24 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Right Man, Right Man,
Right Time Right Time
Kyle Whittingham Comes To Michigan
With Something To Prove
BY CHRIS BALAS
I
n his 21 years as Utah's football coach,
Kyle Whittingham earned the respect
of everybody in the game with whom
he crossed paths. His former players,
assistant coaches, even opponents had
nothing but good things to say about his
competitiveness, his teams' physicality,
and — most importantly — his integrity.
Yet, when Michigan was looking for a
new coach to replace Sherrone Moore,
who was fired with cause Dec. 10 follow-
ing an inappropriate relationship with a
staff member, Whittingham wasn't high
on many Wolverines fans' wish lists. It
wasn't for his lack of success or anything
to do with his coaching acumen, mind
you. He still appeared on most writers'
lists as a top-10 coach in the game after
leading the Utes to a 10-2 regular season
a year ago.
No, it was his age that had many won-
