On Sunday when he was formally introduced as the next head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines, former Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham said he would be bringing in seven or eight assistant coaches who will be new to the program but that he’d likely keep two or three who are currently on the Wolverines staff.
On Monday, multiple outlets reported one current Michigan coach who will be staying on staff, and that coach already happens to have a personal connection with Whittingham.
Running backs coach Tony Alford will be retained by Whittingham, multiple outlets reported Monday, a move that was widely celebrated on social media among Wolverines fans.
Alford, 57, has been a position coach at the collegiate level since 1995 (with most of those years being a running backs coach) and has been at power conference schools since 1997.
From 2015-2023 he also served as associate head coach at Michigan’s rival, Ohio State, before joining the Wolverines staff in 2023.
In addition to his coaching resume, Alford is also the brother of the late Aaron Alford, who was the cornerbacks coach at Utah under Whittingham from 2007-2010.
Aaron Alford died of a heart attack in 2013 at the age of 39 while working as an assistant coach at Park City High in Utah (he also coached at Southern Utah, among multiple other stops at the collegiate level).
Aaron Alford’s son Max is a linebacker at BYU after starring at Park City High and beginning his collegiate career at Utah State.
As has been widely speculated, Whittingham’s retention of Tony Alford is an indication that Ute running backs coach Mark Atuaia will not be going to Ann Arbor.
That comes amid reporting that offensive coordinator Jason Beck is the lead candidate for the same position at Michigan and that numerous current Ute coaches will be on the Wolverines’ new coaching staff.