Before he made his decision on whether to retire or stay on as Utah’s football coach, Kyle Whittingham said he would do “what’s best for the program.”
Now, after he declared he’s coming back, it’s impossible to absolutely know whether he’s doing what he said he’d do. Is his return really what’s best for Utah or is it what’s best for him? We’ll get to that in a minute.
There are a number of aspects to it.
The first is ego.
Whittingham didn’t become the Utes’ all-time-winningest football coach by being anybody’s man of straw. He’s the master of defense, not the master of diffidence. He’ll go when he wants to go. And, frankly, he’s earned that rare privilege and he’ll keep that privilege — unless what happened in 2024 becomes a habit. Going 2-7 in the Big 12 and finishing with a losing overall record is falling considerably short of the standard the coach himself has set for the Utes. It’s his own fault that what he and his team achieved this past season is considered untenable and unacceptable.
A lot of people guessed that Whittingham is too stubborn, too proud a person to step away after his team lost seven straight games and failed to clear a low bar that has descended into the realm of being meaningless — qualifying for a bowl game. Any team that’s worth a damn goes to a postseason bowl. The problem there is that the coach’s teams have lost five consecutive bowls. Two of them were Rose Bowls, so take that for what it’s worth. However it’s to be taken, Whittingham the Winner did not want to go out a loser, Whittingham the Warrior did not want to go out with a tear in his eye.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Gov. Spencer Cox greets University of Utah coach Kyle Whittingham before the start of their game agains Utah State on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Logan, Utah.
The second is money.
Whittingham has stacked up a financial portfolio that’s wider than his broad shoulders. He’s got investments of one sort or another spanning from Utah to Hawaii and back, enough to live out a life in grand style — and to do the same, if so inclined, for close family members. But — when it comes to money, there’s so often a but — there’s always more to be paid and made.
Over the next year, Whittingham will roll in excess of $7 million, and if his team performs at a high level, there are hundreds of thousands of dollars more in bonus rewards to reap. That’s hard to walk away from when you’re still fully mentally and soulfully engaged in your work, in the game that has become such a big part of your existence. And despite the disappointing results Utah gained in the most recent months gone by, Whittingham has had no brain drain, no mental decline of any kind. He hasn’t lost it. And if the Utes can find more ways to distribute ample NIL payouts, and do what the coach has always said is most important to winning — namely, recruit the right players — he’ll appear as astute and capable as he’s ever been. And astute and capable he most definitely remains.
The third is timing.
Morgan Scalley has already been named Utah’s head-coach-in-waiting. That was announced prior to last season and you have to wonder why that was the case. Was it because Whittingham really was on the verge of leaving, and he would have done exactly that had the Utes had the season everybody expected them to have? Was it to keep the recruiting pipeline flowing, intact and in place because many recruits, at least those with options, want to remove as much mystery and find as much certainty as they can when choosing a place to play; they want to know who’s in charge, what the boss’s tendencies and philosophies are and how that will affect them? And if folks figure the 65-year-old head coach is nearing the end of his career, what’s the next guy like? Well. Billy and Bubba and Brad and Brody, meet coach Scalley, he’s right here.
Now, with Whittingham returning, that gets dragged on a bit longer. Not only that, but there’s also a new offensive coordinator in town. Jason Beck, who came to Utah by way of Weber State, Simon Fraser, BYU, Virginia, Syracuse and New Mexico, will emphasize attacking all levels of the field, utilizing what Whittingham has always valued most in a quarterback — an athlete who can throw and run and, most importantly, make sound decisions. There aren’t thousands of those around, but if the Utes can find and settle on a really effective one, one that can stay healthy, and use him correctly, they’ll highlight him in their new attack.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham discusses a call by the official, in Big-12 football action between the Utes and the Arizona Wildcats at Rice-Eccles Stadium, on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.
With a fresh offense, it might have been a proper time to go with Scalley at the top of the pyramid, and not rehash all the will-he-or-won’t-he rigamarole with Whittingham. Instead, just turn a page now that everyone knows is on the brink of being turned anyway. Don’t extend the uncertainty by running back the old guard still in place. The irony there is rich, the fact that keeping what has been certain over the past two decades would somehow create uncertainty. Football can be funny that way.
The fourth is motivation.
We can all agree that Whittingham’s legacy is secure. His countenance is already carved up on the Ute mountain. Utah football has created an environment of which the coach is proud. It’s one of the first things he mentions when discussing that legacy — that the success has been stirred in a mix of football and family, and by family, he means a diverse collection of athletes from varying backgrounds, different religions and races and regions, all coming together to form a tight bond, a tight bond that wins.
When some outsiders say the Utes need a new culture, what with development being interrupted by transfers and players seeking what’s best for them rather than what’s best for the team, Whittingham might acknowledge some of that. It’s part of being real. But altering the program’s emphasis on getting the right player to the right position regardless of where he’s played before, and growing three-star athletes into college stars and thereafter into NFL prospects is a venture that needs no adjustment. Perhaps it just needs to happen quicker. Coaching in a hurry.
No way, though, does Whittingham reinvent himself at this point. He needs a quarterback and he openly says as much, admitting that that position is more critical than it’s ever been, the most important in all of team sports. We’ll see if incoming transfer Devon Dampier, a dual-threat last year at New Mexico, is the answer. Whittingham’s track record in growing guys there, grooming them into what they need to be, allowing and enabling them to flourish, has been spotty, with some successes and some failures. But he’s absolutely aware that in the Big 12, teams need to score points, a whole lot more than Utah put on the board this past season. So, there’s that.
But he’s not returning to just skate his way through. He’ll be fully engaged and driven to correct what went wrong last time around for the very reason that this time around really might be his last. And anyone who’s been tight with Kyle Whittingham through the years — whether he was 35 or 65 — knows he’s about as competitive a man as they’ve ever known. And that’s the real reason he sent out his recent notice:
“I’m back.”
Not simply because that’s what in its narrowest scope is best for the program, rather because it’s what’s best for him. And at its widest angle, right here, right now, he figures what’s best for him is what’s best for Utah football.
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