Kyle Whittingham stresses 1-on-1 player meetings as transfer portal looms

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Michigan football unveiled its 22nd head coach in program history, Kyle Whittingham, at an introductory press conference on Sunday. Among the many things said, Whittingham emphasized a need to get to know every player and staffer in short order. With the transfer portal opening in just a couple days, he made it clear it’s imperative to meet each player 1-on-1 before then.

“Immediate priorities — roster retention,” Whittingham said. “You (have to) meet with these young men. In this day and age in college football, the transfer portal is opening up in about five days. That is absolutely job one, is to make sure that I get in front of these young men and tell them what I’m all about, find out what they’re all about. And that would go for the incoming recruits as well. Gotta get on the phone, they’re not here physically yet, but get on the phone with the class that we just signed.

Prior to Whittingham’s introductory press conference, he had already met with Bryce Underwood for 45 minutes, where he “did a lot of listening” to try and familiarize himself with the freshman quarterback. The retention of Underwood and the rest of the young offensive players is of paramount importance. On Sunday, Whittingham got to observe his first Michigan football practice.

While Biff Poggi will remain the interim coach for the Citrus Bowl against Texas on Wednesday, Whittingham clearly wants to observe the inner workings of the program, both from a player and staff perspective.

Whittingham also announced during his press conference he expects 2-3 current staff members to be retained. While we don’t yet know who those staff members will be, it will certainly be helpful for Whittingham to observe the current staff in action both at practice and in the bowl game itself.

As for the players, certainly no starting jobs are going to be handed out this week for next season. However, it’s imperative to know what you have on your roster and what you need in the portal. The transfer portal is open from Jan. 2-16; by observing practice and meeting individually with players, Whittingham will have to make incredibly quick decisions and observations on what his roster needs are for next season, all the while re-recruiting players to stay at Michigan.

Needless to say, this will be a crucial next couple days.

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