With rumors having been swirling for several days now that coaches at both Utah and BYU could join former Ute coach Kyle Whittingham at Michigan, there has been plenty of hand wringing among fans of both the Utes and Cougars.
All indications are that the hand wringing will continue at least into Thursday, if not longer.
Perhaps the biggest reason for this is that both Utah and Michigan had bowl games on Wednesday afternoon. The Utes beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Las Vegas Bowl, while the Wolverines fell to the Texas Longhorns in the Citrus Bowl (Whittingham did not have any coaching role in that game).
It is customary in situations like this that any formal announcements about coaching changes are made after bowl games are over, as staffs of both teams have been preparing for them for weeks.
Wednesday evening could have been a time that announcements were made, as discussions between Michigan officials and coaches have surely taken place at least since Whittingham was formally introduced as the Wolverines’ next coach on Sunday.
Another consideration for the timing of announcements could be buyout situations. For example, while BYU is not required by law as a private university to make its coaches’ contracts available to the public, let’s say for instance that defensive coordinator Jay Hill’s contract says he would owe BYU a buyout of $2 million if he leaves before Jan. 1, but that buyout drops to $1 million on Jan. 1, it would behoove Michigan to not formally hire him until Jan. 1.
Most notably, Hill and Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck have been reported to be frontrunners to be coordinators under Whittingham at Michigan (Beck’s contract, obtained by the Deseret News, does not have specific language about buyout dates).
That could realistically cause a ripple effect among position coaches if they follow their respective coordinators to the Wolverines.
On Sunday during his introductory press conference, Whittingham said his plan for assembling his staff “should come to fruition in the next week or so.” On Wednesday, he made an appearance on the ESPN broadcast of Michigan’s bowl game and said, “We’ll have 90% of the staff named by this weekend.”
Whittingham had hinted on Sunday that there could be a position coach he’s keen on hiring whose team is in the College Football Playoff, and rumors have been swirling that Oregon Ducks wide receivers coach/pass game coordinator Ross Douglas could be that coach.
The Ducks are scheduled to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders in CFP action early Thursday.
Here’s a list of the position coaches at BYU and Utah who could potentially leave to Michigan with Hill and/or Beck, respectively. This list does not include assistant position coaches or analysts.
BYU
- Kelly Poppinga, defensive ends coach (also special teams coordinator).
- Jernaro Gilford, defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach.
- Justin Ena, linebackers coach.
- Sione Po’uha, defensive tackles coach.
Utah
- Jim Harding, offensive line coach (also has the title of assistant head coach).
- Freddie Whittingham, tight ends coach (also is the recruiting coordinator).
- Mark Atuaia, running backs coach (reports have indicated that Whittingham will retain current Michigan RBs coach Tony Alford).
- Micah Simon, wide receivers.