The pros and cons of Michigan football hiring Kyle Whittingham as head coach

Things are moving quickly between Michigan football and former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham.

On Friday, after weeks of a jumbled coaching search, Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel of ESPN reported that Whittingham is the "focus" at this point for Michigan. Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports added to that reporting, writing on X that a deal could be done as soon as Friday afternoon.

That would be a good thing. The Wolverines need clarity at head coach. Early enrollees are expected to come to Ann Arbor in just over a week. There is a roster that needs to be retained. That's hard to do without a head coach.

Michigan football should have a head coach soon. Kyle Whittingham is trending as the guy, and with that in mind, here are some pros and cons about his potential hire.

Pros of Michigan hiring Kyle Whittingham

Whittingham's record speaks for itself. He's won 66.8 percent of his games with Utah. He's coached the Utes to three conference titles in two leagues. They went 13-0 in 2008, defeating Nick Saban and Alabama to win the Sugar Bowl, finishing ranked No. 2 overall.

Outside of a proven track record, the dude can coach. Urban Meyer has called him the "best coach in college football." He's a defensive guru, but his teams run the ball, and are physical.

That all meshes extremely well with Michigan football. He's had some explosive offenses, too. Just look at the Cam Rising years. An elite offensive coordinator will need to be hired, but if the money cannons are firing, that shouldn't be a problem.

ESPN ranked Whittingham as a top-10 head coach before the 2025 season. There's no question about his coaching accumen. The questions are about his ability to recruit/retain the roster. Age is another factor.

So this move, if Whittingham ends up being the Michigan football head coach, isn't without risks. But if Michigan can keep its roster and recruiting class together, Whittingham is a great guy to have as the head coach of a team with a talent to win, which the Wolverines should have.

Yet, like we said this hire wouldn't be without risks, so here's a look at the cons of hiring Kyle Whittingham for Michigan.

The cons of Kyle Whittingham for Michigan football

Age is one thing. It's just a number, but with rumors about retirement following Whittingham the past few seasons, teams will surely use that to negatively recruit against Michigan.

Whittingham has only signed one top-25 class in the past four years, which was in 2023. However, the 2026 class for Utah has two top-100 signees.

Beyond that, Michigan has always recruited itself to a certain extent. There are things attractive about Ann Arbor that go past the head coach. Not every program has that. Michigan does.

However, one concern about Whittingham is that he's a west-coast guy. The Wolverines can surely have a larger presence there, but hiring some guys with midwest ties, especially to Michigan and Ohio, will be critical, just as it will be critical to retain staffers like Tony Alford.

Whittingham might not be known as a dynamic recruiter. That doesn't matter as long as he builds an elite recruiting staff. Jim Harbaugh didn't do much recruiting in his last few years as the Michigan head coach. He played the closer role and Whittingham can do the same.

Wil Kyle Whittingham keep the roster together?

That might be the biggest question. Whittingham will certainly have some credibiltiy with Michigan players, and he'll have the chance to recruit them, with a lot of money to secure their services for the 2026 season.

Whittingham won't have the energizing impact of a Kalen DeBoer or a Kenny Dillingham. This isn't a slam dunk that players like Bryce Underwood or Andrew Marsh will stay, let alone recruits.

But outside of DeBoer or Dillingham, that was always going to be a question. Whittingham has done more with less his entire career. He's never had the resources of a blue blood, which could help answer some of these questions in the affirmative, such as recruiting and roster retention.

Whittingham will have tools that he never had at Utah, and Michigan, it replaced a terrible head football coach, because regardless of the other issues, Sherrone Moore wasn't a good head coach, with one destined for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Whittingham is one of the best in the business, and in that sense, the former Utah head coach will be a massive upgrade.