The Utah Pig Bus / Our story
More than
a tailgate.
Big-time football. Big-time food. One big Utah football family.
Where it started
Long before Porky.
Long before there was a bus named Porky, there was a simple idea: bring the unforgettable tailgating traditions of big-time college football to the University of Utah.
The inspiration
What we saw at the Big House
After experiencing the atmosphere surrounding Michigan’s Big House, we saw what college football could be before kickoff. Friends and families gathering for hours, grills going, bands playing, generations of fans sharing stories, and complete strangers being treated like old friends.
We wanted to bring that same spirit home to Utah.
The chronology
The story, in order
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Before
A trip to the Big House
A road trip to Ann Arbor showed us what game day could be: hours of food, music and friends before kickoff, with strangers treated like old friends. We came home wanting the same for Utah.
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1999
Friends start tailgating
In 1999 a group of friends started tailgating together, years before there was a Pig Crew or a bus named Porky. Some of those friendships go back even further.
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2004
A pig in the coach’s backyard
Coach Urban Meyer established the Pig Crew circa 2004. Welby Evangelista and Ryan Lufkin offered to roast a pig for the team. Coach Meyer invited them in, and that year — the undefeated, BCS-busting season — they roasted the first pig for the Utah football family in his backyard before summer camp. There was no bus yet. The idea was to bring everyone together, celebrate the team’s special bond, and feed what Coach Meyer called Utah’s “Polynesian Advantage.”
We aren’t saying the pig did it. But we’re certainly not about to stop roasting them.
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2005
Porky rolls in
In 2005, we brought home a retired 1987 Bluebird school bus and transformed her into Porky: our rolling headquarters, mascot, gathering place, and unmistakable symbol of Utah tailgating.
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2005–2025
The Kyle Whittingham era
Through the remarkable Kyle Whittingham era, the Pig Crew continued growing alongside Utah football. Season after season, the food got bigger, the celebrations got louder, and the friendships grew deeper.
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2026 →
The Morgan Scalley chapter
Today, as Morgan Scalley leads Utah football into its next chapter, the Pig Bus tradition rolls forward too. Fittingly, Scalley was a captain on that remarkable 2004 team when our story was just getting started.
Coaching eras are listed to place the tailgate in time. They do not imply that the University of Utah or any coach owns, runs or endorses the Pig Bus.
Traditions of our own
Bigger food. Louder Saturdays.
The annual pig roasts became part of our identity. Oktoberfest, Chili Verde cookoffs, and outrageous culinary creations became traditions of their own. We brought in live bands, turned up the DJs, celebrated birthdays and milestones, and even hosted weddings aboard the bus.
The one trophy we will never win
We built the competition. We wrote the rules. Our trophy is watching everyone else bring their best food.
The crew came up with the idea for the Crimson Club tailgate cooking competition and helped write the rules for it. Which is exactly why they have never entered to win. The point was never to collect prizes. It was to get the whole parking lot cooking.
The best part
But the best part was never just the food, the music, or the bus.
It was the people.
We wanted a place where generations of Utah fans could come together, where families could build memories, where friends could become family, and where supporters of visiting teams could discover that a little friendly competition doesn’t get in the way of great hospitality.
The Pig Bus creed
“Win or lose, we’re going to eat, laugh, celebrate, and do it all over again.”
Coaches change. Players graduate. Conferences come and go. But the traditions, friendships, and memories remain. We’re proud to be a part of the Utah football family, and we’ll keep firing up the grills, rolling out the welcome mat, and raising a toast to the Utes for generations to come.
Welcome to the Utah Pig Bus. There’s always room for one more.
Go Utes! Viva la Porky!
History as told by the Pig Crew. Head-coaching dates checked against Utah Athletics. The crew’s logo reads “Est. 1987” — 1987 is the model year of the Bluebird school bus. Friends have tailgated together since 1999, the Pig Crew started in 2004, and Porky was bought and converted in 2005. Some archive photographs have approximate years and are labelled “from the Pig Bus archive” rather than given a date the crew cannot confirm.