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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham broke his silence to local media Thursday, a day after speaking to CBS Sports Radio about rumors circulating about his possible departure.
Whittingham told KSL Thursday that he's dedicated to the University of Utah and has always worked as hard as he could at any job he's had, including the head coach at the U.
“I know there was a lot of stuff out there apparently, but we’re all pulling in the same direction trying to continue this program in a positive direction, which we think we are,” Whittingham said. “I’m happy at Utah. This has been my home for 20 years now as a coach. Wherever I am you’re going to get my best shot. I’m not a guy that’s always the grass is greener, that’s not my style.”
Whittingham said he’s mostly been focused on recruiting and the upcoming season since his team beat Colorado State in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. He added that he hasn’t “paid hardly any attention” to the rumors and is “immersed in recruiting and staff hires and all the things that are going on in the program.”
“We feel very good right now where we’re at with our commit list and relative to when signing day is,” he said. “We have a few more spots to fill. We think we’ve put together a very good class, and if we could add a few more key players to that list then I think we’re going to come away with a very good group.”
Related:
Weber State's Hill withdraws name from Utah's defensive coordinator search
KSL has learned that Weber State head coach Jay Hill had discussions with Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham about the vacant defensive coordinator position.Whittingham said it was difficult to lose members of the coaching staff, but believes there are several worthy candidates, in-house and outside the program, to fill the various coaching vacancies.
“It’s hard to lose good coaches. That seems to happen most every year you lose a guy or two that was instrumental to your success, particularly following a year that was successful like last year was,” Whittingham said. “It’s not ideal to have to replace both coordinators in the same year, but we’ve done it before. In 2008 after the Sugar Bowl we lost both coordinators and our offensive line coach, so it’s not completely foreign to us.
“We’ll do our due diligence and search the entire pool of people that are interested and are expressing interest, as well as the coaches on our own staff,” he added. “We have very good coaches on this staff that are certainly candidates to be elevated to those coordinator positions as well.”
Weber State head coach Jay Hill told KSL Thursday he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the defensive coordinator position after several talks with the university.
He said Utah is set to give the oncoming coordinators a two-year contract, while assistant coaches will receive only a one-year contract.
“I don’t think it’s ever going to be a completely level playing field, in that regard,” Whittingham said. “We feel that this is a place that a lot of people want to be. It’s a Pac-12 school, is in a Power Five conference and we’ve been able to attract some pretty darn good coaches throughout the years.”
As to whether Whittingham would be getting a contract extension: “That’s something in the works. I don’t pay a lot of attention to that; that’s something that other people handle for me. There’s some negotiations going on and I’m optimistic we’ll be able to get something worked out.”
