Kyle Whittingham, who coached the University of Utah's defensive line last season, will replace his father, Fred, as the Utes' defensive coordinator, the school announced Friday.
Fred Whittingham, who built Utah into one of the nation's best defenses in his third season on the job last year, left the Utes earlier this week to become the linebackers coach for the L.A. Raiders of the National Football League."Ever since Kyle came here, we've been molding him for this job, because we anticipated that Fred would go to the pros someday," said head coach Ron McBride. "We knew eventually he would be the coordinator. This works out well. We got someone who knows the system. He knows what we're trying to do."
Kyle Whittingham, 35, was the Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year for BYU in 1981 and played several years in the United States Football League and one season with the Los Angeles Rams.
After serving as a graduate assistant at BYU, he coached for six years at Idaho State, the last two as defensive coordinator, before coming to Utah to work with his father.
With the promotion of Whittingham, Steve Kaufusi will coach the Utes' defensive line. Kaufusi, another former all-conference player for BYU who also played professionally, was a graduate assistant coach for Utah last season and helped Whittingham coach the defensive line.