3 pros, 3 cons to Michigan Football hiring head coach Kyle Whittingham

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The Wolverines officially have their man, as Michigan has hired Kyle Whittingham to be its next head football coach. While he is surely better than some of the other names that have been mentioned in this coaching search, there are still some not-so-great things about this hire as well.

Here are three pros and three cons to Whittingham being the next head coach of Michigan.

Pro: He’s a real leader

Unlike Sherrone Moore, Whittingham is a proven leader of young men. He has a squeaky clean track record over his two decades of head coaching at Utah — no controversies, no BS, nothing at all that would have Michigan fans, administrators or anyone else associated with the university questioning that area.

“I am forever indebted to him for believing in me and giving me opportunity after opportunity to grow in this profession,” Utah’s next head coach Morgan Scalley said. “He has mentored me, inspired me, and given me a vision for the future of the Utah Football Program, and I am ready and excited to see it through.”

“Man, (Whittingham is) a legend, I’ve got a lot of respect for him,” quarterback Devon Dampier said. “He’s transformed this program. He’s made it perfect for Scalley to step in.”

Obviously, after what happened with Moore, this was a priority for the next head coach of Michigan football. In this area, Whittingham may be the best candidate for the job.

Con: He’s a bit older than most other coaches

Whittingham is the fourth-oldest head coach (66 years old) in the FBS. The only coaches older are K.C. Keeler (also 66 but technically older), Kirk Ferentz (70) and Bill Belichick (73).

At 66, it’s fair to question how much Whittingham has left in the tank. It’s nice to know he still has a desire to coach and that he joked about how he was “in the transfer portal” looking for his next job, but I still can’t help but wonder how long he will be in Ann Arbor for.

Not that I’ve gotten to this point yet, but I have heard that once you get to a certain stage of your life, you know when to call it quits. Whittingham isn’t there yet, but I assume that could happen at any time in his age range.

Pro: He runs a Michigan style of offense

A physical, run-first offense with a complementary pass attack. Does that sound familiar? That’s been Michigan’s bread and butter offensively since the dawn of time, and that’s exactly the type of offense Whittingham has led over the years at Utah.

In 2025, Utah put together the No. 2 rush offense (269.8 yards per game, 6.1 yards per carry, 37 rushing touchdowns), led by running back Wayshawn Parker who had 931 yards and six touchdowns. Dampier ran for 687 yards and seven scores, while backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin and running back NaQuari Rogers each ran for 10 touchdowns. Over the last 10 seasons, Whittingham’s run game has averaged 4.8 yards per carry.

Now, that’s not to say Whittingham doesn’t also prioritize the pass game. In fact, Dampier threw for 22 touchdowns this year for Utah, just three passing touchdowns away from the record at Michigan. He also threw for 2,180 yards and only five interceptions while completing 63.7 percent of his throws.

Con: Not a strong recruiter

Over the years at Utah, Whittingham has been a developer of lower ranked recruits than what Michigan is used to bringing in. That’s my PR way of saying “he isn’t a very good recruiter.”

Utah is set to bring in the No. 36 overall recruiting class for 2026. After its top two players (who are both guys Michigan recruited and in the Top-50 overall), Utah’s next highest rated player is No. 461 overall, per the 247Sports composite. And while Michigan hasn’t been afraid to reel in lower ranked guys in recent memory like Ronnie Bell and others, there are more three-stars littered throughout Whittingham’s recruiting classes than the Wolverines are used to.

Here are the recruiting classes this decade for Utah:

2026: No. 36
2025: No. 39
2024: No. 59
2023: No. 19
2022: No. 37
2021: No. 32
2020: No. 30

Con: Not a midwest guy, so can he recruit the midwest?

This one goes directly with my last point about recruiting. Whittingham has never coached or lived this far east in his life. I can’t recall a time where Michigan had to battle Utah for a recruit that was based in the midwest. That isn’t to say it’s happened before, but the only recruiting battles Michigan has had with Utah are for recruits that live in that region of the country.

So will Whittingham be able to familiarize himself quickly enough and establish strong relationships with recruits and high school coaches in the midwest? And more importantly, will he be able to do so in the state of Michigan? These are two huge question marks for me, personally, so I really hope he answers the bell here.

Pro: At the end of the day, he’s a gosh darn winner

Whittingham went 177-88 (66.7 winning percentage) over the course of his tenure at Utah. He only went below .500 three times (2012, 2013, 2024) and has eight seasons where the Utes won at least 10 games. Utah won the Mountain West Conference in 2018, and the Pac-12 in 2021 and 2022. Finally, he has an 11-6 record in bowl games, with an opportunity to get a 12th when he coaches Utah one final time on New Year’s Eve in the Sun Bowl.

Furthermore, everyone’s favorite former coach Urban Meyer once called Whittingham — the coach that took over for him at Utah all those years ago — “the best coach in college football.” Meyer, despite being a total scumbag and overall bad human being, was a good football coach when he was in the game, so to receive those praises from him speaks to Whittingham’s overall abilities as a head coach.

All in all…

Whittingham is a very good head coach with a proven track record of success. He has never been the strongest recruiter, but he gets the best out of his players no matter where they were ranked coming out of high school. However, all that success was only at one university, and he’s never been this far east before, bringing up major questions about whether or not he will be able to recruit the midwest at a high level.

It’s completely valid to question whether or not he can replicate his pass success at a higher quality program, especially at his age, and if he will be able to reel in top talent in the state of Michigan and other surrounding midwest states. If he’s able to do all those things, Michigan may have fallen up the stairs with Whittingham.

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