The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 11 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL sensible," with an "A- or B+" grade. "He's 66-years-old, and the 'chip- on-shoulder hard-ass takes over a roster of blue-chippers' thing doesn't always translate particularly well," Connelly explained. "But when you have to un- expectedly fire your head coach after a lot of vacancies have already been filled (and after a lot of potential candidates have signed lucrative extensions), you could do a lot worse than a guy with two decades' worth of head coaching experi- ence and 177 career wins at a school that doesn't typically win at that level." No. 12 Is where Whittingham checked in on ESPN's list of the top college head coaches as players, given that he was named WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 1981 and spent time at the professional level. He stood behind only Colorado's De- ion Sanders, Bowling Green's Eddie George, Tennessee's Josh Heupel, Texas' Steve Sarkisian, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, UCLA's DeShaun Foster, Michi- gan State's Jonathan Smith, UAB's Trent Dilfer, UCF's Scott Frost, South Ala- bama's Major Applewhite and Hawai'i's Timmy Chang. 13-0 Record for Utah in 2008, capped off by a 31-17 vic- tory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. That stands as one of two undefeated sea- sons in Utes history, and the 13 wins are the most the program has ever achieved. Four seasons after going 12-0 under Ur- ban Meyer in 2004, Whittingham proved that Utah wasn't going anywhere. 18 Winning seasons in 21 years at Utah, with eight double-digit campaigns. He had 10 consecutive win- ning seasons from 2014-23, before going 5-7 in 2024 and bouncing back with 10 regular-season victories in 2025. 32 Seasons at Utah, including 21 as the head coach from 2005- 25. Whittingham has coached in only two states — Utah and Idaho. He got his start as a graduate assistant at BYU from 1985-86, before moving on as the defen- sive coordinator at Eastern Utah (1987) and in multiple roles at Idaho State (1988-93). He joined the Utah staff as defensive line coach in 1994 and didn't leave until stepping down and taking the Michigan job. Before leaving Utah, he was the second-longest actively tenured head coach in college football, behind only Iowa's Kirk Ferentz. 60 NFL Draft picks for Utah dur- ing Whittingham's tenure as head coach. He produced six first-round picks — DT Star Lotulelei in 2013 (No. 14 overall, Carolina Panthers), OL Garrett Bolles in 2016 (No. 20, Denver Broncos), LB Devin Lloyd in 2022 (No. 27, Jackson- ville Jaguars), TE Dalton Kincaid in 2023 (No. 25, Buffalo Bills), and OL Spencer Fano (No. 9, Cleveland Browns) and Ca- leb Lomu (No. 28, New England Patriots) in 2026. 177-88 Record at Utah, mak- ing Whittingham the winningest head coach in program his- tory. His .668 winning percentage ranks second (25 or more games coached), behind only Ike Armstrong (.804 from 1925-49). His 177 wins are the third- most among active Power Four coaches, behind only Iowa's Kirk Ferentz (213) and Clemson's Dabo Swinney (187). 1959 Was when Kyle David Whittingham was born (Nov. 21) in his hometown of San Luis Obispo, Calif., to parents Fred and Nancy. 1984 Graduate of BYU, where Whittingham also earned a master's degree in 1987. 2019 National Coach of the Year, earning the Bobby Dodd Trophy. That was one of three national coach-of-the-year honors he has received in his career, also winning the AFCA and Bear Bryant awards in 2008. ❏ Whittingham went 3-0 against Michigan while leading the Utah Utes. He notched wins against three different U-M head coaches — Rich Rodriguez (25-23 in 2008), Brady Hoke (26-10 in 2014) and Jim Harbaugh (24-17 in 2015). PHOTO COURTESY UTAH ATHLETICS