Kyle Whittingham brought plenty of energy on four-hours’ sleep Sunday when he was introduced as Michigan’s football coach, saying it was one of five jobs that could bring him out of a short retirement and offering no hesitation about joining a program in the midst of cultural chaos.And after 21 years as the head coach of Utah, the 66-year-old Whittingham answered perhaps the most important question: Does he dislike Ohio State or will he have to learn?”I do now,” said Whittingham, who was defensive coordinator for two years at Utah under Urban Meyer, who went on to win a national title at Ohio State. “I’m on the right side of the deal now.”Whittingham said he met with Michigan players Saturday night and will be at the Citrus Bowl for Wednesday’s game against Texas to observe, evaluate and “try to stay out of the way.”Bill Poggi was tabbed as the interim head coach for the game against the 14th-ranked Longhorns.Whittingham was the second-longest tenured coach at a Power 4 school behind Kirk Ferentz at Iowa. The Utes had eight seasons of at least 10 wins and went 177-88 during his tenure.He steps into a Michigan program in disarray, most recently the Dec. 10 firing of coach Sherrone Moore over an extramarital relationship with a staffer. Moore was arrested later that day and charged with three crimes for barging into the woman’s home and threatening to kill himself.Michigan also was involved in a signal-stealing scandal in 2023 during its run to a national title that led to the football program being put on probation, which athletic director Warde Manuel has said will cost the department more than $30 million in penalties.Matt Weiss, who previously shared offensive coordinator duties with Moore at Michigan, was charged with hacking into the computer accounts of thousands of college athletes to find intimate images. He was fired in January 2023.That led Poggi, who was a candidate for the Michigan job, to say last week, “It has been five years, let’s just call it a malfunctioning organization. I know the athletic director has made very clear he doesn’t want any more of that.”Whittingham, who left Utah on Dec. 12, said none of that affected his interest in Michigan when it called or led to questions during the interview process.”I didn’t have any hesitation,” Whittingham said. “There are some issues, missteps, that are being taken care of. The key is the players here are rock solid. None of those issues involve players. To their credit, they kept playing….
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2025-12-28 19:39:22
