- Kyle Whittingham announced his retirement from Utah coaching on Dec. 18.
- Whittingham's disciplined style could restore Michigan's troubled football program after recent scandals.
- His talent identification and winning record make him an attractive coaching candidate.
SALT LAKE CITY — Kyle Whittingham told the truth, as he most always did for two decades, even if the one-liner drew a surprise.
"I'm in the transfer portal," Whittingham flatly stated after Utah's football practice on Dec. 18, five days after announcing he was quitting as the head coach.
The phrase, which has turned college sports into a one-season transactional commitment, prompted chuckles from the assembled media but also provided insight into the coach's thought process. As he put it, Whittingham was "at peace" leaving Utah, but the figurative hand in the back was not forceful enough to make him retire.
That passion is exactly the reason Michigan is getting an accomplished coach capable of restoring a national program that has run amok the last few years. In shambles following the tawdry developments involving fired coach Sherrone Moore, the Maize and Blue needs precisely what Whittingham brings.
Putting aside his coaching acumen for a second, a Whittingham-led program provides stability and consistency. He lives the term "no nonsense," never wavering from the standard that led to him becoming the winningest coach in Utah history.
Michigan's shenanigans extend beyond Moore's alleged lurid behavior that reportedly involved an inappropriate relationship with a female staff employee. Moore and his predecessor Jim Harbaugh faced multiple suspensions for competitive infractions.
"It's been five years of a malfunctioning organization. Let's call it what it is. It's happened every year," Michigan's current interim coach Biff Poggi said last week.
Accounting for Poggi's harsh assessment, Whittingham is Mr. Clean compared to Michigan's recent standard. About the biggest scandal he had was the cameras catching his loose tongue during moments in games, an indiscretion his mother chided him to fix.
Forget about the evils of the flesh that have beguiled several coaches over the years. Whittingham is a doting grandfather, married to his Provo High sweetheart for more than 40 years.
In a coaching career spanning four decades, he will gleefully recite that one of his greatest accomplishments was staying put in the same neighborhood to allow his four children the ability to each attend the same elementary, intermediate and high schools. He moved out of the Brighton High area to be closer to the Utah campus only after his children moved on to college.
Let's face it — off the field Whittingham is boring. About his only vice is a harmless wager on the golf course.
But be real here, Michigan's interest in Whittingham isn't only because he's a Mr. Goody Two Shoes. He is a winner, as two Pac-12 championships and an undefeated team that beat Nick Saban's Alabama in the Sugar Bowl proves.
As Guy Holliday, one of his former coaches described him on social media, Whittingham is a "Tough, hard-nosed competitor who is discipline and believes in team. He has a Big Ten attitude — punch you in the mouth on offense and relentless defense. They poked the bear (and) now he is up."
Imagine the possibilities at Michigan, a program flush with the resources on par with the game's high rollers. High achievers with all those recruiting stars attached to their names will flock to Ann Arbor.
Whittingham always had a keen eye for projecting ability, capable of taking less heralded players out of high school and putting them in the NFL. As his former BYU teammate Tom Holmoe said last week, Whittingham scouts for talent through different lenses.
"The point I'm trying to make is one of his greatest attributes as a coach is he is a great identifier of talent," Holmoe said. "He can see things in guys that other people can't."
The enormous possibility at Michigan also turns up the heat on Utah's program. Athletic director Mark Harlan will face hordes of criticism if his hand-picked successor Morgan Scalley does not continue the football success Whittingham achieved.
Even if Whittingham's potential tenure at Michigan is brief, at age 66, it's obvious he wanted to continue coaching. There's also the probable circumstance that he will pluck coaches off the staffs of BYU and Utah
