suffered a throwing hand injury, the tone of the season changed as the offense became a shell of its former self.