With Utah up and Michigan middling, the Utes appear to have won the Kyle Whittingham divorce

For the last few years of Kyle Whittingham’s tenure at Utah, a consensus had formed around the idea that the program was operating more or less at optimum capacity. Despite a couple years that were derailed by injury hiccups at quarterback, it had pretty much been a solid string of 9- and 10-win seasons. How much better than that could Utah really expect? It’s why there was so much confusion last December when Whittingham stepped down after 21 seasons in a move that felt an awful lot like the school pushing him out the door. And also why, when Michigan hired him two weeks later at age 66, many in the media hailed it as a brilliant move that would instantly stabilize and upgrade what had been a chaotic coaching situation under Sherrone Moore. But at this stage of the season, it’s looking and more like most of us had the wrong read on the situation. With Utah leading the Big 12 at 7-0 under Morgan Scalley and Michigan stumbling around offensively to the point where Whittingham is facing significant criticism locally, Utah might have already won the divorce.“It’s great,” Whittingham told reporters this week. “We left them with a lot of good players and there’s good coaches there and couldn’t be more happy, thrilled, elated that they’re doing so well. I mean, I know all those guys. We recruited all those guys — well, most of them — obviously was a portal cycle that we weren’t involved with, but no surprise to me. They got good players and they’re playing at a high level.”Whittingham is genial enough that he may be sincere about his happiness for Utah. But it’s also no secret that the separation was contentious, with a standoff between a longtime coach who wanted a raise and a university eager to execute a transition plan that had been in place since Scalley, the former defensive coordinator, was named “head coach in waiting” on July 1, 2024. Kyle Whittingham went 177-88 in 21 seasons as Utah's head coach. He's 4-3 at Michigan. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)Gregory Shamus via Getty ImagesThe wrench in those plans came when Whittingham got the Michigan job and began the process of taking a handful of players and coaches with him, disrupting what was supposed to be a “smooth and successful transition” as outlined in a separation agreement that called for him to be paid $13.5 million in installments over two years. “The university felt that your involvement with recruiting our football coaches and staff to Michigan was contrary to the terms of your employment agreement,” athletic director Mark Harlan wrote in a January letter to Whittingham and reported by Yahoo Sports in March. In retrospect, though, why did Utah sweat any of that? Because regardless of who left, the entire world can see now that the Utes became a better football team and a much more entertaining product the moment Whittingham walked out the door.“I did not want to be that guy that overstayed his welcome and people just saying, ‘Hey, when’s this guy going to leave?’” Whittingham said back in December. "That was not my intention ever, and I hope I didn’t do that. I’m sure with some people think I did do that, but to me the timing is right.”Situations where those closest to the program know that it’s time for a new voice are always tricky when a successful, longtime coach doesn’t want to leave. That’s especially true at schools where a coach-in-waiting has already been identified. Put yourself in the shoes of an administration that knows the program isn’t operating at maximum capacity but can’t really say that publicly and can’t do much to force the transition short of a firing or some kind of confrontation that will undoubtedly get messy. Meanwhile, every year that a retirement gets put off, you risk the entire plan getting blown up by another school making a big offer. (One of the most famous examples was Will Muschamp being named Mack Brown’s eventual successor at Texas near the end of the 2008 season, then taking the Florida job a couple years later because there was no concrete timetable for Brown to walk away.)From that standpoint, Utah speeding things along looks prescient where maybe in December it was largely interpreted as risky and even ungrateful coming off a 10-2 season. Just look at the results. While Utah had not exactly played a stout schedule until last weekend when it beat Houston, 21-13, you’re looking at a team that is putting up big offensive numbers under first-year coordinator Kevin McGiven despite having to completely rebuild a dominant offensive line.Meanwhile, Whittingham was fielding questions this week in Ann Arbor about about whether he would consider firing Jason Beck, the offensive coordinator he brought with him. Michigan currently ranks 17th in the Big Ten in scoring (20.3 points), 11th in rushing and a disastrous 18th in passing. It’s hard to determine how much of the fault lies with Whittingham and Beck. They came into a situation where Bryce Underwood was already in place at quarterback after signing a massive NIL deal coming out of high school. Underwood struggled under the previous coach staff and this one, to the point where Michigan has made a switch to Tommy Carr, who was playing down the road at Saline High School a year ago. That’s not an easy dynamic for anyone to walk into.But the larger concern is whether Whittingham fully grasps the urgency of situation he’s in at this stage of his career. After losing to Indiana 13-6 last weekend, Whittingham said: “If that's the No. 6 team in the country, then we're pretty good. We're a pretty good football team, even though we're sitting here at, what, 4-3.” He’s defended Beck, referencing Utah’s offensive success last year with quarterback Devon Dampier who — wouldn’t you know it — is powering an excellent offense once again for the Utes. And then at a news conference Monday, Whittingham said: “I don’t think it’s time to panic. We’re two or three plays away from 6-1 or 7-0, but primarily due to our defense.”There are many jobs where a coach can say those things and a fan base will buy into it. Michigan is not one of those places. While Whittingham was hired in large part to be the adult in the room after the program was running out of control, there is also an urgency to win that his comments do not fully reflect. Yes, Michigan is a handful of plays from a much better record. It’s also a handful of plays (and a clock issue against Western Michigan) from being 1-6. The Wolverines are netting out exactly where they should be with a great defense and a dysfunctional offense: Mediocre. Of course, we are still in small sample territory with all of this. Despite some hot-seat chatter popping up this week, it would be shocking if Michigan didn’t bring Whittingham back next season, particularly because the school is in the middle of an athletic director search. With an offseason to address some issues, there’s a world where they build something interesting around Carr next season. It’s also possible Utah won’t look as good now that it’s in the meat of the schedule, with a trip to Cincinnati this weekend, a high-stakes matchup with BYU the next Saturday followed by a tough road game at Arizona. But at least for now, Utah is showing college football that when it comes to the sensitive matter of replacing a program legend, making the tough decision a year too early might be better than waiting a year too late.