Utah accuses Michigan TE coach Freddie Whittingham of tampering

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When Kyle Whittingham was hired to take over as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, it was clear the University of Utah was not happy about it. Now, the fallout has turned legal.

According to a report from Jason Batacao of The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday, the University of Utah has filed a lawsuit against Michigan tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham, Kyle’s brother, for breach of contract. Freddie followed his brother to Ann Arbor this offseason after serving on Utah’s staff for more than a decade, and the university is now pursuing legal action over his departure.

Since we are a Michigan website, we do not need to dive into every detail of the lawsuit (if you read the full Salt Lake Tribune story, some of those details are, frankly, hilarious). But there is one element of Utah’s complaint that deserves serious attention because it has real implications for the program.

Per Batacao’s reporting, Utah has accused Freddie Whittingham of actively recruiting Utah players to Michigan while he was still employed by the Utes.

Here is what Batacao wrote:

In another claim, Utah alleges that Freddie Whittingham was actively recruiting Utah players to join Michigan while still employed by Utah.

Five Utah players who entered the NCAA transfer portal ultimately committed to Michigan, including tight end JJ Buchanan.

Buchanan was a major contributor for Utah in 2025, finishing the season with 26 catches for 426 yards and five touchdowns.

“On information and belief, [Freddie] Whittingham actively recruited Utah players and recruits to Michigan,” the lawsuit says.

This is a serious accusation in the world of college football. Recruiting players who are already enrolled at another university is a direct violation of NCAA rules and can result in significant punishment, potentially a Level I or Level II violation depending on the specifics of what occurred.

With the serious stuff out of the way, let us address another allegation in the lawsuit — which is that Freddie never received written consent from Utah before speaking with Michigan about the assistant coaching position, as required by his contract.

Wait, you mean to tell me that the University of Utah … didn’t give him consent … to speak to his own brother? A conversation that probably went something along the lines of:

Kyle: Hey, Freddie! Do you want to go to Michigan with me?

Freddie: Sure, why not?

This is yet another example of the University of Utah embarrassing itself in the aftermath of Kyle’s departure. First, the athletic department was angry about him leaving for Michigan, even though they were quietly pushing him toward the exit and expecting him to smile and be happy about it. Kyle manned the post at Utah for more than two decades and gave that program some of its greatest moments in recent football history. Now, the university is suing his brother for allegedly violating his contract and — spitefully, might I add — tacking on a tampering accusation for good measure.

Utah’s athletic department was rarely in the spotlight for negative off-field issues, something they clearly took for granted given how Michigan’s name has been dragged through the mud over the past five years or so. Yet here they are, filing lawsuits and making tampering accusations against a coach whose primary crime appears to have been answering a phone call from his brother.

The collective University of Michigan community has turned the page on issues of this nature, so I kindly ask the University of Utah to kick rocks, Oh, and enjoy getting used to having a below-average football team.

Maize n Brew reached out to U-M for comment and has yet to hear back as of this story being published.

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