Still, there are a few things that are bothering me and I hope you don't mind me sharing my thoughts.
1. Did Biff's comments about 25 players not getting on the plane, rush this decision? So Michigan wouldn't be embarrassed in the Cheesy Exhibition next week?
2. I still haven't heard any explination on why Kyle was pushed out at Utah after a 10-2 season?
3. I would've preferred Michigan made this hire originally when Harbaugh went to the NFL. Warde not doing any due diligence at that time cost Michigan two years on the field and a ton of embarrassment.
Kyle has reportedly signed a 5 year contract and would be 71 at the end of it. He looks to be in great shape and really doesn't look his age. Now, the important thing is hiring his coordinators and keeping Tony Alford as the RB coach.
If the strategy is to have Kyle be the CEO and go out and get some young innovative coordinators that can coach and recruit. I'm 100% sold.
What I would like to see in the next few days.
1. Retain Tony Alford.
2. Hire the best OC and DC on the market. I'm hoping Thursday is Wink's last day as Michigan's DC.
3. Retain the roster and the recruits. Michigan has already lost 3 recruits and needs to focus on keeping the rest in Ann Arbor and the the roster away from the portal.
4. Beat Texas
5. Put together a plan on attacking the portal with Magee the GM
6. Per John U Bacon the report and investigation on the Michigan Athletic Department is due out in Early to Mid January. Anything less then Michigan finding a new AD would continue to set this program back.
Reports are that Kyle is already in Orlando where the team arrived yesterday.
I love Biff and hope there is a role for him on Kyle's staff but we need to limit the AARP cards. There are other coaches I would like to see Michigan keep as well like Grant Newsome and Coach Lou.
All in all this is a good hire, Michigan is in much better shape from a leadership stand point then they were a few weeks ago. I still have a few questions on what happen at Utah, but their loss is Michigan's gain. So to sum it up, this was the best decision Michigan Leadership could've made on 12/26. Would've waiting until 1/2 made a difference, maybe or maybe not. I also don't love the thinking on protecting the Exhibition game, which really few people care about.
This is not a transformational hire but its a hire that gets Michigan back on track and closes the door on a mess that Warde created. Hire a young OC and DC to get Bryce and the rest of the roster excited about the future, and make an impact in the portal. If you do that, then this was a home run hire.
A few fun facts.
- Kyle beat Jim Harbaugh's Michigan Wolverines in Jim's first game as head coach.
- October 11, 2025 Utah 42 - ASU 10
- Kyle replaced Urban Meyer as Utah coach in 2004, when Urban left for UF.
12 comments:
I'd like to see defensive line coach Lou Esposito retained.. he's a good recruiter very good.. in fact I wouldn't mind to see most of the coaches retained.. I wonder if he will bring in a new strength coach?
Right now, we're taking the lemons and making lemonade. There's no other way to describe it. Currently, this is about the best outcome that we could have reasonably hoped for considering the true options that were open to us. In fact, it may have been better than we deserve.
Regarding Whittingham's availability, a number of outlets are giving the same consistent report that initially Whittingham told the university a few years ago that he would be retiring relatively soon. However, he didn't retire. They had the DC (heir apparent) in waiting to take over but Whittingham never retired. The year before last he had a bad season and wanted one more year to "make it right and to leave on a good note," so this year they have double digit wins and it looked like he still didn't want to retire but they apparently said "No, this year is it." It is likely that they didn't want to lose their new head coach candidate, so they insisted that he leave now. It's more likely that they were trying to maintain the consistency that they had and felt that Whittingham's age was now more of a long-term liability and not that he was a bad person or a bad coach.
Now for Michigan's sake, this hire helps us through this "scandalous" process, regain some program integrity, and not lose our on-field football identity while laying a foundation for the future head coach and coaching staff. Michigan and the entire football world now know that they will be hiring a new head coach in the relatively near future and so the herd will be properly vetted and thinned out by then. IMHO!!!
As for the AARP comment, IU would have something to say about that with Cignetti being 64. Also, Nick was 69 when he won Alabama's last NC. John Wooden was 64 when he won his last NC. I'm not saying that Whitt is either man, but that age is just another number. This age "stuff" is a bunch of crap.
We have to rally around the flag: (The big M) .... I sense unity developing like the Bo Dynasty. Bob is right! ... but I do hope the door hits Wink in the rear as he leaves. {{HA HA}} The coordinators have to be tops (open the purse strings) ....
I like your accurate comment about age relative to the football coaches .... but at the present time I am laying a 110 foot long stone wall/ 3 feet high and it is kicking my ancient ass really good! Age is just a number until you try to break out of your shrinking box of life around you.
Thanks for your assessment Bob. Always appreciate your input. I believe this will prove to be a very good hire. Kyle has all the qualities MW desires in a head coach and he is a very young 66. He will most likely hire younger coaching assisants who will also have his qualities and take over for him when he decides to retire. I feel good about this outcome. Now, lets get rid of Warde.
GO BLUE!!!
I would call Sherrone a 'Band Aid' hire. Any time you get an established future Hall of Fame coach it is considered more than just a band aid. I think Whittingham's health, which is fine, might dictate his duration here in AA.
Side note- Joel Klatt shared that Whittingham crushed his high ranking score on the Peleton bike.
Joel Klatt's Kyle Whittingham
story
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Jh9xpKboY/
From what I've heard and take it with a grain of salt. Yes Biff's comments led to the early hiring of Whitt, where Michigan was willing to wait for the Indiana/Alabama outcome until Biff's Texas interview disaster, don't expect he'll be around much loner after the bowl.
Utah is ready to sign a private equity agreement for $500M with the athletic department of which Whitt was either not happy with and decided to leave, or the PE firm put pressure for him to step-away.
As far as Warde, we'll know once the investigation is complete, have heard there's a split on either keeping him or letting him leave gracefully with or without cause.
Whitt could be the strength coach if he wasn't the head coach. Here he is at the young age of 64. https://youtu.be/R8kU0KrZ72g
Tomorrow at 11:00 a/m he'll be formally introduced BIG will cover.
Here is a very interesting unfiltered take from Utah and national media.
https://www.youtube.com/live/cAFih7FFsd8?si=Smy2h-f0bUAuPnBs
Correct. The Utah defensive coordinator has been the 'coach in waiting' for the last 5 years. It was getting too expensive for boosters to keep him on payroll to prevent him from leaving. So they pressured Whittingham to leave to make room for the D.C. to take over.
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