Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is returning for his 21st season at the helm of the team, he announced on Sunday.
Utah football’s social media team announced the return with a parody of Michael Jordan’s famous 1995 comeback fax.
“The following statement was released today by Kyle Whittingham, through the office of Swoop Associates, of the University of Utah Football Team (“UUFB”) located in Salt Lake City, UT, in response to questions about his future career plans:
‘I’m back.’”
Whittingham, who is the school’s winningest coach and has coached the Utes to three conference championships, is coming off the most disappointing season of his lengthy career.
Picked to win the Big 12 preseason, a deluge of injuries and subpar offensive play for the second year in a row resulted in a 5-7 record, the third losing season of the Whittingham era. For the second consecutive year, there wasn’t a solid backup plan behind starting quarterback Cam Rising as he missed the majority of the season with injury. True freshman Isaac Wilson, who started most of the year in Rising’s absence, was unable to lead the Utes to a winning record.
As the 2024 season drew to a close, questions started to swirl around Whittingham’s future with the program. As Utah prepared to faced UCF in the season finale, Whittingham, 65, expounded on the decision that he was facing.
“My decision will be made on what’s best for the program, not what’s best for me,” Whittingham said. “So it’ll be completely determined on how I feel this program is best served going forward.”
With 15 players in the transfer portal so far and a bare cupboard at the quarterback and running back positions, plus a new offensive coordinator in New Mexico’s Jason Beck, Whittingham has plenty on his plate as Utah tries to engineer a turnaround in its second season in the Big 12 Conference.