Michigan Football: Everything that was said during Kyle Whittingham's introductory press conference

Opening Statement

WARDE MANUEL: Thanks, Dave, thanks everyone. Good morning. It’s great to be here with everybody. I want to thank you for coming and for being at this introductory press conference. It’s great to have many of the university leadership and donors with us in person today for this special moment. I would like to acknowledge two of our regents who are here with us.

Regent Sarah Hubbard and Regent Paul Brown are in attendance with us. Sarah, Paul and their colleagues on the board have been very supportive throughout this process. I also want to acknowledge and thank President Domenico Grasso for his leadership and active engagement in the process to lead to the hiring of Kyle Whittingham.

I want to thank our many fans and alumni, and especially former players who took time to give me their input. I also want to thank our staff and our players and their parents whom I was able to speak with during this process. The past few weeks have not been easy, but they have stayed together in support of each other, in support of the team. They are all tremendous people. We were deliberate in our work and conducted an extensive search for the next leader of our football program. Our process led us to where we are today.

I wanted to share some thoughts about what solidified the selection of Coach Whittingham. Kyle is committed to his team and players, evidenced by the fact that he spent 21 years as Utah’s head coach and a member of the program for 32 overall seasons. He is the second-longest tenured active head football coach at the NCAA FBS level, only trailing Iowa’s coach, Kirk Ferentz.

His Utah teams posted a winning record in 18 of 21 seasons and won 10-plus games in eight of those years. His teams performed at a high level in the postseason, winning 11 bowl games out of 17, which ranks amongst the top four active coaches. Kyle had 35 players being named All-American and 10 of whom were either consensus or unanimous honorees.

In the classroom, he places a strong emphasis on the academics, reflected in a 93 percent graduation rate amongst the highest in college football. These points explain how much Kyle enjoys being a coach and truly how much he cares about the development of the student-athletes. He is well respected in his profession amongst his peers, media and fans.

I can’t tell you how many texts I’ve received about him after this selection was announced. Kyle has a proven track record of success and has run his program with the highest integrity. Everyone that we talked to either started or ended their statements about him with his character.

He has also shown a commitment to creating a program rooted in toughness, physicality, discipline and respect, where student-athletes and coaches represent the university with distinction both on and off the field. He consistently demonstrated throughout the interview process the qualities that we value at Michigan. Vision, resilience, the ability to build and sustain championship caliber teams and a commitment to doing all of that with integrity.

Before I introduce Kyle, I would like to thank and introduce and welcome his wife Jamie and their family to the Michigan family. Thank you, Jamie. Thank you for allowing him to come today. I know he wouldn’t be here without your blessing and we look forward to having you and the whole the entire Winningham family join us and join our team. At this time, please join me in welcoming the 22nd head coach at the University of Michigan to his first press conference is the J. Ira and Nikki Harris family head coach, Kyle Winningham.

WHITTINGHAM: Thank you, appreciate that. All right, I’m operating on about four hours sleep in the last three days, so if I’m a little bleary-eyed, I apologize, but I can say without question what an honor it is to be here, what a privilege it is to be able to coach this football team, the University of Michigan. Just a place that just reeks of tradition academically, as good as anybody in the country, resource-wise.

So many things here at the University of Michigan that are just absolutely top-notch, one of the top universities in the world. And so it’s an honor to be able to be in this position. Like I said, 21 years at Utah, stepped down a couple weeks ago, wasn’t sure if I was finished or not. I still have a lot left in the tank, but I knew that there was about, you can count on one hand, the amount of schools that if they called, I would listen and I would be receptive to what they had to say. Michigan was one of those schools, definitely a top-five job in the country, without a doubt. And so when the ball started rolling and the more I learned about Michigan, the more excited I got, and I’m just elated to be here.

I had a chance to meet with the team last night, great group of young men. They’re eager, they were excited to have a head coach named, without a coach for a little bit. And so it was good for them to put a face to a name, and I’m going to be meeting with all those players individually over the course of the time I’m here at the bowl site. And can’t wait to get back to Ann Arbor, I guess we call it the A2, get back to the A2 and begin working with these young men, putting together an outstanding staff. Can’t give you any names right now, there’s guys that are still working bowl games and playoffs and so forth. But that will be forthcoming.

And like I said, I just can’t say enough about how myself, my family, my wife is excited to be here. I’m a grandpa of 11 kids, 11 grandchildren, so they’re all excited. I’ve got some eight-year-old grandsons that are instant Michigan fans, and they’ve been playing college football now, and they’ve changed their team to Michigan on the college football game.

But anyway, one thing you’ll learn about me is I don’t like to talk a lot. So field questions, anything you’ve got to ask, I’m here for you. But I’m one of those rare college football coaches that doesn’t like to hear himself talk. So go ahead and ask any questions here. Let’s get started with that.

On what was appealing about the Michigan job and immediate priorities

Well, what was appealing was the obvious. I mean, it’s Michigan. That says it all. I mean, Michigan and all that entails the tradition, the Big House. I mean, it’s one of the most storied programs in all of college football. So that was a no-brainer. One of the top five jobs, as I mentioned, in the country.

The second part of that question was? Immediate priorities. Immediate priorities. Okay. Roster retention. Meeting with these young men in this day and age of college football, transfer portal’s opening up in about five days. That is absolutely job one is to make sure that you get a chance to get in front of these young men and tell them what I’m all about, find out what they’re all about. And that would go for the incoming recruits as well. We’ve got to get on the phone. They’re not here physically yet, but get on the phone with the class that we just saw, an outstanding class, by the way, is ranked number 12 in the country and a lot of good young players in that class and can’t wait to get, I think about half of them, maybe a little over half of them, will be here at the break and enroll with us for the winter conditioning and spring football. So that is job one without a doubt. It’s all about players. College football is all about players. And if you’ve got good players, you’ve got a chance. And so retention of the players in the program and retention of the players that we just signed, that’s the absolute priority.

On how to describe the Michigan team he’d like to build

Well, I think our team will fall right in line with what Michigan is used to. Michigan football, all the way back with Coach Bo Schembechler, who, by the way, when I was seven years old, sitting in my living room watching a football game by myself, and it just happened to be Michigan versus Ohio State, and I saw those winged helmets come out of the tunnel and Bo Schembecher leading them and playing against Woody Hayes, and I was hooked. I was hooked at that point.

And so I’ve been, and that’s the honest truth, you know, so I’ve been watching Michigan football and following it for years. But what you can expect, physicality will be our calling card. Usually Utah, the place I was, we were the most physical team in the league, whichever league we played in, that’s not going to be any different here. And I believe in running the football. We were second in the nation last year, rushing the football at Utah and defending the run. If you can get those things, if you can win the line of scrimmage, all right, and be physical up front, you’ve always got a chance. And so that will be the trademark and the identity of this football team is physicality, toughness, and grit.

On whether he expected to hear about the Michigan opening

I did not expect that. And it was, ironically enough, the timing was almost exactly the same when I stepped down. And when this job became open, it was within a day or so of each other. And so, like I said, when I stepped down, I felt like one thing I didn’t want to be is that coach that just stayed too long at one place. In 21 years, you say, well, you did stay too long. But we ended up 10-2 this year. And I thought, this program is in a great place right now. Great, excellent players, excellent coaching staff. I was able to hand the torch to my defensive coordinator, Morgan Scalley, who’s an outstanding young football coach.

And I just felt that the time was right to exit Utah. But like I said, I still got a lot of energy and felt like, hey, if the right opportunity came, then I would be all in on that. And so that’s what Michigan afforded me.

On the resources Michigan has being appealing

We got excellent resources here. The NIL, the rev share, all that, all of what college football is today is right among the top tier of the universities in the country. Very competitive.

It’s always a work in progress. We’re continuing to try to build those resources. And that’s another, you know, other than the retention of the players, that will probably be job two, is making sure that we get with the right folks and get the resources that we need to put that roster together and build it from there.

On his philosophy of building a staff and the balance between hiring his own guys vs. retention

Well, first of all, you got to bring in guys that you’re familiar with and you trust and you’ve worked with. I think that’s always a starting point. I’ve had some good resources, you know, urban Meyer. I don’t know if that’s a four-letter word in this room or not, but Urban and me are very tight. I got some counsel from him, he’s been a few places and the key is to get guys in that you trust, get guys in that you’re familiar with that do things your way. They know what I expect, what my expectations are, but at the same time, I’m not precluding the chance that we will keep some coaches from the current staff.

There’s some excellent coaches on the staff right now. And I’m going to tell you that most likely there will be a few faces that stay on and help bridge that. It’s much easier to be in the staff room and meeting and say, hey, I wonder how they do this year. If you’ve got a guy right there, that’s done there, you know, been there, done that, that’s a big help. So, I would anticipate, of the 10 full-time coaches, seven or eight new guys and two or three holdovers.

On the hesitation of not being a Midwest guy and his thoughts on Ohio State

Well, I think they got a good football team, and they’re in the playoffs, obviously. And they’re very talented, but I would say that, I’m just excited about the opportunity here. I got, I got distracted. Tell me the first part of your question. Oh, Midwest. Yeah, that’s right. That’s right.

You know, there is some truth to that in a way, but Michigan is going to cast a wide net recruiting coast to coast. And so I’ve got a lot of contacts, particularly out West, but also in Florida, Texas we’re going to have some coaches on the staff that have worked the ACC and out this way in the Midwest.

I think that might be overrated a little bit as far as geographically where you come from, but I can tell you right now that we will have a staff that is very diverse and has roots in many different places in the country. But again, a school like Michigan is going to recruit top athletes from the East Coast to the West Coast. So we’ve got to be able to do it all.

On the kind of culture he wants to build in the locker room

Family culture, without a doubt. It’s a situation where I believe in family. I’ve got an adage that as coaches, we love the players, the players love each other. And if we can get that done in the locker room and make sure we have a genuine love for each other, then you’re halfway home. Also, a team culture. It’s all about the football team.

There is nobody above the team and got to have everybody buy into that. Everybody, including myself need this team more than this team needs them. And if we got everyone on that page and understanding that concept and that’s going to be a very positive thing.

On the challenges of handling a roster each season

Tough, tougher and tougher each year, it becomes more challenging. There’s no doubt about it. Roster turnover. Some teams are turning over 67% of the 70% of their roster every year. And so that’s, that’s a challenge. I would, uh, at Michigan, it’s a little less than that. We don’t have as much turnover. I think the retention is very good here, but the key there is the players that are here and understand what we want, what the culture is. They’re responsible to set the standard for the guys that are coming in.

And another thing that I believe strongly in is that you will become us. We will not become you as far as the players that are coming in, you will become us and do things the way that we do things.

On how the expectations change at Michigan

Well, Michigan here is the playoffs. I mean, you got to get to the playoffs. That’s our expectation. That’s my expectation. Big 10 championship, obviously, will get you to the playoffs, but if you can get to that 10 win mark, that usually is a pretty good indicator that you will be in the playoffs, especially when they expand, which is going to happen at some point soon. And so that’s the bar, I mean, the University of Michigan, how can it be any different than that?

On his relationship with Urban Meyer and the disdain for Ohio State

I do now, I guess, but, like I said, I followed them for quite a while. Me and Urban were on the same staff at Utah. I was his defensive coordinator. So there was a real tight bond there. I followed his career and obviously stayed in touch throughout the course of his career and he had great success there, but now I’m on the right side of the deal.

On what his role will look like during the bowl game

I’m going to try to stay out of the way. These guys have been coaching these guys the whole season. I’m excited to be around, observe, but I’m going to stay in the background. Excited to start meeting with these players.

I already met with one player. You can probably guess who that was, our quarterback, Bryce Underwood. That was a great conversation. Spent about 45 minutes with him this morning, but, mostly evaluating, meeting individually with players on the phone to the recruiting class, making sure they get to know me and feel comfortable at coming in. During the game, I’ll be up in the box, out of the way from the coaching staff. And I did meet with the coaching staff as well, by the way. And just was brutally honest with them that, hey, they’re all experienced coaches. They know the deal. What really sucks is you can win nine games, possibly 10, and be out of a job. I mean, that’s just the reality of the profession. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the reality of it.

On whether he believes he was treated fairly by Utah

Yes, I have. The administration of the university, for my entire time there has been very supportive and they treated me well. Again, it was my decision to step down, and I just felt again that the time was right. And I’ve seen too many coaches hang on too long and just, you know, gosh, why didn’t I retire two or three years ago, that type of deal.

And so, in fact, I contemplated stepping down before last season, but we had such a frustrating season. We were on our fifth quarterback at the end of the year and just so frustrating that I just could not end on that note. And so came back and right the ship, so to speak, and we got back on track. To answer your question, the university treated me nothing but good during my time there, the community, we had 100 straight sellouts and counting and the support, it was just a very enjoyable ride in Salt Lake City.

On his plans to recruit the state of Michigan

Well, you always want to take care of your own backyard. There’s no doubt about that. We’ll put a priority and an emphasis on in-state recruiting in Michigan, obviously. I’m going to start developing relationships with the high school coaches and making sure that we get some good relationships going there with us and the staff. We’ll put a lot of manpower in the state of Michigan. We’ll divide the state up and get plenty of coverage.

And so that’s really just the key is to make sure that we don’t miss anybody in the state of Michigan. And then we take care of that job one, and then branch out from there.

On his personal philosophy with one-on-one conversations with players

Well, just make sure that we’re on the same page. They know what my expectations are. They make sure I tell them, in fact, we addressed that in the team meeting last night, what I expect from them, and what they can expect from me.

And so it’s just getting on the same page and making sure that you got a good rapport with the players. I’ve felt through my career that one of my strengths is being able to have good relationships with the players and, to this day, and that’s probably the most rewarding part of coaching football is the relationships with the players and the coaches. That is the bottom line.

When I did step down, I had close to a thousand texts and most of those from former players thanking me thanking them.

On being equipped to take over the job at Michigan

I hope so. I think, definitely learned a lot (at Utah). That was my first head coaching job. So the learning curve early on was pretty steep for me. I don’t care how much you think you’re ready and how well prepared you think you are for a head coaching job until you’ve been in that chair. You don’t really get it in the scope of everything that it entails, but I certainly hope I learned many lessons along the way. College football has certainly changed in the last few years.

I mean, it’s a whole different ballgame now with the transfer portal, NIL rev share, and it’s not done changing. I can tell you that right now, I think in the next three to five years, there’s going to be significantly more change and more hitting towards a NFL minor league type of a model. That’s just my own personal opinion, but hopefully, I’ve learned some lessons and been there, done that. I’ve been through the cycle 21 times now. And I feel like I’m completely equipped to take over this position here.

On whether Tony Alford will be retained on the staff

Tony Alford, tremendous football coach. I was blessed to have at Utah, his brother, Aaron Alford, before he passed away, worked for us for several years. So I know the Alford family, great family. Tony, like I said, I got a ton of respect for him and we’ll see how things work out in that direction.

On what his conversations with Byrce Underwood looked like

Well, I did a lot of listening. I wanted to get feedback from him. I wanted to get to know him. Just everything from growing up, family, what’s important to him. And it was a great conversation.

He’s a special young man, carries himself the right way. You gotta have a quarterback. Quarterback’s got to have that it factor, and Bryce has the it factor along with a ton of talent. Big, strong kid, 6’4, 225-plus pounds. His ceiling is very high. And the offense we’re going to bring in here, I think, is going to suit him to a tee. And I think he’s going to really, really excel and have a great experience here.

On whether he had any concerns taking a job with an inerim president and an athletic department under investigation

No, I don’t think so. The answer is no, I didn’t have any hesitation. There’s some issues, missteps that are being taken care of, but the key is the core of the players, the players are solid. The players here are rock solid. None of those issues, none of those things that we’re dealing with players, and to their credit, they just kept grinding and kept after it. And so impressed with that. Cause there was a lot of distractions and a lot of adversity, I guess you can say, but I got no doubt that everything’s going to be handled properly.

We’ll see. I’m not close enough to the, you know, knowledgeable enough, I’m not privy enough to exactly (to know) what’s going on in the details, but I’ve got full confidence. We’ll come out of this just fine.

On establishing his culture at Michigan

Well, my culture is going to be with the players and that’s what I’m concerned with, is the players. Like I said, I certainly know the general gist of what transpired and the series of, I guess we’ll call them unfortunate events, but not really phasing me. I mean, the players are a great group of kids. They’re hungry. They got a lot of want-to in them. And that’s where my focus is.

I’m a football coach. I focus on coaching the team and everything else will handle be handled in due time and in due process.