New Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham is getting advice on assembling his coaching staff from a coach that Michigan fans are not too fond of. And Whittingham knows it.
The former Utah coach was introduced as the Wolverines’ head coach on Sunday and when asked about how he would be filling his staff out, he said that he’d been talking to former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.
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“I’ve had some good resources — 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, got some counsel from him, you know he’s been a few places,” Whittingham said. “And the key is to get in that you trust, that you’re familiar with, that do things your way, know what I expect, what my expectations are.”
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Whittingham worked for Meyer at Utah and took over the Utes after Meyer left for Florida at the end of the 2004 season. Meyer became the coach at Ohio State in 2012 and coached the Buckeyes for seven seasons. In those seven seasons, Meyer’s teams lost nine games.
None of them were to Michigan.
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Whittingham did make sure to note that he’s not a fan of Ohio State, however. When asked if he disliked the Buckeyes, he quipped “I do now.”
He also noted that he could keep a few members of Michigan’s current coaching staff on his new coaching staff. BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill is reportedly the top candidate to take the same job with the Wolverines, and Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck has been mentioned as a candidate to be the Wolverines’ offensive coordinator.
Beck joined Utah ahead of the 2025 season from New Mexico as former Lobos QB Devon Dampier also joined the Utes. Utah averaged 41 points per game this past season after averaging fewer than 24 points per game in 2024 as four QBs played at least three games.
Whittingham also mentioned that player retention is one of his first focuses as head coach and was complimentary of five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood. The Michigan native has started every game as a true freshman and has thrown for over 2,200 yards and rushed for 323 yards with 14 total touchdowns.
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Before stepping down at Utah, Whittingham was the second-longest tenured coach in college football behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz. Whittingham had been in charge at Utah for 21 full seasons before announcing his departure and handing the job off to defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley at the end of the 2025 season.
“One thing I didn’t want to be is the coach who stayed too long in one place,” Whittingham said.
However, Whittingham had made it clear that he wasn’t necessarily retiring, and Michigan found itself needing a coach shortly after he announced he was stepping down when Sherrone Moore was fired with cause.
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Moore, who after his dismissal was charged with felony home invasion and two misdemeanors for allegedly going to the residence of a staffer he was having an affair with, had just completed his second season as Michigan’s head coach before the school terminated his contract for the affair.
