Kyle Whittingham says appeal of Michigan football job was obvious
New Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham said the appeal of the job was obvious on Sunday, Dec. 28, in Orlando.
New face, same expectations for Michigan football.
The Wolverines are just days away from beginning their summer conditioning program under new coach Kyle Whittingham and already the lists are coming out about where Whittingham ranks among his colleagues.
According to CBS Sports, it’s quite high. Whittingham was ranked as the No. 10 coach in the Power Four conferences entering the 2026 season.
“Kyle Whittingham didn’t want to leave Utah, but he probably can’t feel too bad about where he ended up,” CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli wrote. “Whit has long been either in our top 10 or just on the periphery of it, so this spot is not a result of him being at a blue-blood program. However, like Matt Campbell at Penn State, I wonder how he’ll be judged going forward, given the very different expectations at his new job than at his last gig.”
At this time last year, few (if any) could have imagined Whittingham would be in this position. U-M was entering Year 2 of the Sherrone Moore era after an underwhelming first year that ended with a bang, including back-to-back top-15 wins over Ohio State and Alabama.
Whittingham, meanwhile, was entering Year 21 at Utah, having turned the program into a consistent winner and seemingly in the latter stages of what was a rather decorated career. It seemed that he would eventually wind down his career as a coach and move into an administrative role with the school.
Instead, chaos unfolded.
Moore was fired from the program on Dec. 10 after it was uncovered that he’d had an inappropriate relationship with his executive assistant, Paige Shiver, and lied to university officials about their involvement. Hours later, he was in the Washtenaw County Jail, arrested after having made entry into Shiver’s house and threatening to harm himself with butter knives.
After being charged with a felony and two misdemeanors, he later pled guilty to two lesser charges and was sentenced to probation.
Ironically, the day Moore was arraigned, Whittingham and Utah mutually agreed to part ways and the Utes named longtime defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley as his successor. Whittingham’s coaching days appeared over, but he still wanted to give it another run and U-M was in need of a stable leader with a history of success.
Just two weeks later, Whittingham had agreed to a five-year contract with the Wolverines and was introduced in a surreal scene inside a hotel ballroom in Orlando, Florida.
“There is nobody above the team, and you got to have everybody buy in, and everybody, including myself, lead this team,” he said the day he was introduced. “When … we got everyone on that page and understanding that concept, and that’s going to be very positive.”
It all worked out quite well for the Wolverines, who now have a coach viewed by many as one of the 10 best in the country. Whittingham said earlier this spring the expectation in Ann Arbor will always be to compete for Big Ten titles, even in Year 1.
That quest begins on Saturday, Sept. 5 against Western Michigan (7:30 p.m., NBC) at Michigan Stadium.
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.
