Michigan gets it right with Kyle Whittingham
Whittingham boasts a lot of the same characteristics of Jim Harbaugh ... minus all of the drama
When Urban Meyer retired in 2019 after going 7-0 against Michigan, Jim Harbaugh had this to say to reporter Tim Kawakami:
“Urban Meyer’s had a winning record. Really phenomenal record everywhere he’s been. But also, controversy follows everywhere he’s been.”
Now the Wolverines are turning to a former Meyer assistant to clean up the mess that Harbaugh left behind in Ann Arbor.
Kyle Whittingham is set to become the next head coach at Michigan, sources tell The Inside Zone. The school will turn to a 66-year-old, dyed-in-the-wool football guy to re-set the program and start a new chapter in the history of the sport’s all-time winningest program.
ESPN first reported the expected completion of the deal.
Is it risky to hire a guy who is old enough to collect social security benefits? Well, the last guy the Wolverines tabbed as their head coach was a 37-year-old light on experience and in-over-his-head. And he still managed to produce a 9-win football team this season.
So no, this isn’t risky, not by today’s standards. There’s no such thing as a bulletproof hire anymore in an era as transient as this one, but you probably won’t have to worry about off-field problems with a Whittingham-led program. And the man can flat-out coach, having taken Utah to a 10-2 record this season, his eighth season with 10 or more wins. Those campaigns have come in the Mountain West, the old Pac-12 and the new Big 12.
