Michigan 'failing upwards' with Kyle Whittingham hire, ESPN expert says

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After a tumultuous few weeks, Michigan football is finalizing a deal to hire legendary Utah coach Kyle Whittingham to run the program.

Whittingham will take over a team that was thrust into chaos earlier this month when former coach Sherrone Moore was fired over an alleged inappropriate relation and then later arrested and charged for felony home invasion, stalking and breaking and entering.

Aside from the bad optics, the timing of the fallout from the Moore scandal was also terrible for Michigan. Considering all that, Michigan knocked it out of the park in hiring Whittingham, ESPN football expert Kevin Clark said on “First Take” on Friday.

“It strikes me as Michigan failing upwards because Kyle Whittingham is a better coach than Sherrone Moore, flat out,” Clark said.

“Now this is a short-term solution, he’s 66 years old, he’s not the kind of guy who on the recruiting trail is going to long-term compete with Ohio State, in order to do that, you have to go get the next Jeremiah Smith on the recruiting trail, the next Carnell Tate, the next Sonny Stiles, he’s not that guy. What he is, is instant credibility, a guy who’s won double digit games in four of his last six full seasons in a really hard conference. They’re physical, they’re well coached. No one has ever watched Utah and said ‘This is a poorly coached team’ over the last 20 years. Remember, he took over for Urban Meyer, that’s how long he’s been there. This is a home run considering the circumstances.”

Only time will tell if Whittingham will restore the Michigan football program to the standard the University and its fans hold it to – on the field and off – but for now, at least one expert really likes the move.

Andrew Birkle is an assistant sports editor for the Free Press. Contact him via email at abirkle@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan getting Kyle Whittingham ‘home run’ hire, ESPN expert says

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