Champions Circle hosting star-studded golf outing, fireside chat featuring Kyle Whittingham, Michigan players and special guests

Champions Circle — the leading Michigan athletics fan engagement community — is set to host an event in July featuring a day of golf and dinner with special guests. The annual Champions Circle Golf Classic featuring head football coach Kyle Whittingham will take place Monday, July 27, 2026 at The Cardinal at Saint John’s in Plymouth, Mich.

Limited golf spots are currently available for those interested in golfing beginning at 10 a.m. ET, and there are even more tickets available for the dinner program, which begins with a cocktail reception at 4 p.m. Partnership opportunities are also attainable.

Dinner and an exclusive fireside chat will kick off at 5 p.m. inside the brand-new Monarch Ballroom featuring premium provisions, along with live and silent auctions showcasing signed memorabilia and once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

The highlight of the day is the fireside chat that follows golf with Michigan players, which will be hosted by award-winning local sports personality Brad Galli and feature guests Rich Eisen and Adam Schefter of ESPN along with Whittingham.

Other dinner attendees from the Michigan football program are defensive coordinator Jay Hill, linebackers coach Alex Whittingham, safeties coach Tyler Stockton, cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford, defensive tackles coach Larry Black, assistant defensive line coach David Denham, assistant safeties coach Brad Hawkins, analyst Tyler McLaurin, assistant cornerbacks coach Eddie Heckard, quarterbacks analyst Koy Detmer, Jr., offensive line coach Jim Harding, tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham, wide receivers coach Micah Simon, running backs coach Tony Alford, assistant offensive line coach Mike Lynch, special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs, special teams analyst Garrett Clawson and general manager Dave Peloquin.

Whittingham has embraced paying players through revenue sharing and NIL opportunities, including at Michigan, where he has more resources than his previous program, Utah. While Michigan players are well-compensated, thanks in large part to Champions Circle, a strong culture remains intact.

“We’ve had some of our boosters and supporters step up,” Whittingham said on The Triple Option. “We have made a lot of progress in that regard.

““Players value leadership and continuity in the locker room. In my conversations with leaders of our teams and nationally,” White said. “I think people would be surprised to hear that a lot of the things we as fans, as administrators, as coaches want, the players want [that] too.

“They want their piece of the pie. The revenue’s gotten so significant and they deserve a piece of the pie. We got to organize it though. And I think the way to do that is through collective bargaining.”