Kyle Whittingham talks future at Utah, retirement plans

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham is one of the longest-tenured Power Five coaches in the country, and it doesn’t seem like his time with the Utes is coming to a close any time soon.

Whittingham, 62, has been the Utes head coach since 2004, and he became the all-time winningest coach in program history in November. Just after reaching the 142-win mark and passing Ike Armstrong on the list, Wittingham was asked how much longer he plans to stay in charge. 

“I’m having as good a time right now as I’ve ever had, so I’m not even contemplating that right now,” Whittingham said on Nov. 29, per The Salt Lake Tribune.

Then he won the Pac-12 by defeating Oregon on Dec. 4, and the Utes are heading to the Rose Bowl for the first time. It’s safe to say it’s now even more fun, and Whittingham doubled down on the sentiment on Monday. 

“I just enjoy coaching right now, and I’m loving coaching this team,” Whittingham said. “I just continue to plug away. We had a good recruiting class, we’re excited about that. I think the future is bright for this program.”

After Early Signing Day on Wednesday, Utah has 16 commits that have signed with the program and two additional commits. They pulled two players out of the transfer portal as well. The class is currently ranked No. 37 in the On3 Consensus Team Rankings, and they have three four-star prospects. The California native and former BYU linebacker clearly knows the recruiting terrain well.

Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011, and they have posted six seasons with at least nine wins since 2014. While they had yet to win the conference until this year, Whittingham turned the program into a Pac-12 contender nearly every season; they have been ranked at some point every year since 2014, and they have reached as high as No. 3 in the AP rankings. 

The No. 10 Utes will face No. 7 Ohio State in Pasadena at 5:00 p.m. ET on New Year’s Day on ESPN. After dropping two games to BYU and San Diego State in September, Utah won nine of their last 10 games en route to a 10-3 season. This team clearly did not quit on their season, and it is expected they will not quit on the postseason either. They are a 6.5-point underdog, but Wittingham will have his team ready.