Utah Utes Interviews · Broadway Media

Sean O'Connell on PFL fights tomorrow in Chicago, Utah Spring FB, Will Spencer Fano be a top 5 or 10 Draft pick (?) + more

April 10, 2026·23 min·2 clips
Sean O'Connell predicts which Utah football newcomer will be the most impactful player this fall.
Bill Riley has the chair. The hour starts in ESPN 700's studios, with Sean O'Connell away in Chicago and due to join shortly. Draft chatter is waiting, too. Devin Jackson is set for the bottom of the hour with local NFL prospect notes, including Spencer Fano, Caleb Lomu, Lander Barton, and Dallin Bentley. From there, the transcript settles into Utah football. The conversation gets into offensive line help, transfer portal movement, and the lower level players who can still have Sunday potential. Montana State fits that discussion. Utah did more than add a body; the experience and championship background give a Big 12 team something useful. Bryson Barnes gets a fair run here. Riley brings up the Pig Farmer's free agent hopes, then uses him to talk through Kevin McGiven's effect on an offense. McGiven got real production out of Barnes, who was a solid Utah player before becoming a 2,500-yard passer and 700-yard rusher with a full season under McGiven at Utah State. That is the thread for Utah now. With Ficklin, Dampier, the receivers, and the line, McGiven appears to have more raw material than before. Weber State comes back into the picture, with McGiven developing a couple of NFL players there before the program became a real powerhouse. Then O'Connell joins from Chicago, where he is calling PFL on ESPN2 the next afternoon. Sergio Pettis becomes the entry point. Sean talks through Sergio and Anthony Pettis as Midwest fighting family legends from the Milwaukee area, with Anthony a UFC champion and Sergio chasing PFL gold after a Bellator title. Wrigleyville gets the sendoff. Very Utah, in the best local-sports way: draft names, football projection, a coach's track record, and a fight detour that feels like normal shop talk.

As heard by us

Utah football, the NFL draft picture, and Sean O'Connell's Chicago PFL stop keep the hour moving.

The hour spends most of its time on Utah football and the NFL draft, with Bill Riley keeping the pace loose while Sean O'Connell works in a Chicago stop tied to his PFL call tomorrow.

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Want Utah football, draft buzz, and a Chicago PFL stop in one sit-down?

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