Kyle Whittingham

Playing career

As a graduate of Provo High School, Whittingham was all-state at linebacker and fullback, also earning two letters in baseball for the Bulldogs. He remained in Provo, Utah and played college football at Brigham Young University (BYU) for the Cougars from 1978 through 1981. His father, Fred Whittingham, was the defensive coordinator under longtime head coach, LaVell Edwards. As a junior in 1980, he was second-team All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC). As a senior in 1981, he was first-team All-WAC, WAC Defensive Player of the Year, and an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. Whittingham played in the first four Holiday Bowls. He was a running back as a freshman in the 1978 Holiday Bowl and a linebacker in the next three, during which he recorded 27 tackles and was the defensive MVP in 1981. In 2009, he was inducted into the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame.

Whittingham went on to sign with the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL), as an undrafted free agent for spring training in 1982. He was released by the Broncos on July 29, 1982. After being cut, he played linebacker for the Denver Gold and New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1983 and 1984, respectively. Whittingham also played for the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL in 1987 as a replacement player. He was a teammate of his brother, Cary Whittingham, and was coached by his father, who was the linebackers coach for the Rams.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

In 1985, Whittingham became a graduate assistant for the BYU Cougars after completing his degree in 1984. In 1987, Whittingham was named defensive coordinator at the College of Eastern Utah. He coached there for one season before taking a job at Idaho State University (ISU).

Utah

After five seasons at ISU, Whittingham joined the University of Utah as the defensive line coach, working under his father, Fred Whittingham. In the 1995 season, Whittingham replaced his father as the defensive coordinator, who had been hired as the linebackers coach for the Oakland Raiders. Whittingham remained the defensive coordinator for ten years, serving under head coaches Ron McBride and Urban Meyer, until being named head coach in 2004.

The 2004 season ended with Utah becoming the first BCS non-AQ conference team to make a BCS bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl. After winning the Fiesta Bowl, the Utes' overall record improved to 12–0 under the leadership of junior starting quarterback Alex Smith (in his final season before declaring for the NFL draft) and head coach Urban Meyer, who announced his departure to the University of Florida in December 2004. After the regular season, and before the Fiesta Bowl, Whittingham was offered the head coaching job at Utah and also the head coaching job at his alma mater, BYU. After struggling with the decision for four days he chose the Utes. Because Meyer had already accepted the head coaching job at Florida before the Fiesta Bowl, Whittingham and Meyer acted as co-head coaches of the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. Utah and the NCAA credit the Fiesta Bowl win to both Meyer and Whittingham.

Whittingham's first season as head coach was an up and down ride for Utah as the team not only adjusted to a new coaching staff, including Andy Ludwig, but also a new offense led by quarterback Brian Johnson. Utah struggled early on, going 3–4 in their first 7 games, however, a strong finish gave Utah their third straight bowl invite.

In the 2005 Emerald Bowl the Utes faced the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Utah beat Georgia Tech 38–10, the Yellow Jackets' worst bowl loss by point margin in school history. Whittingham finished his first year at Utah with a 7–5 record.

In 2006, Whittingham's team faced a degree of adversity. Starting quarterback Brett Ratliff struggled through parts of the year, and so did the Utes. Like the year before, the Utes rebounded toward the end of the season, but lost to rival BYU at home by a score of 33–31. The Utes became bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, a school record. Whittingham led the Utes to a 25–13 victory over the University of Tulsa in the 2006 Armed Forces Bowl, running his record to 15–10 (.600) with Utah.

Michigan

Despite stepping down at Utah, Whittingham stated his intention to continue coaching. On December 26, 2025, Whittingham agreed to a five-year contract to become the 22nd head football coach at the University of Michigan, replacing Sherrone Moore, who had been fired earlier that month.

In his first game, No. 16 Michigan won, 13–12, against Western Michigan on a controversial last-second Hail Mary pass. Before the final play, there were loud chants in Michigan Stadium of "Fire Kyle." He then won his next two games against Oklahoma and UTEP to improve to 3–0. This was followed by a loss to Iowa and Minnesota to start the Big Ten Conference season, Michigan’s first losses to each team since 2016 and 2014, respectively. Following the 3–2 start, given Michigan’s preseason expectations as a College Football Playoff contender and status as a top-tier NIL roster, fans and members of the media again began to speculate on him being fired. He was criticized as coaching an undisciplined, sloppy team. Whittingham said after the loss, "I've been in this profession 40-some years and this is the biggest challenge I've had. I promise you we're going to figure it out."

Personal life

Whittingham was born on November 21, 1959, in San Luis Obispo, California. His father, Fred Whittingham, played linebacker professionally for eight years, and coached at the college and professional level for nearly thirty years. Fred first served as a coach for the BYU Cougars from 1973 until 1981, where he coached Kyle as the Cougars' defensive coordinator. They also coached together on the same staff at Utah more than a decade later. Fred was the defensive coordinator at Utah from 1992 until 1994, the latter being the year Kyle was hired as the defensive line coach. After Kyle replaced him as defensive coordinator in 1995, Fred returned after coaching the Oakland Raiders' defense to coach the linebackers at Utah under him from 1998 until 2000.

Kyle has a younger sister, Julia, and three younger brothers: Brady, Freddie, and Cary Whittingham. Each played football for BYU: Kyle (1978–81), Cary (1981–85), Freddie (1984, 87–89), Brady (1988). Cary and Kyle were both members of the Los Angeles Rams in 1987, and Freddie was a member of the Rams in 1990; all three playing while Fred was coaching for Los Angeles. Kyle hired Freddie at Utah in 2012, and again as the tight ends coach at Michigan in 2026.

In 1983, he married Jamie Daniels, who he met as neighbors at age 14 in Provo, Utah. He then completed his bachelor's degree in educational psychology in 1984, and earned a master's degree in athletic administration (professional leadership) in 1987. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whittingham and his wife have four children: Tyler, Alex, Melissa, and Kylie. His sons, Tyler and Alex, walked-on and played for him at Utah. His nephews, Sam and Jason Whittingham, and Jackson Cravens, also played under him at Utah. Alex was an assistant coach for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2018 to 2025, before being hired as the linebackers coach at Michigan in 2026.

Philanthropy

In 2008, Whittingham and former Utah head coach Urban Meyer were the first people to donate money to the Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Family Scholarship, an endowed scholarship which benefits the football program.

In 2020, after Ty-Coreous Jordan, Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the year, was killed in a gun incident, Whittingham and his wife were the original donors to the Ty Jordan Memorial Fund with their donation of $100,000. The following year, Aaron Lowe, Ty Jordan's childhood friend who also played for the University of Utah, was murdered at a house party hours after Utah's win against Washington State. The Ty Jordan Memorial Fund was then renamed the 22 Forever Memorial Scholarship and Whittingham continues to make donations to that scholarship.

Head coaching record