| Kyle Whittingham | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Title | Head Coach | |
| College | Utah | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Conference | MWC | |
| Born | November 21, 1959 | |
| Place of birth | San Luis Obispo, California | |
| Annual salary | $1.2 million[1] | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 46–17 (28–12 MWC) | |
| Bowls | 4–0 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Championships | ||
| Mountain West Conference Champions (2008) | ||
| Awards | ||
| Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year (1981)[2] AFCA National Coach of the Year Award (2008) Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2008) Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year Award (2008) |
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| Playing career | ||
| 1978–1981 | Brigham Young University | |
| Position | Linebacker | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 2005–Present 1995–2005 1994 1992–1993 1988–1991 1987 1985–1986 |
Utah Utah (DC) Utah (DL) Idaho State University (DC) Idaho State University (Asst.) College of Eastern Utah (DC) Brigham Young University (GA) |
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Kyle Whittingham (b. November 21, 1959 in San Luis Obispo, California) is the head football coach of the University of Utah Utes. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utah's defensive coordinator for ten seasons. He was named head coach of Utah after Urban Meyer left for the Florida Gators in 2004. He won AFCA Coach of the Year and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2008.
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Playing career
Whittingham played linebacker for the BYU Cougars from 1978 to 1981. In 1981 he earned first-team all-WAC and WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors.[2] Whittingham was also named the defensive MVP of the 1981 Holiday Bowl. He graduated from BYU in 1981 and went on to play linebacker for the New Orleans Breakers of the old USFL and the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL. He also played for the Los Angeles Rams' replacement squad in 1987.[2]
Coaching career
Early coaching career
Whittingham became a Graduate Assistant for BYU during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. In 1987 Whittingham was named defensive coordinator at the College of Eastern Utah. He coached there for a season before taking a job at Idaho State. After two seasons with Idaho State, Whittingham joined the Utah staff and coached under his father, Fred Whittingham. In the 1995 season, Whittingham replaced his father as the defensive coordinator, where he would stay until being named head coach in 2004.
Head coaching career
The 2004 season ended with Utah becoming the first non-BCS conference team to make a BCS bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl. After winning the Fiesta Bowl, the Utes' overall record improved to 12–0. After the 2004 season, the Utes lost junior starting quarterback Alex Smith to the NFL when he was drafted #1 by the San Francisco 49ers and head coach Urban Meyer who left to coach at the University of Florida. After the season, Whittingham was offered the head coaching job at Utah and also the head coaching job at his alma mater BYU. After struggling with the decision for four days he chose the Utes.[3]
2005
Whittingham's first season was an up and down ride for Utah as the team not only adjusted to a new coaching staff, including Andy Ludwig, but also a new offense led by quarterback Brian Johnson. Utah struggled early on, going 3–4 in their first 7 games, however a strong finish gave Utah their third straight bowl invite.
In the 2005 Emerald Bowl the Utes faced the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Utah beat Georgia Tech 38–10, the Yellow Jackets' worst bowl loss by point margin in school history. Whittingham finished his first year at Utah with a 7–5 record.
2006
In 2006, Whittingham's team faced a degree of adversity. Starting quarterback Brett Ratliff struggled through parts of the year, and so did the Utes. Like the year before, the Utes rebounded toward the end of the season, but lost to rival BYU at home by a score of 33–31. The Utes became bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, a school record. Whittingham led the Utes to a 25–13 victory over the University of Tulsa in the 2006 Armed Forces Bowl, running his record to 15–10 (.600) with Utah.
2007
2007 would provide more adversity. In Johnson's first start since 2005, he broke his collarbone against Oregon State and starting running back Matt Asiata broke his leg as Utah got routed 24–7 by the Beavers. The following week, wide receiver Brent Casteel was lost for the season in an embarrassing 20–12 loss at home to Air Force.
Utah looked as if it righted the ship the following week with a 44–6 rout of No. 9 UCLA, the highest-ranked team ever defeated by the Utes. But the following week represented the worst week of Whittingham's head coaching career—a 27–0 loss to perennial cellar-dweller UNLV that had many wondering if Whittingham could survive as a head coach at Utah.
But like past seasons, the Utes regrouped and won seven consecutive games, using a stingy, big-play defense and the sledgehammer running attack of Darrell Mack (253 carries, 1,204 yards and 16 total touchdowns), who had been scheduled to redshirt in what was going to be his junior season. The Utes 50-0 drubbing of Wyoming proved controversial. Up 43-0 in the second half, Whittingham decided to go for an onside kick. An emotional Joe Glenn was caught on camera giving Whittingham the bird after the play. In the season finale, Utah suffered its second consecutive loss to rival BYU to end the regular season after allowing Max Hall to connect with Austin Collie on a 4th and 18 in the final minutes. The Cougars would then score the go ahead touchdown on a run by Harvey Unga to win a thrilling 17-10 game.
Whittingham and Utah overcame that disappointment to beat Navy, 35–32, in the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl. It marked the Utes' seventh consecutive bowl victory, which placed them second to Boston College in longest active bowl winning streaks.
2008
In 2008, Utah completed an undefeated regular season and qualified for a BCS Bowl. Utah defeated Alabama, 31–17, in the 2009 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana.[4] Along the way were wins at Michigan, late come-from-behind wins over Oregon State and TCU, and a convincing victory over rival BYU. Overall, Utah finished the regular season holding wins over three teams in the final AP Top 25.
The American Football Coaches Association selected Utah coach Kyle Whittingham as the 2008 AFCA National Coach of the Year Award[5]. The announcement was made at the football coaches' convention, which Whittingham attended. The AFCA award is the oldest national coach of the year award, dating back to 1935, and is the only one chosen exclusively by the coaches.
He also won the 2008 Paul "Bear" Bryant Award.[5]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah Utes (Mountain West Conference) (2005 — Present) | |||||||||
| 2005 | Utah | 7–5 | 4–4 | 4–T | W Emerald | — | — | ||
| 2006 | Utah | 8–5 | 5–3 | 3–T | W Armed Forces | — | — | ||
| 2007 | Utah | 9–4 | 5–3 | 3–T | W Poinsettia | — | — | ||
| 2008 | Utah | 13–0 | 8–0 | 1 | W Sugar † | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2009 | Utah | 9–3 | 6–2 | 3 | Poinsettia | ||||
| Utah: | 46–17 | 28–12 | |||||||
| Total: | 46–17 | ||||||||
| National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. |
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Personal life
Kyle Whittingham was born on November 21, 1959 in San Luis Obispo, California. His father, Fred Whittingham, played linebacker in the NFL for nine years and then coached at the college and the pro level for almost twenty years.
Whittingham graduated from BYU with a bachelor's degree in educational psychology in 1982. In 1983 he was married to the former Jamie Daniels. Whittingham then earned a master's degree in professional leadership in 1986.[3]
Whittingham and his wife now have four children: Tyler, Melissa, Alex and Kylie.
Whittingham is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[6]
Philanthropy
In 2008 Whittingham and former Utah head coach Urban Meyer were the first people to donate money to the Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Family Scholarship, an endowed scholarship which will benefit the football program.[7][8]
References
- ^ "Kyle Whittingham Signs New Contract". University of Utah. http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/122908aaa.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ^ a b c "Player Bio: Kyle Whittingham". University of Utah. http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/whittingham_kyle00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ^ a b Doug Robinson (02/14/09). "Kyle Whittingham: In Control". Deseret News. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705285279,00.html?pg=1. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ^ "Utah secures perfect season with Sugar Bowl win over Alabama". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=290020333. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ a b "Whittingham wins Bryant Award". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3837017. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
- ^ Dan Wetzel. "Whittingham’s Ute movement". rivals.com. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=dw-whittingham122408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
- ^ "U. Athletics Establishes Joseph B. Wirthlin Scholarship". University of Utah. http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121808aaa.html. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ Lee Benson. "Elder Wirthlin's goodness now a legacy at U.". Deseret News. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705277921,00.html?pg=1. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
External links
| Preceded by Urban Meyer |
University of Utah Head Football Coach 2005 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Mark Mangino |
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 2008 |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Mark Mangino |
AFCA Coach of the Year 2008 |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Troy Calhoun |
Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year 2008 |
Succeeded by Gary Patterson |
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