Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham drops cryptic comment about Utah exit

Michigan has its new head coach, as it has hired Kyle Whittingham from Utah. Originally, Whittingham was expected to coach the Utah bowl game after stepping down as the head coach, but he will no longer do so with his move to Michigan. Now, Whittingham has dropped some cryptic comments about his exit from Utah.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel and Tribune asked Whittingham about taking on a new job at the age of 66, when other coaches may be retiring.

“I signed a five-year contract. I made a mistake in Utah. They started asking me about retirement, and I started answering questions and giving my own thing. I don’t think I’m that old. I’m 66, but it’s not that old. I feel like I got enough energy and juice to see this through,” Whittingham said in response to taking a new job.

He admits to making a mistake when giving a timeline about retirement. This led Utah to name a head coach in waiting. Morgan Scalley was announced as the head coach in waiting in 2024, a title that he had held before, but was stripped of after a suspension in 2020 due to an investigation into using a racial slur in 2013. He remained with the university and was given back the title in 2024. Scalley joined the Utah staff as a graduate assistant in 2007, moving up to defensive coordinator in 2016.

Meanwhile, Whittingham is looking forward to joining a new team. He has coached at Utah since 1994 and has been the head coach since 2005.

“Everything’s just a bigger scale here. It’s Michigan. It’s Big Ten football. So, I would say coaching football is coaching football, but the surroundings and all the resources, that’s what’s much different,” Whittingham explained, according to Clayton Sayfie of On3, when discussing the new job.

Whittingham is not the only one excited about the new opprotunity. Fans and players, such as Bryce Underwood, are also excited about the new hire.

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