Michigan hired former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham two weeks after firing Sherrone Moore.
At 66, Whittingham dismissed concerns about his age, stating he still has a lot of energy for the job.
Whittingham said he was not deterred by Michigan’s recent scandals and that retaining players is a top priority.
In January 2024, days after Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, Michigan hired a relative upstart to lead its program, promoting then-37-year-old offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore and giving him his first-ever head coaching job.
Two years later, the Wolverines are turning to one of the most known commodities in college football coaching.
When Michigan capped off a tumultuous two-week stretch by hiring Kyle Whittingham on Dec. 26, the move was met with widespread praise. A scandal-ridden program that had fired Moore earlier this month for an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member is now going to be led by Whittingham, who was one of the most consistent winners in the sport at Utah, where he built physical, tough-minded teams and did so without unsavory headlines hovering over his program.
If there was any question about Whittingham, it wasn’t about the identity of his teams or how he conducts himself. It was about his age.
At 66 years old, Whittingham is widely viewed as a short-term option for the Wolverines, but at his introductory news conference on Sunday, Dec. 28, he dismissed any concerns about whether he’s up for the job, noting that he still has “a lot of energy.”
“When I stepped down, one thing I didn’t want to be was the coach that just stayed too long at one place,” Whittingham said. “With 21 years, you’d say ‘Well, you did stay too long,’ but we ended up 10-2 this year. I thought this program is in a great place right now, excellent players, excellent coaching staff. I was able to hand the torch to my defensive coordinator, Morgan Scalley, who’s an outstanding young football coach, and I just felt like the time was right to exit Utah. But I’ve still got a lot of energy and felt like, hey, if the right opportunity came, then I would be all-in on that. That’s what Michigan afforded me.”
On Dec. 12, it was announced that Whittingham was stepping down from Utah at the end of the 2025 season after 21 years as the school’s head coach. He went 177-88 during that time, including a 10-2 mark this season.
Whittingham made it clear that the move wasn’t a retirement, with the coach joking that he was simply entering “the transfer portal.” Whittingham’s announced departure from Utah came only two days after Moore was fired at Michigan, opening up the kind of opportunity he wouldn’t have previously envisioned.
He said he had actually contemplated stepping down from Utah after the 2024 season, noting that he had seen too many coaches hang on for too long at a particular job. Those plans changed, though, when an injury-ravaged team finished 5-7, the Utes’ first sub-.500 season in 11 years.
“I just couldn’t end on that note,” Whittingham said.
He added that it was his decision to step down, not the school’s. As he put it, he “just felt the time was right.”
At Michigan, he will take over a program 23 months removed from a national championship. The Wolverines produced uneven results under Moore, though, going 8-5 in 2024 before a 9-3 finish this season ahead of their Citrus Bowl matchup against Texas.
Whittingham is in Orlando for the game, though he’ll just be there to meet with players and coaches and to watch the game, not to coach.
Keeping Bryce Underwood is a top priority
Whittingham noted that one of his biggest priorities taking over at Michigan will be roster retention, with one player in particular — five-star freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood — standing out. Whittingham said he met with Underwood for about 45 minutes on Sunday morning.
Should Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck make the move with Whittingham to Michigan, there’s a blueprint for success for a dual-threat quarterback like Underwood. During the 2025 season, Utes quarterback Devon Dampier racked up 2,867 total yards and 29 touchdowns.
“His ceiling is very high,” Whittingham said of Underwood. “The offense we’re going to bring in here I think is going to suit him to a T. I think he’s going to really, really excel and have a great experience here.”
Whittingham wasn’t scared off by Michigan’s recent scandals
Whittingham described Michigan during his news conference as one of the top five jobs in the sport, but he arrives at the university during a period of uncertainty.
The school is being led by an interim president, Domenico Grasso, and the football program and broader athletic department are under investigation after a series of scandals have swallowed the Wolverines in recent years. The probe is being conducted by Chicago-based law firm Jenner & Block.
Whittingham said none of that factored into his decision on whether to take the job.
“No, I didn’t have any hesitation,” Whittingham said. “There’s some issues and missteps that are being taken care of, but the key is the players. The players are solid. The players here are rock solid. None of those issues and none of those things we’re dealing with involve the players. To their credit, they just kept grinding and kept after it. I’m so impressed with that because there were a lot of distractions and a lot of adversity. I’ve got no doubt that everything’s going to be handled properly.”
Whittingham is learning to hate Ohio State
While discussing his efforts to put together his first Michigan coaching staff, Whittingham mentioned that he has sought counsel from Urban Meyer, the former Ohio State coach under whom he worked at Utah from 2003-04.
After making that comment, Whittingham took a pause.
“I don’t know if that’s a four-letter word in this room or not,” he joked.
Meyer most recently was a college coach at Ohio State from 2012-18, when he guided the Buckeyes to a national championship and a 7-0 record against archrival Michigan in “The Game.”
Whittingham’s tenure with the Wolverines will be judged at least in part on how his teams fare against Ohio State in their annual rivalry clash. Michigan had won four consecutive games against the Buckeyes before a 27-9 loss last month in Ann Arbor.
Asked whether he dislikes Ohio State, Whittingham said “I do now” with a smile.