Kyle David Whittingham (born November 21, 1959) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach and former player. He currently serves as the head football coach at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, a position he has held since 2005, and he is the all-time leader in wins for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans in the Unite ...

. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utes

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for ten seasons. He won AFCA Coach of the Year and the

Paul "Bear" Bryant Award The American Heart Association (AHA) Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards are an annual awards banquet that is hosted each year in January, in Houston, Texas, by the AHA. There are two awards. One of them—the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award� ...

in 2008 after leading the 2008 Utah Utes football team to an undefeated season and a win in the 2009 Sugar Bowl over the 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide football team. He and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy are the second longest tenured FBS coaches (with one school), trailing only

Kirk Ferentz Kirk James Ferentz (born August 1, 1955) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since the 1999 season. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the Universi ...

Playing career

A graduate of

Provo High School Provo High School is a public secondary school located in Provo, Utah, United States. It is one of three high schools in the Provo City School District and was the oldest secondary school in the city. In the Summer of 2017 the school district be ...

, Whittingham was all-state at linebacker and fullback and earned two letters in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

for the Bulldogs. He remained in Provo and played

for the BYU Cougars from

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

through

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, where his father Fred was the linebacker coach, later defensive coordinator, under longtime head coach LaVell Edwards. In his senior season in 1981, he was the WAC Defensive Player of the Year, and the defensive

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the Holiday Bowl. Whittingham played in the first four Holiday Bowls; he was a running back as a freshman in the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

and a linebacker in the next three, during which he recorded 27 tackles. In 2009, he was inducted into the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame. Whittingham graduated from BYU in 1981 and went on to play linebacker for the

Denver Gold The Denver Gold was an American football franchise in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado; and were co-tenants in the spring with the Triple-A ...

and New Orleans Breakers of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

and the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

of the CFL. He also played for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

' replacement squad in 1987.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Whittingham became a graduate assistant for BYU during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. In 1987, Whittingham was named defensive coordinator at the College of Eastern Utah. He coached there for a season before taking a job at Idaho State. After five seasons with Idaho State, Whittingham joined the Utah staff as defensive line coach, working alongside his father, Fred Whittingham. In the 1995 season, Whittingham replaced his father as the defensive coordinator, who had been hired as the linebackers coach for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. Whittingham remained the defensive coordinator for ten years, serving under both Ron McBride and Meyer, until being named head coach in 2004.

Head coaching career

The 2004 season ended with Utah becoming the first BCS non-AQ conference team to make a BCS bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl. After winning the Fiesta Bowl, the Utes' overall record improved to 12–0 under the leadership of junior starting quarterback Alex Smith (in his final season before declaring for the NFL draft) and head coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and former college football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green F ...

, who announced his departure to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in December 2004. After the regular season, and before the Fiesta Bowl, Whittingham was offered the head coaching job at Utah and also the head coaching job at his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

. After struggling with the decision for four days he chose the Utes. Because Urban Meyer had already officially accepted the head coaching job at Florida before the Fiesta Bowl, Whittingham and Meyer acted as co-head coaches of the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. Utah and the NCAA credit the Fiesta Bowl to both Meyer and Whittingham.

2005

Whittingham's first season was an up and down ride for Utah as the team not only adjusted to a new coaching staff, including Andy Ludwig, but also a new offense led by quarterback Brian Johnson. Utah struggled early on, going 3–4 in their first 7 games, however, a strong finish gave Utah their third straight bowl invite. In the 2005 Emerald Bowl the Utes faced the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Utah beat Georgia Tech 38–10, the Yellow Jackets' worst bowl loss by point margin in school history. Whittingham finished his first year at Utah with a 7–5 record.

2006

In 2006, Whittingham's team faced a degree of adversity. Starting quarterback Brett Ratliff struggled through parts of the year, and so did the Utes. Like the year before, the Utes rebounded toward the end of the season, but lost to rival BYU at home by a score of 33–31. The Utes became bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, a school record. Whittingham led the Utes to a 25–13 victory over the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

in the 2006 Armed Forces Bowl, running his record to 15–10 (.600) with Utah.

2007

2007 would provide more adversity. In Johnson's first start since 2005, he broke his collarbone against Oregon State and starting running back Matt Asiata broke his leg as Utah got routed 24–7 by the Beavers. The following week, wide receiver Brent Casteel was lost for the season in an embarrassing 20–12 loss at home to

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. Utah looked as if it righted the ship the following week with a 44–6 rout of No. 9

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, the highest-ranked team ever defeated by the Utes. But the following week represented the worst week of Whittingham's head coaching career—a 27–0 loss to perennial cellar-dweller

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

that had many wondering if Whittingham could survive as a head coach at Utah. But like past seasons, the Utes regrouped and won seven consecutive games, using a stingy, big-play defense and the sledgehammer running attack of Darrell Mack (253 carries, 1,204 yards and 16 total touchdowns), who had been scheduled to redshirt in what was going to be his junior season. The Utes 50–0 drubbing of Wyoming proved controversial. Up 43–0 in the second half, Whittingham decided to go for an onside kick. An emotional Joe Glenn was caught on camera giving Whittingham the bird after the play. In the season finale, Utah suffered its second consecutive loss to rival BYU to end the regular season, 17–10. Whittingham and Utah overcame that disappointment to beat

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, 35–32, in the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl. It marked the Utes' seventh consecutive bowl victory, which placed them second to

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in longest active bowl winning streaks.

2008

In 2008, Utah completed an undefeated regular season and qualified for the 2009 Sugar Bowl. Along the way were wins at

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, late come-from-behind wins over Oregon State and TCU, and a convincing victory over rival BYU. Overall, Utah finished the regular season holding wins over three teams in the final AP Top 25. Utah defeated

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, 31–17, in the Sugar Bowl, completing the fifth undefeated and untied season in school history. The American Football Coaches Association selected Whittingham as the 2008 AFCA National Coach of the Year Award. The announcement was made at the football coaches' convention, which Whittingham attended. The AFCA award is the oldest national coach of the year award, dating back to 1935, and is the only one chosen exclusively by the coaches. He also won the 2008

. The team was selected national champion by Anderson & Hester,.

2009

In 2009, Utah had its second consecutive 10-win season. They finished with a 10–3 (6–2 MWC) record and a 37–27 win over

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl. Whittingham helped the Utes reach these benchmarks with two new coordinators: Dave Schramm as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and

Kalani Sitake Kelaokalani Fifita "Kalani" Sitake (born October 10, 1975) is a Tongan–American American football, football coach and former player. He has been the head football coach at Brigham Young University (BYU) since 2015, and is the first Demographic ...

as the

. Utah's three losses came against teams that finished the season ranked:

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, TCU, and BYU who finished the season ranked No. 11, 6, and 12 in the AP Poll, respectively. Utah finished ranked No. 18 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll.

2010

Whittingham turned down the head coaching position at

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

early in 2010. Utah started the 2010 season with an upset of then-15th ranked Pittsburgh. The Utes then managed the third 8–0 start in program history, rising to fifth in the BCS rankings. However, during a 68–27 victory over Iowa State, Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn injured his arm and though he continued to play, the injury impacted the remainder of the season. After that 8–0 start, the Utes stumbled badly at home against the TCU Horned Frogs, lost a sloppy contest to Notre Dame and then bounced back to end the regular season with victories over San Diego State and rival Brigham Young University. Due to the injury, Wynn, who finished the regular season in spite of his injury, missed the Las Vegas Bowl – a 26–3 loss to the Boise State Broncos. It was the program's first bowl loss since the 1996 Copper Bowl and snapped a 9-game bowl winning streak, which was, at the time, the longest active streak in college football. The Utes finished the 2010 campaign with a 10–3 record. It marked the first time in program history that Utah produced three consecutive ten-win seasons.

2011

In its inaugural season in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

, Utah finished with an 7–5 regular season record (4–5 in the Pac-12). The Utes defeated

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

in the Sun Bowl by a score of 30–27 to end the season.

2012

The Utes went 5–7 in the 2012 season, highlighted with a ranked victory over BYU on September 15.

2013

Whittingham led Utah to a 4–2 start before a five-game losing streak. The 2013 season ended with a high note with a 24–17 victory over

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

to go 5–7.

2014

Whittingham led the Utes to a 8–4 regular season mark in the 2014 season. The season was highlighted by ranked victories over

and

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. The Utes defeated the Colorado State Rams 45–10 in the Las Vegas Bowl to end the season.

2015

Whittingham led the Utes to a 6–0 start and a #3 ranking in the AP Poll before dropping a 42–24 result to

. The Utes finished the regular season with a 9–3 record. The team qualified for the Las Vegas Bowl, which ended up being a 35–28 victory over BYU.

2016

On January 29, 2016, The University of Utah announced Whittingham had agreed to a contract extension through the 2020 season. The contract will pay Whittingham $3.3 million per year. This came on the heels of Whittingham surging past McBride to become the second-winningest coach in school history, behind only Ike Armstrong. Whittingham led the Utes to a 8–4 mark in the regular season, which qualified them to the Foster Farms Bowl. In the Foster Farms Bowl against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, the Utes won 26–24.

2017

The Utes went 6–6 in the 2017 regular season. The team qualified for the Heart of Dallas Bowl, a 30–14 victory over

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

2018

The Utes finished with a 9–3 regular season mark, which qualified them for the Pac-12 Championship Game.

2019

Whittingham and the Utes opened up the 2019 season with a #14 ranking in the AP Poll. The Utes started 3–0 before a 30–23 loss to

. The Utes reeled off an eight-game winning streak to qualify for the Pac-12 Championship Game, an eventual 37–15 loss to

. The Utes qualified for the Alamo Bowl, which ended up being a 38–10 loss to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

2020

Whittingham's contract at Utah was renewed through 2027 at around $5 million per year. The Utes' 2020 season was shortened because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. They only played five games on the season, finishing with a 3–2 mark.

2021

The Utes started off the 2021 season with a 4–3 start before reeling off a five game-winning streak to close out the regular season. In that stretch was a 38–7 victory over third-ranked

, where Whittingham became the winningest coach in University of Utah football program history with 142 victories. His total eclipsed that of coach Ike Armstrong, who amassed 141 wins from 1925 to 1949. With their 9–3 record, Utah qualified for the Pac-12 Championship Game, a rematch against Oregon. In the game, Utah defeated Oregon 38–10. The Utes qualified for the Rose Bowl, where they lost 48–45 to Ohio State.

2022

Whittingham and the Utes started the 2022 season ranked #7 in the AP Poll for Utah's best ranking to start a season in school history. However, the 2022 season started off with a 29–26 loss to the Florida Gators on the road to drop to #13. Utah recovered with a four-game winning streak before a 42–32 setback to

on the road. The Utes put together another four-game winning streak, highlighted by a 43–42 upset over #7

. The Utes split their final two games, a 20–17 loss to

and a 63–21 victory over

. The team qualified for the Pac-12 Championship Game, a rematch against USC. The Utes defeated the Trojans 47–24 in the rematch. The Utes qualified for the Rose Bowl against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, where the Nittany Lions defeated the Utes 35–21.

2023

Whittingham led the Utes to a 8–4 regular season mark that culminated with a loss in the Las Vegas Bowl to Northwestern.

Personal life

Whittingham was born on November 21, 1959, in

San Luis Obispo, California ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

. His father, Fred Whittingham, played linebacker professionally for nine years and then coached at the college and the professional level for almost twenty years. Whittingham graduated from BYU with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

educational psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive psychology, cognitive and behavioral psychology, behavioral perspectives, allows researc ...

in 1982. In 1983, he married the Jamie Daniels. Whittingham then earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in professional

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

in 1986. Whittingham and his wife have four children. Whittingham is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. Whittingham is an avid skier, tennis player, and golfer.

Philanthropy

In 2008, Whittingham and former Utah head coach

were the first people to donate money to the Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Family Scholarship, an endowed scholarship which benefits the football program. In 2020, after Ty-Coreous Jordan, Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the year, was killed in a gun incident, Whittingham and his wife were the original donors to the Ty Jordan Memorial Fund with their donation of $100,000. The following year, Aaron Lowe, Ty Jordan's childhood friend who also played for the University of Utah, was murdered at a house party hours after Utah's win against Washington State. The Ty Jordan Memorial Fund was then renamed the 22 Forever Memorial Scholarship and Whittingham continues to make donations to that scholarship.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Utah profile

at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittingham, Kyle 1959 births Living people American football linebackers Boston/New Orleans/Portland Breakers players BYU Cougars football coaches BYU Cougars football players Denver Gold players Idaho State Bengals football coaches Los Angeles Rams players NFL replacement players Utah Utes football coaches Players of American football from Provo, Utah Players of American football from San Luis Obispo County, California Coaches of American football from California Coaches of American football from Utah American Latter Day Saints