Michigan has found its next head coach, as the Wolverines are hiring former Utah Utes coach Kyle Whittingham to a five-year deal, per Yahoo Sports and ESPN.
The new pact is 75% guaranteed and includes an average of $8.2 million per year, with Whittingham expected to make an $8 million salary in 2026, according to ESPN.
Whittingham announced earlier this month his plans to step down after Utah’s bow game vs. Nebraska – the Las Vegas Bowl is set for Dec. 31 – following his multi-decade tenure with the program. But he joked at the time that he wasn’t retiring and instead merely entering the transfer portal. With the actual transfer portal opening up on Jan. 2 and Michigan still without a head coach, the timing of the hiring worked out for both parties.
Whittingham will be leaving Utah to be at the Citrus Bowl, where Michigan will play against Texas, according to FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman.
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The 66-year-old Whittingham began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at BYU in 1985 after playing as a linebacker in college for BYU before a brief stop in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams in 1987. He also played in the United States Football League and Canadian Football League before devoting himself entirely to coaching. He served as the defensive coordinator for Eastern Utah, the special teams and linebackers coach for Idaho State before becoming the defensive coordinator in 1992. He then joined Utah’s coaching staff as the defensive line coach in 1994 and moved on to defensive coordinator before becoming the head coach in 2005.
Whittingham has a 177-88 lifetime record in the NCAA, and the Utes were 11-6 in bowl games during his time leading them. He brought Utah the Mountain West Conference championship in 2008, back-to-back Pac-12 championships in 2021 and 2022 and four Pac-12 division championships in 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Whittingham received Coach of the Year honors in both the Mountain West and the Pac-12 and is the all-time leader in wins for Utah.
The Wolverines – who have had nine different head coaches, including interim coaches during Whittingham’s tenure with Utah – had been targeting Whittingham surely because of his continued success with Utah, whether in the Mountain West, Pac-12 or Big 12. There’s also his ability to build Utah into a strong program, despite a lack of relative resources compared with bigger football schools, like the one he’s now taking over.
“Kyle Whittingham is exactly what Michigan needs as a program right now,” FOX Sports College Football Analyst Robert Griffin III posted to X in reponse to the news. “Runs a disciplined program with an edge to it. Is a defense first coach who will play complimentary football. Eager to prove he isn’t done winning. Sounds like what Michigan itself needs.”
Michigan’s previous coach, Sherrone Moore, was fired for cause on Dec. 10 following an investigation about an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Following his firing, Moore was charged with three crimes, including home invasion.
“U-M head football coach Sherrone Moore has been terminated, with cause, effective immediately,” athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement. “Following a University investigation, credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”
Moore, who was in his second season with Michigan, was suspended for two games in 2025 as part of self-imposed sanctions for NCAA violations related to an advanced scouting scandal. The NCAA added a third game to the suspension, which was to keep Moore off the sideline for next year’s opener against Western Michigan. Moore previously deleted his entire 52-message text thread on his personal phone with former staffer Connor Stallions, who led the team’s sign-stealing operation for the program. The texts were later recovered and shared with the NCAA.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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