What Michigan fans should know about new coach Kyle Whittingham

Here’s an open letter to all Wolverines far and wide about your new football coach, Kyle Whittingham, with 20 important and not-so-important things to know about the man now atop Michigan football…

1. He is a tough guy, a hard-working coach who expects proper diligence and preparation from his assistants and his players. When he declared at his introductory press conference the other day, “We’re not going to be you… you’re going to be us,” he meant it. It was the latest use of one of his favorite expressions, one that is a powerful statement not only of who he is and what he believes, but also of how he goes about every bit of his business. He’s not the easiest head coach to work for. At times, he can wear his assistants skinny, raw and out. While in ordinary spaces and places he acts as an intelligent, reasonable individual, in ordinary conversation, in the heat of battle, he can become a madman. Any assistant that works for him or player that plays for him should have the best direct answers to his direct questions about why they do what they do, why they did what they did.

2. He says he’s mellowed over the years, but that’s a bit like saying a razor once used isn’t as sharp as it was straight out of the box. Years ago, when Utah played Wyoming at Rice-Eccles Stadium, then-Cowboys coach Joe Glenn had the audacity to predict at a pregame game in Laramie that his team would beat the Utes. When Whittingham heard about it, it was as if his competitive fires had been poured on them. When Utah took a 43-0 lead in the third quarter, the coach called for an onside kick.

“My emotions got the best of me,” he said afterward. Glenn responded right in front of the entire stadium by throwing Whittingham away.

Recently, Whittingham said, “When I was young and brash, some things I did…” His voice trailed off. “…I’m a little more polished now.”

3. For all his success in Utah over 21 years, he was usually quick to give credit to his players before trying to get attention for himself. “It’s always about the recruiting, it’s always about the players,” he repeated over and over again, forgetting to explain why he was making millions of dollars as a head coach—before the NIL days. At least the players will get some money now.

4. Whittingham is a rock’n’roll fanatic. He prefers classic rock. He not only listens to her and favors her, but also studies her. Ask him trivia about who he was the lead singer for, say, Three Dog Night or the Moody Blues, and he’ll answer in seconds. He likes to argue with you and you and you about who is or was the best frontman in rock history. He’ll say Freddie Mercury or Mick Jagger or David Lee Roth or Robert Plant. He absolutely loves Michigan’s Bob Seger, as well as bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Beatles, the Eagles and Van Halen. He adored Eddie Van Halen. When the revered guitarist died, Whittingham unprompted opened the subsequent press conference by paying tribute to the musician. But surprisingly, for reasons known only to him, he’s not a big fan of Bruce Springsteen or U2. He once told a friend, “If I ever see Bono, I’m going to punch him in the face.”

Whittingham claims he remembers — “so clearly” — watching the Beatles debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. He was 4 years old at the time. He liked the Doobie Brothers until Michael McDonald joined the group. He thinks the greatest live performance in rock history was Queen’s famous performance at Wembley Stadium.

5. He was never a great quarterbacks coach. Some of his QBs over the years have been terrified of the possibility of throwing interceptions and then having to face the wrath of the Dark Lord. They would rather throw the ball five yards out of bounds than try to drill a hole through a tight window. Whittingham wasn’t a great friend to his offensive coordinators either. He burned 10 OCs in one decade in Utah. One of them said his number one job in play-calling is to protect Whittingham’s defense.

6. As a former linebacker and longtime defensive coach, he always emphasized defense first. He likes to run with the ball and cause chaos with his gritty opposition. One of the reasons he’s so high on Jason Beck is because his offensive coordinator has found a way to roll up a gazillion yards on the ground this season. He celebrates the pass – when it doesn’t interfere with his priorities. Utah quarterbacks have never made it to the NFL. Something Bryce Underwood should consider.

7. Whittingham had made a habit of avoiding carrying money for years. His young daughter once asked him at a school function if she could buy a drink at the concession stand. He had to borrow a dollar from a friend.

8. Whittingham is used to dealing with heated rivalries. He played at BYU, but was Utah’s top dog for much longer. The bitterness in this rivalry may not come close to the extremely heated Michigan-Ohio State deal, but it’s close. He knows how to lose a competitive game and win it more often. And he knows how to disrespect the “Southern Team”.

9. He has a close relationship with former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who he worked with at Utah, but is now smart enough to kick it off, at least publicly.

10. He is a mixture of competitive and stubborn. While playing golf with another friend, he found himself in a deep fairway bunker after an errant tee shot. He was advised to take his losses and simply shoot, and he said, “No way.” Four fairway wood hacks later, he was still in the sand. His face, as Johnny Miller once put it, looked like Curtis Strange after three-putting.

11. Whittingham was easily bothered by public criticism. He learned to moderate it, showed some patience, if that’s the right word, when dealing with the media. He makes great opening statements in post-game interviews, rather than running away from issues, he honestly addresses the issues that came up in the game, both negative and positive. Ask him a tough but fair question and he almost seems to appreciate the opportunity to answer it. Whittingham doesn’t tell everything, but he provides enough honest information to feed the beast.

12. Whittingham showed considerable insight at Utah, spotting talent that might not have been obvious at first and then developing it enough to make average players good and good players great. He also moved players from one position to another that suited them better.

13. One of his hallmarks at Utah was molding players from all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, religious beliefs, beliefs of any kind, molding those players and their diverse differences into teams that not only won, but treated each other like family.

“That’s the foundation of our culture,” he once told me. “Family is the foundation of the program. These players truly love each other.”

14. When Whittingham first took over as Utah head coach from Meyer after the 2004 season, he had a lot to learn. And he learned them. The aforementioned intensity was sometimes off the charts. He has at least partially figured it out. He took Utah from the Mountain West to the Pac-12, where he saw his share of success. He developed into one of the best coaches in the country.

“Smart guys know at the beginning what dumb guys don’t until the end,” he said with a laugh.

Make no mistake as a Michigan fan, you may not agree with every call of every play, you may not like Whittingham going for a fourth and long when he is in field goal range, but it will be more than obvious that Whittingham is more intelligent and savvy than a lot of coaches. Nobody is stupid and nobody is stupid.

15. In 2008, Whittingham’s Utes finished the season with a record any Wolverine would appreciate. He went 13-0 and beat Nick Saban’s Alabama team in the Sugar Bowl.

16. As leather a coach can be, it has a lot of soft spots under the facade. He cares deeply about his family, although the busy existence of a coach can sometimes make some family members feel isolated. When his children were young, he made a great effort to attend their activities in and out of sports, even during the season. As a young defensive coordinator, he once said, “There is nothing more exciting in my life than watching my sons’ baseball games or my daughters’ gymnastics … just normal dad stuff.”

When his father Fred, a veteran football coach, died too soon at the age of 64, when Whittingham spoke at his funeral, the first words he uttered were: “My dad is my hero.” When two of his players — Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe — died in short succession at the tragic end of a gunshot, Whittingham was beyond emotional. He masterfully led himself, his team and his community through a time of grief. As Utah remembered Jordan and Lowe between the third and fourth quarters of the games, paying tribute to their fallen brothers with a special “Moment of Loudness” that had fans sending their voices into the heavens with cheers, Whittingham let his feelings flow amid competitive games.

“I insist,” he said. “It’s amazing.

17. After playing at BYU, Whittingham tried to get into the NFL. Undersized at 5-10, 225 pounds, he was waived by the Broncos, instead landing in the old USFL where he played for the Denver Gold. Later, after the league folded, Fred, who was an assistant coach for the LA Rams, asked him if he would like to fill in at center field for the club during the players’ strike in 1987. He did so, earning $40,000 as a three-week starter for the Rams. After that, his playing days were over.

18. Whittingham is his father’s son. Fred was also a grizzled, hard-nosed coach, a man who played the game the same way he coached it—almost menacingly. Fred was a linebacker in the NFL for the Eagles, Saints, Cowboys and Patriots. He coached at BYU in Utah for the Raiders and Rams. Gary Andersen, now on the BYU staff, told a story about Fred that illustrates who he was, who Kyle is.

When Andersen tried out for the Rams many years ago, he said he was in the team gym with other offensive linemen when Fred Whittingham walked in. The guys, NFL veterans, worked, but also laughed and hung out until You-Know-Who showed up. “When [Fred] yeah, everybody in the room went quiet,” Andersen said. That’s the kind of respect the pros had for the elder Whittingham.

19. When Whittingham was once asked to characterize his personality, he liked to use an unexpected word: “Boring,” he said. “I like it that way. However, this word is more a reflection of another term that the coach highly values: “Consistent”. That’s probably what he wanted to say.

20. Like many coaches, Whittingham is a man of faith—in his case, a follower of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—but he doesn’t flaunt it or bore anyone with his personal beliefs. He just does what he does and happily lets others do the same. A couple of branches from the compass that is the center of his life are integrity, doing what he says he’s going to do, and gratitude.

He put it this way: “Every day I count my blessings. I have been beyond blessed.”