Ivan Maisel: Utah's spotlight is deserved, could lead to more opportunities for Kyle Whittingham
Utah the past few seasons has made some noise in the Pac-12 conference, as they’re coming off of their first Pac-12 championship win since they joined the conference in 2011. The Utes may have the respect of their conference opponents, but Kyle Whittingham‘s squad is still not necessarily a household name in the national conversation, and On3’s Ivan Maisel believes they deserve more shine.
“If you’re not respecting Utah at this point JD you’re just not paying attention, Kyle Whittingham has won 144 games, he’s been in one place, he’s built a program which is something we don’t see coaches stick around and do,” Maisel said. “They’ve won three of the last four Pac-12 South’s, they finally got over the hump and won the Pac-12 last year, what else does he need to do to get people to pay attention?”
Whittingham is the second longest current tenured head coach in college football only behind Iowa‘s Kirk Ferentz, and his relationship with Utah runs deep. Whittingham has been on the Utah coaching staff since 1994, where he initially served as the defensive line coach working alongside his father, defensive coordinator Fred Whittingham. Kyle took over his father’s defensive coordinator role the following year, and remained the DC until he took over as the head coach in 2005 and hasn’t left since.
“This year is going to be interesting because now the Pac-12 needs a bell cow with the LA schools leaving and will Kyle Whittingham stick around to help Utah make that transition, there were rumors that he might leave after last season, is this going to make him a little more interested in staying? That’s something to watch for toward the end of the season, but at the beginning I still think they’re going to be really good and I’m looking forward to seeing how well they do,” Maisel said.
Whittingham was with the Utes when they transitioned from the Mountain West to the Pac-12, and it will definitely be interesting to see if he sticks around for the new Pac-12 era that will begin in the next few years. Conference realignment has definitely been unpredictable and kept coaches on their toes, but one thing Utah can stand firm on heading into this season is their roster that brings back a ton of talent from last season. Whittingham brings back two Maxwell-Award watchlist players in quarterback Cameron Rising and running back Tavion Thomas, as well as two Bronko Nagurski watchlist players in cornerback Clark Phillips III and defensive lineman Junior Tafuna. With talent like that on the both sides of the ball, the Utes will definitely be tough team to take the conference title from.