Kyle Whittingham is as ‘excited’ as ever heading into 20th season, but offers a hint about when he might be done

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham speaks during the Big 12 football media days in Las Vegas, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. | Lucas Peltier, Associated Press

As expected, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham didn’t put an exact timeline on his retirement when asked about it at Big 12 media days, but he did offer a possible hint.

Whittingham’s first-ever appearance at Big 12 media days came a week after the university publicly announced that defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley was named the program’s “head coach in waiting.”

The timing of the announcement begs the question: How much time does Whittingham have left as the head man of the Utes?

On Tuesday, as he prepares to enter the Big 12 Conference — Whittingham’s third league change since becoming head coach in 2005 and fourth overall while on staff in Utah — the longtime Ute coach is taking it day by day.

“I’m as excited and enthused about the season as I’ve ever been,” Whittingham said.

“A lot of that is the excitement about going into a new conference with a new challenge, a new opportunity, but it’s just going to be a day by day process and I’m not getting any younger, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve got a lot of energy right now.”

However, when asked about Utah’s 2027 matchup with Miami — which will be held at Allegiant Stadium, the site of Tuesday’s Big 12 media day and the site of two Ute Pac-12 championship wins — Whittingham admitted he might not be leading the team onto the field.

“We’re going to open here in ‘27 against the Miami Hurricanes. I probably won’t be sitting here this year, but somebody will,” Whittingham, whose current contract runs through the 2027 season, said.

Whittingham has evolved with the times and has been at the top of his game recently, coaching the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 championships in…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kyle-whittingham-excited-ever-heading-014308323.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-07-10 01:43:08

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.