Ute Insiders

October 7, 2026

Five-star Utah offensive tackle Kelvin Obot is in a very unique situation in his first collegiate season.

It’s not often that a high school player gets to be coached by their high school head coach in college, but that’s what Obot is experiencing at Utah.

At small Fruitland High in Idaho, former NFL All-Pro offensive lineman Jordan Gross helped develop Obot into one of the nation’s most-heralded O-line recruits.

Obot was a freshman and on the junior varsity squad when Gross took over as the head coach of his alma mater, but the former Carolina Panther made a memorable first impression.

“I was on JV, so there’s kind of split staff between JV and varsity, but all the times I saw him he was great. He’s very personable and cares a lot about each and every individual kid,” Obot told the Deseret News.

When Obot was ready for varsity football, he had the privilege of learning from an 11-year NFL veteran that could have played longer in the league but decided to retire. With a first-team All-Pro selection and three Pro Bowl appearances under his belt, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better tutor than Gross for a burgeoning high school offensive lineman.

“It was great just because he has so many different experiences and other things he has just seen. So many different scenarios that he can teach you about and prepare you for,” Obot said.

By his senior year in Fruitland, Obot’s film was a treasure trove for coaches. The players lining up against him had absolutely no chance, with Obot often pushing the clearly outmatched defensive linemen five or ten yards down the field or simply knocking them over.

Obot’s combination of size, strength, athleticism and knowledge of the game garnered a five-star rating from On3, which ranked him the No. 2 offensive tackle and the No. 5 overall prospect in the nation. Both 247Sports and ESPN ranked Obot in their top 50 overall prospects nationally.

As expected for a recruit of his caliber, Obot has his pick of schools, including Oregon, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, USC and Florida.

Utah, then coached by Kyle Whittingham with offensive line coach Jim Harding, stood out above them all.

“What really stood out was just like it’s real as real and you can kind of feel it when you come here compared to some other places,” Obot said. “There’s a lot of great programs and cultures out there, but Utah just felt phenomenal, just overall feeling from the players, coaches, and it was very unique in that aspect. It felt very comfortable.”

Even as the head coach and offensive line coach he committed to went to Michigan, Obot stayed solid at Utah with head coach Morgan Scalley.

“I committed here with Whitt and then Coach Scalley took over. It was kind of a similar message because all throughout recruiting they were telling me how he was next in line. So it was known that he was going to become the next head coach eventually. So kind of just the same thing, just reaping the culture,” Obot said.

It helped that Scalley hired Jordan Gross as its offensive line coach, allowing Obot to continue playing for his high school coach and mentor.

“That relationship is huge because that’s everything that we do in football is relationships with coaches and players, staff members. So keeping that relationship and just continuing to grow on it has been awesome,” Obot said.

Obot came into a situation at Utah that allowed him to contribute immediately. All five starters from last year’s excellent offense line were gone, clearing the way for the talented freshman to make an impact early.

He was recruited as an offensive tackle, and will play that position down the line in his career, but where he is needed on this Utah team is at guard.

Through four games, Obot has been especially solid in pass blocking, allowing just one quarterback pressure.

Obot played 46 snaps in his college debut against Idaho and 36 snaps against SEC opponent Arkansas. Against Utah State, he played just 23, but he showed Utah’s coaches enough during those games and in practice for them to trust him with a starting position as the Utes opened up Big 12 play on the road against Iowa State.

A full, juiced-up road stadium is a tough spot to make a first-ever college start, but Obot embraced the moment.

“it was a really awesome experience. They were doing their white out … hostile environment. People are screaming at you. It was a lot of fun,” Obot said.

It was an up-and-down performance for Obot in his first start, but he allowed just one pressure and no sacks and helped the Utes rush for 205 yards against what looked like the best defensive line they have faced all year.

Obot said one of the biggest differences in moving from high school to college is the amount of different looks that defensive lines throw at you.

“Typically in high school people will run their one formation and they might run a few blitzes or whatever. In college there’s a lot of different movements, stunts, blitzes, pressures, whatever it might be. A lot of different personnel groups and just kind of identifying that,” Obot said.

Alex Harrison, Utah’s senior starting center, has helped Obot to identify and combat those different looks. Against Iowa State, Obot saw a lot of stunts, but he was able to hold his own.

“That was a tough first start against Iowa State that had a front that moved around a lot. There were a lot of stunts and some different things that were involved with blocking those guys,” said offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven.

“When you’re a freshman, your eyes can start to deceive you a little bit with all that stuff that’s going on. But I thought he stayed patient when he needed to, he was aggressive when he needed to be, and I really liked his head.”

After the win over the Cyclones, Scalley praised the true freshman for his performance, saying he was “really proud.”

As Obot continues to gain valuable experience, his game will continue to be refined and improve, but for right now, he’s contributing as a starter in his true freshman season as part of an offensive line that has exceeded early expectations.

“He is very athletic. Eventually we see him moving out to the tackle position. He’s got the athleticism to be able to do it. He’s also very physical and aggressive. He’s just going to get better and more confident with time,” Scalley said.

“The reps that he’s going to accumulate this season are going to be huge for his growth going into his second year. He was a highly touted recruit for a reason and his combination of athleticism and physicality are special.”

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