For the second time in a row, Michigan had to make its head coaching hire at an inopportune time. First, it was because of the departure of Jim Harbaugh after a national championship win. The Wolverines couldn’t make a hire until Jan. 26, 2024, after Harbaugh left for the NFL The program eventually promoted offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore to head coach. 

Now, after Moore’s personal scandal that embroiled the athletic department, the Wolverines were without a coach well into December. 

Michigan needed a stabilizing force to help bring both the football program and athletic department back to respectability. By hiring future Hall of Famer Kyle Whittingham, Michigan has found an ideal coach to lead them through this turbulent era. 

Whittingham, 66, is one of the most successful coaches of this era. After taking over for Urban Meyer at Utah in 2005, he helped lead them from the Mountain West to the top of the Power Five. Whittingham has a 177-88 career record with two Pac-12 titles and a Mountain West crown.

Michigan hires Kyle Whittingham as former longtime Utah coach is tapped to lead Wolverines

David Cobb

Perhaps most important, Whittingham has a spotless reputation during his standout career. His teams have featured few scandals and strong team cultures. At Michigan, he will provide a veteran, experienced hand — a direct contrast to the foibles of the Moore era. And in both the short and long term, it will pay dividends. 

Whittingham helped lead a turnaround from 5-7 to 10-2 at Utah this season, spearheaded by a stacked offensive line. The defense remained an elite unit. The Utes just had the misfortune of playing the two best teams in the conference — BYU and Texas Tech. If they missed one, there’s a solid chance they would have been in the College Football Playoff. 

Now at Michigan, Whittingham will have more resources to win than any moment in legendary career. The Wolverines managed to pull No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood to the program last year with a massive contract. Even after middling seasons, Moore managed to put together back-to-back top 11 recruiting classes. 

While Whittingham has never recruited at the most elite of the elite levels, he helped the Utes push into the top 25 national level. Even in his final Class of 2026, Whittingham helped land two top 100 recruits. With the monetary backing of Michigan, he should be able to swim in deeper waters. 

Whittingham is already backchanneling with some of the top assistant coaches in college football. Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck and BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill are both targets for Whittingham in Ann Arbor, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. Both would be game-changing additions to the Big Ten. 

Additionally, Whittingham is proven enough that the administrative questions swirling around Michigan will be a non-factor. The university does not have a permanent president, and athletic director Warde Manuel is under fire after repeated scandals in the athletic department. That same department is also undergoing a major outside review; Whittingham is a strong enough culture-setter that he will not be distracted by the noise. 

Granted, the hire of Whittingham is a short-term decision. While Whittingham is more motivated to coach at 66 than even he expected, few coaches in college football coach past 70. Even now, Whittingham becomes the third-oldest coach in major college football, only behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and North Carolina’s Bill Belichick. 

Over the offseason, Utah mutually decided to move on from Whittingham and promote coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley to the head job. Whittingham hinted for years that he was close to retirement, and Scalley was first named coach-in-waiting all the way back in 2019. Finally, after six years, Utah decided to pull the trigger. Eventually, Michigan may have to do the same. 

However, three of the last four coaches at Michigan failed to make it through four full seasons. Those three coaches combined for only one 10-win season. Three good seasons from Whittingham would be far more welcome than taking a chance on a lesser coach and setting the program back. 

And when looking around the market, there were few obvious prospects available. Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham both publicly announced they were returning. Louisville’s Jeff Brohm was not seriously involved in the process, according to multiple reports. Several others signed long-term extensions, like Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea and BYU’s Kalani Sitake. 

Michigan hired a Hall of Fame coach to help shepherd them into the next era of the program. Even if it’s a short-term solution, it’s the perfect one for this moment.