Michigan could be close to finding its next head coach.
According to ESPN, former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is “the focus” of the Wolverines’ coaching search and «Whittingham’s candidacy is expected to be shared with top Michigan officials on Friday, per sources, and a deal could come together in the near future if they approve.»
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Whittingham recently announced that he was stepping down after 21 years in charge of the Utes, though he’d made it clear that he wasn’t necessarily retiring from coaching.
Whittingham, 66, is 177-88 at Utah after taking over for Urban Meyer at the end of the 2004 season. The Utes have won at least 10 games in seven seasons during Whittingham’s tenure and have had just three losing seasons. None of those seasons have featured fewer than five wins.
Hiring Whittingham — or someone else — would bring a sudden December coaching search to a close after just over two weeks following the dismissal of Sherrone Moore. The second-year coach was fired with cause on Dec. 10 after Michigan found evidence of an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.
Moore then allegedly went to that staffer’s residence and allegedly threatened to take his own life while allegedly telling her that she ruined his life. Moore has been charged with felony home invasion and two misdemeanors for that incident and has a January court date.
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Whittingham has been an Utah coaching lifer since playing linebacker at BYU. He was a grad assistant with the Cougars for two seasons and then coached at Eastern Utah and Idaho State for seven years. He became Utah’s defensive line coach in 1994 and has coached for the Utes ever since. He became the school’s defensive coordinator in 1995 and held that jpb until Meyer left to coach Florida in 2005.
