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Kyle Whittingham, head coach at Utah and Michigan
Photo: Bobak Ha’Eri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kyle Whittingham

Kyle Whittingham went 181–⁠90 as a head coach, 2004–⁠2026, at Utah and Michigan. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 3–⁠2); by them his record is 180–⁠90.

Record
181–⁠90 career
Seasons
23
Schools
2
Final AP top 10
2 seasons
Born
Nov 21, 1959
Alma mater
BYU 1984
Best season
2008 13–⁠0, No. 2

Season by season

Wins and losses each seasonfinal AP rank above★ national titleline: the team’s Elo at season’s end, best 1769 in 2008
SeasonSchoolRecordConference finishBowlAP final
2004Utah co-head coach, bowl game1–⁠0Fiesta Bowl W5
2005Utah7–⁠5T–4thEmerald Bowl W
2006Utah8–⁠5T–3rdArmed Forces Bowl W
2007Utah9–⁠4T–3rdPoinsettia Bowl W
2008Utah13–⁠01stSugar Bowl W2
2009Utah10–⁠33rdPoinsettia Bowl W18
2010Utah10–⁠32ndMaaco Bowl Las Vegas L23
2011Utah8–⁠5T–3rd (South)Sun Bowl W
2012Utah5–⁠75th (South)
2013Utah5–⁠75th (South)
2014Utah9–⁠45th (South)Las Vegas Bowl W21
2015Utah10–⁠3T–1st (South)Las Vegas Bowl W17
2016Utah9–⁠43rd (South)Foster Farms Bowl W23
2017Utah7–⁠65th (South)Heart of Dallas Bowl W
2018Utah9–⁠51st (South)Holiday Bowl L
2019Utah11–⁠31st (South)Alamo Bowl L16
2020Utah3–⁠23rd (South)
2021Utah10–⁠41st (South)Rose Bowl L12
2022Utah10–⁠4T–2ndRose Bowl L10
2023Utah8–⁠5T–4thLas Vegas Bowl L
2024Utah5–⁠7T–13th
2025Utah coached 12 of 13 games10–⁠23rd
2026Michigan4–⁠2 (Wikipedia: 3–⁠2)

Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.

Players he coached

Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

How his teams did

Kind of gameGamesRecord
Against ranked teams6627–⁠39
Against top-10 teams227–⁠15
Against rivals5739–⁠18
Conference games183111–⁠72
Bowls and playoffs1711–⁠6
Decided by 8 points or fewer10256–⁠46
At home133101–⁠32
On the road11767–⁠50
At neutral sites2113–⁠8
As our Elo’s favorite203151–⁠52
As our Elo’s underdog6830–⁠38

His own 271 games on file, 2004–⁠2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.

Against other head coaches

CoachRecordTheir schoolsGames
Bronco Mendenhall 2005–⁠20157–⁠3BYU10
Rich Rodriguez 2008–⁠20254–⁠4Michigan, Arizona, West Virginia8
Chris Petersen 2006–⁠20192–⁠6Boise State, Washington8
Mike MacIntyre 2010–⁠20186–⁠1San José State, Colorado7
Kalani Sitake 2016–⁠20254–⁠3BYU7
Todd Graham 2011–⁠20173–⁠4Pittsburgh, Arizona State7
David Shaw 2013–⁠20225–⁠1Stanford6
Chip Kelly 2009–⁠20234–⁠2Oregon, UCLA6
Gary Patterson 2005–⁠20103–⁠3TCU6
Mike Riley 2007–⁠20143–⁠3Oregon State6

Kyle Whittingham’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.

Most-faced opponents

OpponentGamesRecord
BYUseries1711–⁠6
Coloradoseries1512–⁠3
UCLAseries1510–⁠5
Arizonaseries148–⁠6
Arizona Stateseries147–⁠7
USCseries147–⁠7
Oregon Stateseries138–⁠5
Oregonseries124–⁠8

National coaching awards

The awards

How he was hired

  • Hired by Utah for the 2005 season from Utah, where he was defensive coordinator. He had a prior connection to the school.

Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.

Career

YearsTeamJob
1985–⁠86BYUGraduate assistant
1987Eastern UtahDefensive coordinator
1988–⁠91Idaho StateSpecial teams coordinator and linebackers coach
1992–⁠93Idaho StateDefensive coordinator
1994UtahDefensive line coach
1995–⁠96UtahDefensive coordinator and safeties coach
1997UtahDefensive coordinator and linebackers coach
1998–⁠2000UtahDefensive coordinator and safeties coach
2001–⁠04UtahDefensive coordinator and linebackers coach
2004UtahHead coach
2005–⁠25UtahHead coach
2026–presentMichiganHead coach

Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included. Head-coaching seasons the infobox leaves out come from our records.

Coaching tree

Worked under

Kyle Whittingham

Assistants who became head coaches

Worked under (4)
Head coachTeamYearsHis job
LaVell EdwardsBYU1985–⁠86Graduate assistant
Garth HallIdaho State1988–⁠91Special teams coordinator and linebackers coach
Ron McBrideUtah1994–⁠20021994: defensive line coach; 1995–⁠2000: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; 1997–⁠2002: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach
Urban MeyerUtah2003–⁠04Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach
Coached under him, later head coaches (13)
CoachWith himHead coach at
Billy GonzalesUtah, 2004: special teams coordinator and wide receivers coachFlorida
Dan MullenUtah, 2004: quarterbacks coachMississippi State, Florida, UNLV
Gary AndersenUtah, 2004: defensive line coach; 2005–⁠08: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach; 2018: assistant head coach and defensive assistantUtah State, Wisconsin, Oregon State, Southern Utah
Jay HillUtah, 2004: AA; 2005–⁠06: cornerbacks coach and co-STC; 2007–⁠09, 2013: tight ends coach and special teams coordinator; 2010–⁠11: cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator; 2012: running backs coach and special teams coordinator; Michigan, 2026: defensive coordinatorWeber State
Mike Sanford Sr.Utah, 2004: offensive coordinator and running backs coachUNLV, Indiana State
Kalani SitakeUtah, 2005–⁠08: linebackers coach; 2009–⁠11: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2012–⁠14: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coachBYU
Morgan ScalleyUtah, 2007: graduate assistant; 2008: safeties coach; 2009–⁠14: safeties coach and recruiting coordinator; 2015: special teams and safeties coach and recruiting coordinator; 2016–⁠25: defensive coordinator and safeties coachUtah
Norm ChowUtah, 2011: offensive coordinatorHawai’i
Dennis EricksonUtah, 2013: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2014–⁠16: assistant head coach and running backs coachWyoming, Washington State, Miami, Oregon State, Idaho, Arizona State, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Salt Lake Stallions
Dave ChristensenUtah, 2014: offensive coordinator and tight ends coachWyoming, Spokane Falls
Troy TaylorUtah, 2017–⁠18: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coachStanford, Sacramento State
Brian KnorrMichigan, 2026: assistant special teamsOhio
Kerry CoombsMichigan, 2026: special teams coordinatorCincinnati
Other assistants under him (20)
CoachWith him
Chuck HeaterUtah, 2004: cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator
John HevesyUtah, 2004: offensive line coach
Kurt BarberUtah, 2004: linebackers coach
Aaron RoderickUtah, 2005–⁠09, 2011: wide receivers coach; 2010: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2012–⁠13: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2014: quarterbacks coach; 2015–⁠16: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Andy LudwigUtah, 2005–⁠08, 2019–⁠24: offensive coordinator
Dave SchrammUtah, 2005–⁠08: running backs coach and recruiting coordinator; 2009: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2010: co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; 2011: running backs coach
Derrick OdumUtah, 2005–⁠07: defensive backs coach
Ilaisa TuiakiUtah, 2008: graduate assistant; 2012: fullbacks and tight ends coach; 2013–⁠14: defensive line coach
Blake MillerUtah, 2009–⁠10: offensive line coach
John PeaseUtah, 2009–⁠10: assistant head coach and defensive line coach; 2015: defensive coordinator and defensive line coach
Brian JohnsonUtah, 2012: offensive coordinator; 2013: co-offensive coordinator
Jim HardingUtah, 2015–⁠16: co-offensive coordinator
Justin EnaUtah, 2015: linebackers coach; 2016–⁠18: co-special teams coordinator and linebackers coach
Colton SwanUtah, 2019–⁠25: linebackers coach
Ryan LindleyUtah, 2020: offensive analyst
Bret IngallsUtah, 2021: offensive assistant
Mike BajakianUtah, 2024: offensive analyst; 2024: interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Jason BeckUtah, 2025: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Michigan, 2026: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Fred JacksonMichigan, 2026: assistant running backs
Tyler StocktonMichigan, 2026: safeties coach

From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.

Pay

YearSchoolJobContract payState payroll
2025Utahhead coach$2,972,350
2024Utahhead coach$5,254,400
2023Utahhead coach$5,460,800
2022Utahhead coach$5,367,048
2021Utahhead coach$5,574,379
2020Utahhead coach$4,709,137
2019Utahhead coach$5,260,684
2018Utahhead coach$4,322,917
2017Utahhead coachbonuses up to $935,000; $330,833 in bonuses paid; buyout $12,250,000$3,687,917 USA Today
2016Utahhead coachbonuses up to $935,000; $334,167 in bonuses paid$3,650,000 USA Today$4,005,833
2015Utahhead coachbonuses up to $935,000; $195,000 in bonuses paid$2,600,000 USA Today
2014Utahhead coachbonuses up to $740,000$2,200,000 USA Today$2,662,500
2013Utahhead coachbonuses up to $740,000$2,427,100 USA Today via Leeds
2012Utahhead coachbonuses up to $740,000$2,000,000 USA Today via Leeds
2011Utahhead coachbonuses up to $740,000$1,700,000 USA Today via Leeds

USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–⁠17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.

The same USA Today database for 2006–⁠16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.

Transparent Utah: wages and incentive awards paid in the fiscal year from July to June, shown against the season inside it; benefits left out.

Contract pay and the state payroll differ by design: one is the season’s contract, the other what the state paid in a calendar or fiscal year, so a December hire’s short first year, bonuses and camp money paid as special payments, and pay that ran on after he left all show in the payroll.

Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.

How he coached

Whittingham’s teams went for it on 21% of fourth downs and on 37% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 46% of plays and took 26.4 seconds a play, 2005–⁠2026.

SeasonSchoolWent for it on fourthWhen the model said goPass rateSeconds a playEPA a play
2005 12 gUtah19 of 99 19%40%48%24.00.00
2006 12 gUtah18 of 88 20%29%51%25.4−0.05
2007 13 gUtah22 of 115 19%38%45%24.3−0.10
2008 13 gUtah15 of 94 16%30%48%26.4+0.04
2009 13 gUtah18 of 112 16%25%48%26.6−0.07
2010 13 gUtah17 of 88 19%36%50%25.1+0.01
2011 13 gUtah16 of 109 15%31%45%26.5−0.15
2012 12 gUtah26 of 100 26%34%47%26.7−0.08
2013 12 gUtah18 of 117 15%25%46%23.3−0.02
2014 13 gUtah12 of 119 10%20%44%24.2−0.05
2015 13 gUtah23 of 109 21%43%41%27.2−0.01
2016 13 gUtah22 of 120 18%47%44%26.2−0.02
2017 13 gUtah19 of 104 18%26%49%25.6−0.01
2018 14 gUtah20 of 111 18%38%45%24.8−0.03
2019 14 gUtah26 of 85 31%48%39%31.1+0.15
2020 5 gUtah11 of 38 29%50%47%28.2−0.02
2021 14 gUtah24 of 82 29%47%44%27.0+0.16
2022 14 gUtah27 of 77 35%61%46%27.6+0.15
2023 13 gUtah28 of 102 27%50%40%29.1−0.03
2024 12 gUtah20 of 105 19%35%51%29.4−0.10
2025 13 gUtah26 of 77 34%47%41%24.6+0.23
2026 6 gMichigan7 of 40 18%40%42%28.9+0.06
All 270 g434 of 2091 21%37%46%26.40.00

His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.