Jason Shelley is going from one in-state rival to the other.
After entering the transfer portal in February, the former Utah quarterback announced his decision to leave for Utah State on Monday. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior spent three seasons at Utah, including a redshirt season in 2017, and will be eligible to quarterback the Aggies immediately.
Last season, Shelley found himself in a rocky position at Utah, much of the time filling in for Jordan Love, who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers this spring. With Love gone, Shelley expected to compete with Jake Bentley, who transferred to Utah from South Carolina in December, for a starting job but instead was moved to safety, motivating him to enter the transfer portal two months later. Nonetheless, in a tweet following his decision to leave the Aggies, Shelley said he felt it was simply time for change
At the end of last season, Utah State’s coaching staff moved Shelley to the other side of the ball. Moving the quarterback to the defensive back position, the coaches told Shelley, who said he had never played defense before, to go from scoring touchdowns to preventing touchdowns. When the coaches placed him in the injury-depleted secondary his sophomore season, he said he was surprised and willing to help his team in any way but still wanted to lead the offense.
“I came here as a quarterback,” Shelley told the Deseret News in December. “I’d really like to play quarterback, you know, but I’m all here for the team and I’ll do whatever it takes for the team But, you know, they felt like I was probably better at safety. I would like to get a shot at QB in the spring. But, you know, it is what it is so I’m just going to go out there and work.”
In 2018, Shelley took advantage of the opportunity to show his ability to quarterback at a high level. Starting five games filling in for an injured Tyler Huntley, Shelley led Utah to notable victories over Oregon and Colorado that were key in locking up the program’s first Pac-12 South title. Once the Utes had already clinched the regular season championship, Shelley led Utah to a comeback win over BYU after the team fell behind late in the regular season finale.
The bulk of Shelley’s production came in that 2018 campaign, his redshirt freshman season. He leaves the program totaling 1,205 passing yards, six touchdowns, six interceptions and a 58.1% completion percentage.
It is likely that Shelley will take over starting quarterback role. Henry Colombi was expected by most to inherit the responsibility after throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns in six games last season backing up Love, but the junior entered the transfer portal following Shelley’s announcement.