If you ask what makes the University of Utah football program elite, every fan and player will tell you the same thing: Kyle Whittingham.
With the Utes for over three decades, Coach Whittingham has risen through the ranks and cemented himself as one of the most important individuals in the history of Utah football.
Developing into one of the best head coaches in the nation, Utah’s Harley Davidson riding coach has gained massive respect from both his peers and reporters for the way he’s commanded Utah’s program.
In an early ranking of the Top 10 head coaches entering the 2024 season, On3’s Jesse Simonton joined fans on the Whittingham bandwagon.
The On3 analyst designated Whittingham as college football’s No. 8 ranked head coach entering the 2024 season.
Fitting into college football’s Top 10 comfortably after the retirement of Nick Saban and departure of Jim Harbaugh, Whittingham finds himself among the best in the sport at his position.
“Whittingham remains one of the most consistent and underrated coaches in the country,” wrote Simonton, “winning the Pac-12 in consecutive seasons before the Utes were crushed with injuries in 2023.”
Simonton also pinned Utah’s coach one spot in front of his former Pac-12 "rival", USC head coach Lincoln Riley. A fitting entry considering Whittingham has beaten Riley three times in the previous two seasons.
Whittingham is also the only Big 12 head coach listed within Simonton’s Top 10 ranking.
After a stint as a linebacker for the “school down south” in the late 1970s, Whittingham jumped around as graduate assistant, defensive coordinator, and linebackers coach before finding a home with the Utes in 1994.
He would spend one year as the Utes' defensive line coach before making a jump to defensive coordinator where he would spend ten seasons. In 2005, Whittingham made his final ascent to head coach of Utah’s program, filling the shoes of Urban Meyer.
Whittingham’s list of achievements as head coach of Utah’s football program is long.
He has won three National Coach of the Year recognitions (2008 & 2019), had a winning record in 16 of his 18 years as head coach, and developed numereous NFL players. Namely, 25 selections in the six drafts from 2017-23. All this is just the tip of the iceberg.
In Simonton's list that includes some of the greatest coaches in college football history, No. 8 is a fitting ranking. But it likely won’t be Whittingham’s peak.
The only thing left to check off on Whittingham’s resume is a national championship, and in a new season within the Big 12, with an expanded CFP, the Utes will be gunning to get their leader his long-awaited ring.
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