OT Not Our CC - Kyle Whittingham Seems Very In Play

Some interesting drrama happening at Utah.  Fresh off a monster beat down of CSU in a bowl the program looks to be in disarray. 

Kyle Whittingham is a very good coach - IMO a step below a Gary Patterson but ahead of Bronco M at BYU (my diary on Whittingham here).   [If Harbaugh and Miles / Stoops types whoever didnt work out Whittingham would make sense here]  His contract is up in 2016 and there rumors he was at least a superficial part of the Nebraska search. 

His DC was stolen by Gary Andersen at Oregon State - that has got to suck.  Andersen coached for Whittingham as a DC @ Utah, before he landed the HC job at Utah State, and went off to Wisconsin.  Now he came back and stole Whitingham's DC as Utah doesnt have the resources to pay up.   The DC, Sitake, is a lot like Aranda at Wisconsin - an up and coming under 40 year old DC who has built a good reputation very fast - very solid defenses without the 4/5 star talent programs like ours enjoy.  He was with Whittingham for a decade. 

Then his OC was lost this past week to go to be A&M OL coach.  Dong punches everywhere and Kyle isn't pleased.  Whittingham sounds incredibly frustrated and I don't blame him - you can only do so much without the financial backing to retain good coaches.  Utah is getting Pac 12 money but is acting as if its a MWC team still.  I am surprised if he was really in play that Nebraska went Mike Riley over Whittingham.

 

“In the time since, three assistant coaches have left the program, and sources familiar with the situation tell The Salt Lake Tribune that the relationship between Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and athletic director Chris Hill is severely fractured, perhaps irreparably,” Matthew Piper reported.

“Those sources, who requested anonymity so as not to not compromise their ties to the program, say Whittingham and Hill were on poor terms before the start of the season, and that the rift widened in recent weeks. The two were scheduled to meet Friday, a source said.”

The reported conflict stems from Hill’s inability to provide the financial backing for Whittingham to retain his coordinators. “A source said Hill’s inability to lock up Sitake made Whittingham feel that Hill was trying to sabotage his program,” Piper added.

With Whittingham growing dissatisfaction with Utah and Hill’s leadership, the Utes’ head coach is actively searching for positions around college football.  “The source confirmed speculation that Whittingham has met with administrators at other schools,” Piper continued.