Michigan finalizing deal with Utah's Kyle Whittingham to be next coach
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Michigan football is finalizing a deal to hire Utah legend Kyle Whittingham as its next coach to replace Sherrone Moore, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press on condition of anonymity because it’s not official.
The official announcement is expected soon, and possibly as early as today.
Whittingham spent the last 32 years at Utah, including the past 21 as head coach. He was the second-longest tenured head coach in the FBS behind only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, but now starts his next chapter in Ann Arbor after he stepped down from the Utes earlier this month and said he was entering the “transfer portal.”
Whittingham led the Utes through numerous transitions, playing in three different conferences (Mountain West, Pac-12 and Big 12) and proved to be a consistent winner, taking home the Mountain West crown once (2008) and the Pac-12 twice (2021-22), before going 10-2 this past year in the Big 12.
He had a winning record in 18 seasons, won seven or more games 17 times, eight or more 15 times, nine or more 12 times and had eight seasons of 10 wins or more.
Whittingham has an 11-6 record in bowl games with one final game pending for the Utes, the Las Vegas Bowl against Nebraska on Wednesday, Dec. 31 (3:30 p.m., ESPN), just 30 minutes after U-M kicks off its Citrus Bowl matchup with Texas (3 p.m., ABC).
It’s unknown how this deal will impact Whittingham’s plans to coach the Las Vegas Bowl.
Whittingham went 177-88 in 21 full seasons with the Utes (including a 10-2 mark this year) after taking over when Urban Meyer left for Florida in 2004.
Whittingham, 66, is a defensive-minded coach, who has built his tenure on sound play, protecting the football and not making mistakes in addition to being technically detailed. Utah was tied with Michigan for No. 17 in scoring defense (18.44 points per game), tied for No. 35 in turnover margin this past season and tied for No. 49 in penalties against.
Whittingham still has a few things to improve, namely recruiting and winning against the top teams. His Utes have finished in the top-30 of the national recruiting rankings just once in the past decade (No. 19, 2022) per 247Sports Composite Rankings, but the U-M brand and pipelines could very well change that in year one.
Also, he’ll have to show he can defeat the powers like Oregon, USC and of course, Ohio State. Whittingham and Utah went 2-2 in ranked matchups this season, defeating Arizona State 42-10 and Cincinnati 45-15, but losing 34-10 to Texas Tech and 24-21 to BYU in the “Holy War,” as he comes to Ann Arbor with a 24-39 record (.381) against top 25 teams in his career.
Whittingham faced Michigan three times and went 3-0, including a win over Jim Harbaugh in his first game at Michigan in 2015.
“Michigan is steeped in tradition, one of the most storied programs in all of college football,” Whittingham told reporters when he previewed Utah’s season-opener that year which ended as a 24-17 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium. “It’s certainly a little bit different, quite a bit different, as far as your mindset back in January as opposed to maybe opening up with a lesser opponent.”
Now, he’ll be leading the charge in a stadium that’s more than twice as large as the one he’s called home the past three-plus decades. U-M opens the 2026 season against Western Michigan at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan finalizing deal with Utah’s Kyle Whittingham to be next coach
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