Here's what various college football pundits are writing (and saying) about Michigan football's Kyle Whittingham hiring on Friday.
Michigan football has its new coach, in Kyle Whittingham.
The longtime Utah boss – who departs Salt Lake City as the Utes' winningest coach ever – has a five-year deal with the Wolverines, for a reported $8.2 million per year, with 75% guaranteed. For some perspective, that paycheck last season would have made Whittingham the seventh-highest paid coach ... in the Big Ten (per USA TODAY's coaching salary database), behind Ohio State's Ryan Day, USC's Lincoln Riley, Oregon's Dan Lanning, Nebraska's Matt Rhule, now-fired James Franklin of Penn State and Indiana's Curt Cignetti, and tied with Illinois' Bret Bielema.
Will U-M regret shelling out for Willingham? Here's what various pundits are writing (and saying) about the hiring:
Gordon Monson, Salt Lake Tribune
More than a few folks in Salt Lake City are bummed to lose Whittingham:
Whittingham is as sharp and savvy as he’s ever been. And Michigan is fully aware. He’s 66, not 86. He knows how to win, and what he knows is a snug fit for Big Ten football. He’s tough, tough-minded, but with the smooth, worn edges and wisdom that 21 years as top dawg at Utah taught him. ...
And Whittingham, when the job’s done in Ann Arbor, can then retire, can go spend time with his grandkids, having satisfied his craving to coach for a few more years, and walk away with … what, $30 million more than he had before? Sure, Whittingham already has more cash than he’ll ever spend, but those grandkids will likely appreciate what’s handed down to them — in the form of both money and opportunity — by way of his extra effort in Michigan.
Dan Wolken, Yahoo! Sports
Michigan fans worried about the advanced age of Whittingham, who will be 66 when the 2026 season starts – the oldest Michigan football coach in decades, if not ever – and just a shade over 72 when his five-year deal ends in 2031, should take heart from Wolken:
It’s understandable if Michigan fans are wary of the high-profile older guy making one last move. It hasn’t worked out with either Mack Brown or Bill Belichick at North Carolina, didn’t work for LSU with Brian Kelly and didn’t work for UCF recently with Gus Malzahn.
But it would be a shock if Whittingham, of all people, treats this opportunity like a highly paid semi-retirement gig. After being at the same school since 1994, having this unexpected opportunity at the end of his career to coach at a place with almost unlimited resources would surely invigorate him.
And it’s not like Whittingham was tailing off in the first place. Utah made back-to-back Rose Bowls in 2021 and 2022. Yes, the combined 13-12 record over the subsequent two years was ugly, but it was mostly the product of bad injury luck at the quarterback position. Utah bouncing back with a 10-2 record this year showed definitively that Whittingham could still get it done in the transfer portal/NIL era.
Blake Toppemeyer, USA TODAY
Toppemeyer, who pushed for Louisville's Jeff Brohm just a few days ago, didn't quite give this hire top marks, but he did hand out a B-, writing:
Michigan upgraded. It’s hiring a better coach than the one it fired.
The Wolverines booted a national disgrace in Moore. In finalizing a deal with Whittingham, it lands a career winner. He’s a portrait of stability for a university that needs scandals to subside.
Yes, indeed, Whittingham’s an upgrade on Moore.
He’s just not the home run that a couple of other apparent targets could have been.
Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports
Is the founder of Barstool Sports – a big enough fan of the Wolverines to get dropped from the set of Fox's Columbus-based pregame show for Ohio State's opener vs. Texas this season – a pundit? He certainly has an opinion on the hire, posting a video on Facebook:
Michigan hires Kyle Whittingham and just like that the kings of college football are back on top! What a spectacular hire!
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football Kyle Whittingham hire called 'snug fit for Big Ten'
Category: General Sports
