Legendary Big 12 Head Coach Makes Sudden Career Decision
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This college football coaching carousel has been nothing short of chaotic over the past few weeks.
Coming into Friday, there were 30 head coaching jobs across the sport that have either seen a coach fired, retire or move on to another job. That number grew to 31 midway through the day, as the Utah Utes announced that head coach Kyle Whittingham will be stepping down after 21 seasons at the helm.
“Kyle Whittingham, the all-time winningest head coach in the history of the University of Utah’s football program, will step down from leading the Utes and will conclude his highly-successful tenure in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 31,” read the statement. “The head coach at Utah since December 2004 and a member of the Utes’ coaching staff since 1994, Whittingham finished the 2025 regular season with the most career victories at the FBS level of all active Big 12 coaches (177), ranking third among all active FBS head coaches and third among head coaches who have remained at the same school.”
Whittingham had said in the past that he didn’t plan to coach past the age of 65, and essentially held true to that sentiment as he turned 66 last month. The Utes finished the season 10-2 and were on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff, as they ended up the No. 15 team in the final rankings.
The legendary head coach also took to X to thank Utes fans for the amazing run he had, calling it an “honor” to lead the program.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham is stepping down, per the school pic.twitter.com/yYZlaHMZ7g
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 12, 2025
While many viewed this as a retirement announcement, The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel revealed that Whittingham didn’t in fact retire. A development that means he can be hired by another program, which is certainly interesting because Michigan has an opening.
“Whittingham is not retiring, and could seek other coaching opportunities, a source tells @TheAthletic,” wrote Mandel.
As confirmed by CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, Whittingham handed the reins of the program over to his long-time defensive coordinator, Morgan Scalley.
The former Utah defensive back finished his playing career in 2004 and joined the staff in 2007 as a graduate assistant. He has worked his way through the ranks at Utah and has been serving as the defensive coordinator since 2016.
Whittingham’s final game will take place on Dec. 31 as the Utes will take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-5) in the Las Vegas Bowl.
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Dec 12, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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