Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham, 66, is P4’s fourth-oldest hire since 2005

Whittingham, 66, is the Power Four school’s fourth-oldest hire since 2005.

When Kyle Whittingham began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Brigham Young in 1985, the man he would eventually replace as Michigan’s head football coach wasn’t even born.

On Friday, the Wolverines opted for an experienced hand Sherrone Moore’s stunning dismissal two weeks agolocking down Whittingham on a five-year contract. A 66-year-old man is fourth oldest coach to be hired at a Power Four school since 2005. Only Bill Belichick, 72; Bill Snyder, 70; and Mack Brown, 67, were older at the time of their hiring. Over the past 20 years, P4 schools have hired 17 coaches age 60 or older, for a 404-312 record.

Whittingham stepped down Dec. 12 after 21 seasons at Utah, but made it clear he wanted to coach again. He found a strong following at Michigan, which is trying to stabilize the program after firing Moore on Dec. 10 over an alleged affair with a female employee. Moore was arrested the same day and eventually charged with home invasion, stalking and burglary.

Whittingham, who went 177-88 at Utah with eight seasons of 10 or more wins, fits the mold of a program player. But Michigan fans raised concerns about his age during the process. He will be by far the oldest hire in program history – the next oldest was Brady Hoke, who was 52 when he was hired.

In the new age of college athletes, several coaches have retired or resigned due to the tumultuous changes in the sport. Over the past two decades, older coaches have generally enjoyed success, but others have struggled. Les Miles of Kansas, Frank Spaziani of Boston College, Bill Cubit of Illinois and John L. Smith of Arkansas all failed to accumulate winning records. Belichick went 4-8 in his first season with the Tar Heels — one of those drew more negative headlines than the positive ones.

“It’s better to work,” Belichick he said when asked why he wanted to return to coaching at the age of 72. “My dad told us, ‘When you love what you do, it’s not work.’ I love what I do. I love coaching. I love interacting with players. I love team building, game planning, the game itself.”

There is a clear pattern of success for Whittingham and Michigan. Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, who was 62 when he was hired in Bloomington, won back-to-back Associated Press Coach of the Year honors. Steve Spurrier also had long-term success at South Carolina despite being in his 60s during most of his time in Columbia. Even Brown went 44-33 in his second stint at North Carolina.

The Wolverines will give their new coach more resources, a better roster and a strong recruiting hotbed in the Midwest. Whittingham, the second longest-tenured coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision before stepping down, led Utah to back-to-back Pac-12 and Rose Bowl championships in 2021 and 2022. His disciplined, physical-first philosophy should fit well with Michigan, which won the national championship in 2023 under Jim Harbaugh.

But college football has changed dramatically since Whittingham took over the Utah Utes in 2005. He acknowledged as much last year when discussing the challenges of the transfer portal.

“It’s constantly changing, and I don’t want to say it’s like you’re hiring mercenaries every year, but it’s a situation where you have to re-assemble as much talent as you can as quickly as you can and then hope it comes together and comes together and you get results,” Whittingham said last year.

How Whittingham handles the NIL’s increased budget and the greater stature of Michigan’s program will be one of the most interesting questions of his tenure.

Michigan has hired four coaches since 2008. Two (Rich Rodriguez and Sherrone Moore) were under 45 and both were fired in less than three seasons. Before Friday, Harbaugh was the second-oldest coach in school history to win a national title.

Sometimes age really is just a number.

This article originally appeared in Athletic.