December 12, 2025 • 19 mins
Catch “The Drive with Spence Checketts” from 2 pm to 6 pm weekdays on ESPN 700 & 92.1 FM. Produced by Porter Larsen. The latest on the Utah Jazz, Real Salt Lake, Utes, BYU + more sports storylines.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So just to catch you up, literally, as the intro
to this show was going, we received the email from
the Utah Athletic Department that Kyle Whittingham is stepping down
as Utah's head football coach. Did not say he is
retiring from coaching. So the first segment was a heartfelt
(00:22):
thank you to Kyle, and then we brought Eric Weddel on,
and as the Eric Weddle interview was kind of moving along,
Stuart Mandel from the Athletic reports that his sources and
Stuart would know. Okay, I know a lot of people
might not love Stuart Mandel. What you can't argue with
is that he is very plugged in, maybe one of
the top four or five college football media members in
(00:44):
the country, and his sources are telling him that this
is not a retirement, and Kyle is still very much
interested in coaching. There's a school in Ann Arbor that
needs a head coach. There is a NFL team named
the Kansas City Chiefs that is coached by Andy Reid,
who is one of Kyle's good friends and Kyle's son
as an assistant. I don't know what to make of
(01:05):
this entire thing. We go live to France, because this
is a classy show where we find Sean O'Connell sipping
on a bacleba shake.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Hello, Sean, we we no baclava shak it is man,
what a news dump for Utah football throwing this out
at ten pm France time? What are we doing with people?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, consider the French Mick Jenkin.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
My goodness, all right, Sean, I said, I'm getting blown up,
but you're an alum. You played there. I would imagine
your phone is going crazy. So let me just get
your reaction to the news that he is stepping down,
the Mandel report, that he's still interested in coaching, and
what you think comes next.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, the reaction is I think the only appropriate reaction
is one that sounds like you started the show with
just gratitude. You know, we had twenty one pretty incredible
years and now have a Utah football program that the
entire alumni, based, the fans of the university, the professors
at the university, you can be proud of Utah football
(02:07):
and that's that's something pretty special. And Kyle Whittingham is
the biggest part of that. So, you know, gratitude to coach.
He's he's been a great example to a lot of
young men that have thrown, you know, flown through that program,
and he's won a lot of football games, and it's
there was a time spence when you and I were
going to school at the University of Utah, especially when
(02:28):
you were going to the school at the University of Utah,
where what was accomplished under Kyle Whittingham was completely unfathomable.
It was like a most ridiculous segment of the silliest imagination.
And he climbed a lot of hills and did a
lot of things, and we should be appreciative of that.
I did think that this was probably coming at some point,
(02:50):
and then we saw the big time commitments rolling in,
and we saw this private equity deal that's supposed to
provide more resources, and I was like, man, we know
that Kyle Whittingham is still competitive and it might be
enticing to him to say, can I be even more
competitive if I have these resources at my disposal. But also,
he is not one who's prone to the whims of
(03:12):
external factors, and it seems like this is a decision
that he and his family have made, probably over the
course of the last two almost three years. So I'm
not shocked to see him go. I'm not even sad
to see him go, but there's a little melancholy in it,
because you know, it's the end of an era at
the University of Utah. As far as the report that
maybe he's still interested in coaching, I think that's true,
(03:36):
but I think you hit the two jobs on the head.
I think that he's not interested in taking a lateral step,
but he's not certainly not interested in taking a backward step.
If you can go to a place like Michigan and
call the waters there as a you know, sort of
short term fix while they figure out who their next
athletic director is probably going to because you've got to
get rid of war to manual and you're obviously anti
(04:02):
scandal right now if you're a Michigan president, a Michigan fan.
There are a few coaches in all of college football
who are less scandalous than Kyle Whittingham. So I think
that's an incredibly far fetched possibility. But it's probably the
type of job that he would be interested in. And
he has said for years, I think publicly and also privately,
(04:23):
that the NFL does intrigue him. That's a different level.
And Andy Reid is not exactly having his best year,
and Kansas City Chiefs are probably going to have some
mix up on their coaching staff. So maybe Kyle Whittingham
does get a call to be at some type of
advisor there. But I think the most likely outcome here
is that Kyle Whittingham entertains a couple of phone calls
(04:45):
and offers and decides that he's going to ski and
ride his motorcycle and hang out with his grandkids and
will continue to give him his flowers as we watch
Morgan Scaley takeover.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And I don't have wits contract in front of me,
but my understanding is throughout the years, when he's been
able to renegotiate, like when Tennessee came call in, or
when he was able to get extensions as part of
his contract, is a very lucrative retirement package where I
guess he would be a special advisor to the athletic
department of the football program. And with I'm not a
(05:18):
contract lawyer, I don't know if you knew that, Sean,
my guess would be if he took another job, that
more or less would be compromised, right, isn't that fair
to say?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Well? Probably, but Also, it's Kyle Whittingham, not the guy
who's going to have either his name on the field
or a statue in front of a Sego stadium. So
let's say that he does take another job, and again
I think it's probably less likely that he does than
anything else. When he comes back and says, hey, I'd
(05:49):
like to be an advisor to the program or I'd
like to help you out in the athletic department. Who's
going to say no.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
To Kyle Whittingham the athletic director.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I guess you have a private equity bro to say that.
But I mean if the athletic director says, okay, all
time winning as coach, okay, legend who helped build this
program from you know, not nothing, certainly because the foundation
had already been laid, but build us this program up
to its highest heights. We don't want you involved anymore.
(06:20):
It just doesn't make sense that that would be the case.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Well, see, I gotta be careful here.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I don't know how much of this to go on
air with because I don't want to even imply.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
That that wit was encouraged to do this.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I would imagine whether it's Taylor Randall or Mark Carlin
or but I honestly don't know. I'm just trying to
connect the dots and you know, surmise how this most
likely went down. I guess I'll just ask you, as
an alum and somebody who's plugged in with former teammates
and the coaching staff up there, is there any part
of you that believes that this wasn't Kyle's call entirely?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I'll just ask it like that.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
No, I think this was Kyle's call. I think, I mean, Spence,
you and I talked about this before the Kansas State game. Yep,
I said, I think this is his last home game.
I think that I'm going to look into the stands
and I'm going to try and figure out who is
there from the Whittingham family. And every single Whittingham was there,
(07:23):
every one of them. Every person who's maiden name was
Whittingham was there, every person who. I mean. It was
a gathering of the Whittingham clan at the Kansas State game,
and that was the sort of final straw for me.
I said, Okay, they don't gather on the field after
they weren't being real sneaky about it. Spence and I
didn't go to the air with this because it felt
(07:46):
icky to do so because it was a family thing.
But when we walked out of the postgame presser after
that Kansas State game, and you have to kind of
exit through that tunnel, right, the Crimson Club seats have
the tunnel that goes out into the south end zone.
I walked out there to go up into the parking
lot and there was a massive group family photo being
(08:08):
posed on the field at rece Eco Stadium. I've been
to a lot of final home games in a lot
of seasons that Kyle Whittingham's been the head coach. I
haven't seen that before, and so I think the family
had been told this is probably it. And I was
told by people who went on the road for the
Kansas game that there was a heck of a lot
more Whittinghams at that game than they were used to seeing.
(08:29):
So I think that the klan knew that this was
probably it. And maybe it wasn't a final decision made
at that point, but the tea leaves have been giving
us these signs for three years. He would have walked
away last year, he said as much on My show
and on your show. Couldn't walk away on a bad
note like that, which means I was thinking about walking away,
(08:52):
but I couldn't do it on a five win season.
I'm too competitive for that, so he came back for
another year. I think he made his intentions relatively clear
to Morgan, Hey, you're not gonna have to wait that
much longer. You probably said the same thing to Mark Carlin,
or probably with Wes Clarity. I mean maybe they said, hey, man,
you've been leaning this way, and we have this new
(09:14):
era of the athletic department coming in with this money
and stuff. So do you feel like now is the time?
Because we feel like now is the time. But ultimately
the decision was always going to be his, and it's
not like he hasn't been hinting at this for months
and months and months and years.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, and I've I've just been echoing your sentiment on
my show all year that you've been steadfast and you're
belief that this was it. I was convinced after the
k State game, then after the Kansas game. The final
two games of the season, when he became emotional after
the k Stay win and lost in the coverage was
the actual sentence that sent him.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It wasn't about a player. It wasn't about a game.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
It was when he said the last chance at rice
Eco Stadium that got him, all right, And so that
hit me right away. And then after the Kansas win
when he admitted, really for the first time, I mean,
you had a good interview with him that I think
a lot of people don't give you enough credit for
where he did kind of talk about his thought process,
but he was very front facing and admitting.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
That he was close to walking away a year ago.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
So after the Kansas game, my show all week, I
led with it. On Monday, I said, I'm now comfortable
saying into this microphone that it is my opinion, not okay,
Sean tells me this, and I trust Sean like I
am now of the opinion that Kyle is going to
step down the.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Deadline.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
As I understood it was a week ago today, I
didn't know when we were going to hear it publicly,
and today it is now public news. I've had a
couple of people surmised that they don't believe he's coaching
in the Bowl game. Do you think, come on New
Year's Eve against Nebraska, Kyle Winningham's on the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I think so unless heat and he does take some
other job, and again I think that's less than likely,
but I think you'll you'll have him there, even just
for appearance's sake, even just to say, you know, wave
at the fans that make the trip down to Vegas
and kind of do that, which is feels much more
like a Jamie Whittingham thing than like a Kyle Whittingham thing.
(11:15):
But you know what's being reported right now is that
he intends to coach the bowl game and that he
pointed to Morgan Scalley and said after the bowl game,
that's going to be your head coach. So I think
he'll finish it out. I mean, Kyle Whittingham is the
dude who finishes what he starts, right, So if there's
one more game in the season, he's going to be
(11:35):
there in some capacity, all right.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Moving over to what we do know, and that is
there is a new coach, and it is Morgan.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
He slides over seat.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Weddle was great earlier basically speaking for the alumni, and
if there's a guy that can speak for the alumni,
I would think it's safe to say that it's Eric Weddle.
But the sentiment among former players and the confidence that
this is the right move.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Sounds like what.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Sean incredibly high that Morgan is the dude. Now, look,
Morgan's going to have to do whatever he head coach
does and make sure he fills his staff out with
the right guys. And sometimes that means, you know, building
bridges with other people that you don't know very well.
One of the criticisms if you go back ten years
(12:19):
to when you know Kyle Whittingham was struggling with his
offense and hiring a new coordinator every year, one of
the criticisms was, you have to be able to hire
people that don't come from your coaching tree, that you
didn't coach yourself, that aren't you know, your nephews or whatever.
It was like, So Morgan, I might have to do
that at some point. Kolini Sataki when he took over
(12:40):
at BYU. What did he do. He hired a bunch
of guys that he had made promises to on his
way up the ladder, and guys that he was really
close friends with and he was teammates with. And he
had to overhaul that staff in order to find the
era of success that he's got right now. So there
might be some growing pains with Morgan in filling out
his staff, but more or absolutely is the right leader
(13:02):
for this program. I think he's an incredible recruiter. I
think he's a great person. I think that you know,
he is as Utah as Utah comes. I mean, his
entire coaching life has been here, his playing life was here.
He went to high school. I guess East High School
is closer than Highland is and West is probably closer
than Highland is. But he went to high school at
(13:23):
like the third closest high school to the university. I
mean he is He grew up in the shadow of
Right Cycle Stadium in a figurative sense. So there could
not be a better person to take over the program.
Could not be a person with more knowledge of exactly
what it takes to get people to love it here,
to stay and appreciate the development that they're going to
(13:46):
get from guys that have been on this staff. I
don't know if he's going to be able to keep
all the assistants that we're used to, but he is
the right guys.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Sean O'Connell, it's the Christmas season, So if you had
to write a letter to Santa Sean and you're asking
Santa to deliver your preferred defensive coordinator.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
What would that letter sound like exactly?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Oh Man, I would say, Santa, I would like co
defensive coordinators, which won't happen, by the way, but this
is my Christmas letter. It is, so you don't get
to correct me on it. And I would say, Santa,
I would like co defensive coordinators at the University of Utah.
I would like j Hill because he's only going to
be a coordinator for one more year and Colton Swan
(14:34):
to be the co defensive coordinators share that load. Jay
ends up taking a head coaching job. Colton Swan then
is fully prepared, having been mentored through the process by
somebody like Jay Hill. And the side bonus there is
it undermines BYU success because they don't have j Hill anymore.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
The natural follow up is, have you been naughty or
nice this year?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Sean always nice?
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Okay, no lumpacole. You get what you wish for, all right.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I'm going to be irresponsible here for a moment because
we're it's sports talk radio, you know, We'll leave the
journalism to the camaradies of the world. The hypothetical sounds
like this, we find out within the next, I don't
know twenty four hours that the University of Michigan has
hired Kyle Whittingham, who goes with him Tan Arbor.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Oh, man, you're killing me by making me say it.
I already took my tweet down because I started to
feel bad about stirring up the drink. Look, Kyle Whittingham
takes Gary Anderson to be his defensive coordinator and he
takes Chason Beck to be his offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I cannot believe that we're even talking about this on
sports talk and talk radio.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
It's so weird.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I want to make it clear. I think that is
less than likely because Michigan would be Michigan would be
very wise to make that phone call. I don't think
they're going to. I think they're going to be like, well,
let's get Klin the Boar out of Alabama and let's
pay him fifteen million dollars a year, and they're going
to reset the market again by doing it. Well, you
wouldn't have to do that with Kyle Whittingham necessarily, But
(16:15):
you know that's those are Michigan problems.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Not mine.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, I mean, ultimately, it actually and it's a weird
show to do today because I didn't prep for any
of this. I didn't know the news was going to
come down that I didn't expect the Mandel report that
he still wants to coach. But honestly, Kyle Whittingham in
ann Arbor feels like it makes a lot of sense,
Like it actually feels like a pretty synergistic fit.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I mean, like I already stated, there's nobody that could
calm the waters more quickly than Kyle Whittingham, and it would.
It's not like the splash higher that gets every Michigan
fan and the students excited, like, oh my gosh, this
is a guy who's going to win us A national
championship next year. But it is a hire that you
(17:03):
could not find a single person out there willing to
criticize or able to criticize. Because what your goal should
be at Michigan right now are to hire someone who's
a proven commodity as a head coach, as a recruiter,
as a developer of talent, and as a steadying force.
And I mean, I guess you know what you could
Kirk Farns at Iowa might be just as good as
(17:25):
a hire, but they're very familiar with him. They know
his problems in the Big Ten, and they don't want
those at Michigan. So I don't think it's going to happen.
But if I were the athletic director of the university
president at the University of Michigan, as soon as I
saw that news come across my desk, I'd be getting
the phone number of Kyle Whittingham's agent, especially when I
(17:46):
saw Camaranie and Stewart Mandel saying, hey, he might still coach.
He's just stepping away from Utah because it's time and
it's Morgan Scalley's turn.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
All right, last thing, and I'll set you loose, away
from the rumors, away from what's next.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
The Sean O'Connell opinion.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
If you just were if I should be a bit
reductive so I can sell you lose Kyle Whittingham's legacy
as Utah's head football coach.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Sounds like what.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Best coach in program history, one of the best coaches
and we've seen in all of college football. Put up
the statue and just be happy that you had someone
who was able to navigate the craziness of taking over
from Urban Meyer, replicating the Fiesta Bole success and taking
(18:35):
it to a higher height by beating Alabama in a
Sugar Bowl and then of course pushing this program, this university,
that this athletic department, this community, this team through a
transition into power football, into the Pac twelve Conference, where
you didn't just like hang around and you didn't just
do a decent job. You ended up building yourself first
(18:58):
into a conference championship tender, and then into a conference
champion and into a nationally respected perennial Top twenty five team.
You were a college football power in Salt Lake City,
Utah that two decades ago was a basketball town, mostly
because of Kyle Whittingham. That's as good a legacy as
anyone's going to leave at any college football program.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Well said Sean.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Appreciate the time, Enjoy the PFL championships, Enjoy France, Travel safe,
and we'll see you next week.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Okay, all right, see you next week. Thanks.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
All right.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Great Sean O'Connell with some perspective on the massive news
that broke right as we were starting this radio show,
Kyle Whittingham stepping down after twenty one years
So just to catch you up, literally, as the intro
to this show was going, we received the email from
the Utah Athletic Department that Kyle Whittingham is stepping down
as Utah's head football coach. Did not say he is
retiring from coaching. So the first segment was a heartfelt
(00:22):
thank you to Kyle, and then we brought Eric Weddel on,
and as the Eric Weddle interview was kind of moving along,
Stuart Mandel from the Athletic reports that his sources and
Stuart would know. Okay, I know a lot of people
might not love Stuart Mandel. What you can't argue with
is that he is very plugged in, maybe one of
the top four or five college football media members in
(00:44):
the country, and his sources are telling him that this
is not a retirement, and Kyle is still very much
interested in coaching. There's a school in Ann Arbor that
needs a head coach. There is a NFL team named
the Kansas City Chiefs that is coached by Andy Reid,
who is one of Kyle's good friends and Kyle's son
as an assistant. I don't know what to make of
(01:05):
this entire thing. We go live to France, because this
is a classy show where we find Sean O'Connell sipping
on a bacleba shake.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Hello, Sean, we we no baclava shak it is man,
what a news dump for Utah football throwing this out
at ten pm France time? What are we doing with people?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, consider the French Mick Jenkin.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
My goodness, all right, Sean, I said, I'm getting blown up,
but you're an alum. You played there. I would imagine
your phone is going crazy. So let me just get
your reaction to the news that he is stepping down,
the Mandel report, that he's still interested in coaching, and
what you think comes next.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, the reaction is I think the only appropriate reaction
is one that sounds like you started the show with
just gratitude. You know, we had twenty one pretty incredible
years and now have a Utah football program that the
entire alumni, based, the fans of the university, the professors
at the university, you can be proud of Utah football
(02:07):
and that's that's something pretty special. And Kyle Whittingham is
the biggest part of that. So, you know, gratitude to coach.
He's he's been a great example to a lot of
young men that have thrown, you know, flown through that program,
and he's won a lot of football games, and it's
there was a time spence when you and I were
going to school at the University of Utah, especially when
(02:28):
you were going to the school at the University of Utah,
where what was accomplished under Kyle Whittingham was completely unfathomable.
It was like a most ridiculous segment of the silliest imagination.
And he climbed a lot of hills and did a
lot of things, and we should be appreciative of that.
I did think that this was probably coming at some point,
(02:50):
and then we saw the big time commitments rolling in,
and we saw this private equity deal that's supposed to
provide more resources, and I was like, man, we know
that Kyle Whittingham is still competitive and it might be
enticing to him to say, can I be even more
competitive if I have these resources at my disposal. But also,
he is not one who's prone to the whims of
(03:12):
external factors, and it seems like this is a decision
that he and his family have made, probably over the
course of the last two almost three years. So I'm
not shocked to see him go. I'm not even sad
to see him go, but there's a little melancholy in it,
because you know, it's the end of an era at
the University of Utah. As far as the report that
maybe he's still interested in coaching, I think that's true,
(03:36):
but I think you hit the two jobs on the head.
I think that he's not interested in taking a lateral step,
but he's not certainly not interested in taking a backward step.
If you can go to a place like Michigan and
call the waters there as a you know, sort of
short term fix while they figure out who their next
athletic director is probably going to because you've got to
get rid of war to manual and you're obviously anti
(04:02):
scandal right now if you're a Michigan president, a Michigan fan.
There are a few coaches in all of college football
who are less scandalous than Kyle Whittingham. So I think
that's an incredibly far fetched possibility. But it's probably the
type of job that he would be interested in. And
he has said for years, I think publicly and also privately,
(04:23):
that the NFL does intrigue him. That's a different level.
And Andy Reid is not exactly having his best year,
and Kansas City Chiefs are probably going to have some
mix up on their coaching staff. So maybe Kyle Whittingham
does get a call to be at some type of
advisor there. But I think the most likely outcome here
is that Kyle Whittingham entertains a couple of phone calls
(04:45):
and offers and decides that he's going to ski and
ride his motorcycle and hang out with his grandkids and
will continue to give him his flowers as we watch
Morgan Scaley takeover.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And I don't have wits contract in front of me,
but my understanding is throughout the years, when he's been
able to renegotiate, like when Tennessee came call in, or
when he was able to get extensions as part of
his contract, is a very lucrative retirement package where I
guess he would be a special advisor to the athletic
department of the football program. And with I'm not a
(05:18):
contract lawyer, I don't know if you knew that, Sean,
my guess would be if he took another job, that
more or less would be compromised, right, isn't that fair
to say?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Well? Probably, but Also, it's Kyle Whittingham, not the guy
who's going to have either his name on the field
or a statue in front of a Sego stadium. So
let's say that he does take another job, and again
I think it's probably less likely that he does than
anything else. When he comes back and says, hey, I'd
(05:49):
like to be an advisor to the program or I'd
like to help you out in the athletic department. Who's
going to say no.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
To Kyle Whittingham the athletic director.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I guess you have a private equity bro to say that.
But I mean if the athletic director says, okay, all
time winning as coach, okay, legend who helped build this
program from you know, not nothing, certainly because the foundation
had already been laid, but build us this program up
to its highest heights. We don't want you involved anymore.
(06:20):
It just doesn't make sense that that would be the case.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Well, see, I gotta be careful here.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I don't know how much of this to go on
air with because I don't want to even imply.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
That that wit was encouraged to do this.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I would imagine whether it's Taylor Randall or Mark Carlin
or but I honestly don't know. I'm just trying to
connect the dots and you know, surmise how this most
likely went down. I guess I'll just ask you, as
an alum and somebody who's plugged in with former teammates
and the coaching staff up there, is there any part
of you that believes that this wasn't Kyle's call entirely?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I'll just ask it like that.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
No, I think this was Kyle's call. I think, I mean, Spence,
you and I talked about this before the Kansas State game. Yep,
I said, I think this is his last home game.
I think that I'm going to look into the stands
and I'm going to try and figure out who is
there from the Whittingham family. And every single Whittingham was there,
(07:23):
every one of them. Every person who's maiden name was
Whittingham was there, every person who. I mean. It was
a gathering of the Whittingham clan at the Kansas State game,
and that was the sort of final straw for me.
I said, Okay, they don't gather on the field after
they weren't being real sneaky about it. Spence and I
didn't go to the air with this because it felt
(07:46):
icky to do so because it was a family thing.
But when we walked out of the postgame presser after
that Kansas State game, and you have to kind of
exit through that tunnel, right, the Crimson Club seats have
the tunnel that goes out into the south end zone.
I walked out there to go up into the parking
lot and there was a massive group family photo being
(08:08):
posed on the field at rece Eco Stadium. I've been
to a lot of final home games in a lot
of seasons that Kyle Whittingham's been the head coach. I
haven't seen that before, and so I think the family
had been told this is probably it. And I was
told by people who went on the road for the
Kansas game that there was a heck of a lot
more Whittinghams at that game than they were used to seeing.
(08:29):
So I think that the klan knew that this was
probably it. And maybe it wasn't a final decision made
at that point, but the tea leaves have been giving
us these signs for three years. He would have walked
away last year, he said as much on My show
and on your show. Couldn't walk away on a bad
note like that, which means I was thinking about walking away,
(08:52):
but I couldn't do it on a five win season.
I'm too competitive for that, so he came back for
another year. I think he made his intentions relatively clear
to Morgan, Hey, you're not gonna have to wait that
much longer. You probably said the same thing to Mark Carlin,
or probably with Wes Clarity. I mean maybe they said, hey, man,
you've been leaning this way, and we have this new
(09:14):
era of the athletic department coming in with this money
and stuff. So do you feel like now is the time?
Because we feel like now is the time. But ultimately
the decision was always going to be his, and it's
not like he hasn't been hinting at this for months
and months and months and years.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, and I've I've just been echoing your sentiment on
my show all year that you've been steadfast and you're
belief that this was it. I was convinced after the
k State game, then after the Kansas game. The final
two games of the season, when he became emotional after
the k Stay win and lost in the coverage was
the actual sentence that sent him.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It wasn't about a player. It wasn't about a game.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
It was when he said the last chance at rice
Eco Stadium that got him, all right, And so that
hit me right away. And then after the Kansas win
when he admitted, really for the first time, I mean,
you had a good interview with him that I think
a lot of people don't give you enough credit for
where he did kind of talk about his thought process,
but he was very front facing and admitting.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
That he was close to walking away a year ago.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
So after the Kansas game, my show all week, I
led with it. On Monday, I said, I'm now comfortable
saying into this microphone that it is my opinion, not okay,
Sean tells me this, and I trust Sean like I
am now of the opinion that Kyle is going to
step down the.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Deadline.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
As I understood it was a week ago today, I
didn't know when we were going to hear it publicly,
and today it is now public news. I've had a
couple of people surmised that they don't believe he's coaching
in the Bowl game. Do you think, come on New
Year's Eve against Nebraska, Kyle Winningham's on the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I think so unless heat and he does take some
other job, and again I think that's less than likely,
but I think you'll you'll have him there, even just
for appearance's sake, even just to say, you know, wave
at the fans that make the trip down to Vegas
and kind of do that, which is feels much more
like a Jamie Whittingham thing than like a Kyle Whittingham thing.
(11:15):
But you know what's being reported right now is that
he intends to coach the bowl game and that he
pointed to Morgan Scalley and said after the bowl game,
that's going to be your head coach. So I think
he'll finish it out. I mean, Kyle Whittingham is the
dude who finishes what he starts, right, So if there's
one more game in the season, he's going to be
(11:35):
there in some capacity, all right.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Moving over to what we do know, and that is
there is a new coach, and it is Morgan.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
He slides over seat.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Weddle was great earlier basically speaking for the alumni, and
if there's a guy that can speak for the alumni,
I would think it's safe to say that it's Eric Weddle.
But the sentiment among former players and the confidence that
this is the right move.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Sounds like what.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Sean incredibly high that Morgan is the dude. Now, look,
Morgan's going to have to do whatever he head coach
does and make sure he fills his staff out with
the right guys. And sometimes that means, you know, building
bridges with other people that you don't know very well.
One of the criticisms if you go back ten years
(12:19):
to when you know Kyle Whittingham was struggling with his
offense and hiring a new coordinator every year, one of
the criticisms was, you have to be able to hire
people that don't come from your coaching tree, that you
didn't coach yourself, that aren't you know, your nephews or whatever.
It was like, So Morgan, I might have to do
that at some point. Kolini Sataki when he took over
(12:40):
at BYU. What did he do. He hired a bunch
of guys that he had made promises to on his
way up the ladder, and guys that he was really
close friends with and he was teammates with. And he
had to overhaul that staff in order to find the
era of success that he's got right now. So there
might be some growing pains with Morgan in filling out
his staff, but more or absolutely is the right leader
(13:02):
for this program. I think he's an incredible recruiter. I
think he's a great person. I think that you know,
he is as Utah as Utah comes. I mean, his
entire coaching life has been here, his playing life was here.
He went to high school. I guess East High School
is closer than Highland is and West is probably closer
than Highland is. But he went to high school at
(13:23):
like the third closest high school to the university. I
mean he is He grew up in the shadow of
Right Cycle Stadium in a figurative sense. So there could
not be a better person to take over the program.
Could not be a person with more knowledge of exactly
what it takes to get people to love it here,
to stay and appreciate the development that they're going to
(13:46):
get from guys that have been on this staff. I
don't know if he's going to be able to keep
all the assistants that we're used to, but he is
the right guys.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Sean O'Connell, it's the Christmas season, So if you had
to write a letter to Santa Sean and you're asking
Santa to deliver your preferred defensive coordinator.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
What would that letter sound like exactly?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Oh Man, I would say, Santa, I would like co
defensive coordinators, which won't happen, by the way, but this
is my Christmas letter. It is, so you don't get
to correct me on it. And I would say, Santa,
I would like co defensive coordinators at the University of Utah.
I would like j Hill because he's only going to
be a coordinator for one more year and Colton Swan
(14:34):
to be the co defensive coordinators share that load. Jay
ends up taking a head coaching job. Colton Swan then
is fully prepared, having been mentored through the process by
somebody like Jay Hill. And the side bonus there is
it undermines BYU success because they don't have j Hill anymore.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
The natural follow up is, have you been naughty or
nice this year?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Sean always nice?
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Okay, no lumpacole. You get what you wish for, all right.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I'm going to be irresponsible here for a moment because
we're it's sports talk radio, you know, We'll leave the
journalism to the camaradies of the world. The hypothetical sounds
like this, we find out within the next, I don't
know twenty four hours that the University of Michigan has
hired Kyle Whittingham, who goes with him Tan Arbor.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Oh, man, you're killing me by making me say it.
I already took my tweet down because I started to
feel bad about stirring up the drink. Look, Kyle Whittingham
takes Gary Anderson to be his defensive coordinator and he
takes Chason Beck to be his offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I cannot believe that we're even talking about this on
sports talk and talk radio.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
It's so weird.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I want to make it clear. I think that is
less than likely because Michigan would be Michigan would be
very wise to make that phone call. I don't think
they're going to. I think they're going to be like, well,
let's get Klin the Boar out of Alabama and let's
pay him fifteen million dollars a year, and they're going
to reset the market again by doing it. Well, you
wouldn't have to do that with Kyle Whittingham necessarily, But
(16:15):
you know that's those are Michigan problems.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Not mine.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, I mean, ultimately, it actually and it's a weird
show to do today because I didn't prep for any
of this. I didn't know the news was going to
come down that I didn't expect the Mandel report that
he still wants to coach. But honestly, Kyle Whittingham in
ann Arbor feels like it makes a lot of sense,
Like it actually feels like a pretty synergistic fit.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I mean, like I already stated, there's nobody that could
calm the waters more quickly than Kyle Whittingham, and it would.
It's not like the splash higher that gets every Michigan
fan and the students excited, like, oh my gosh, this
is a guy who's going to win us A national
championship next year. But it is a hire that you
(17:03):
could not find a single person out there willing to
criticize or able to criticize. Because what your goal should
be at Michigan right now are to hire someone who's
a proven commodity as a head coach, as a recruiter,
as a developer of talent, and as a steadying force.
And I mean, I guess you know what you could
Kirk Farns at Iowa might be just as good as
(17:25):
a hire, but they're very familiar with him. They know
his problems in the Big Ten, and they don't want
those at Michigan. So I don't think it's going to happen.
But if I were the athletic director of the university
president at the University of Michigan, as soon as I
saw that news come across my desk, I'd be getting
the phone number of Kyle Whittingham's agent, especially when I
(17:46):
saw Camaranie and Stewart Mandel saying, hey, he might still coach.
He's just stepping away from Utah because it's time and
it's Morgan Scalley's turn.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
All right, last thing, and I'll set you loose, away
from the rumors, away from what's next.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
The Sean O'Connell opinion.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
If you just were if I should be a bit
reductive so I can sell you lose Kyle Whittingham's legacy
as Utah's head football coach.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Sounds like what.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Best coach in program history, one of the best coaches
and we've seen in all of college football. Put up
the statue and just be happy that you had someone
who was able to navigate the craziness of taking over
from Urban Meyer, replicating the Fiesta Bole success and taking
(18:35):
it to a higher height by beating Alabama in a
Sugar Bowl and then of course pushing this program, this university,
that this athletic department, this community, this team through a
transition into power football, into the Pac twelve Conference, where
you didn't just like hang around and you didn't just
do a decent job. You ended up building yourself first
(18:58):
into a conference championship tender, and then into a conference
champion and into a nationally respected perennial Top twenty five team.
You were a college football power in Salt Lake City,
Utah that two decades ago was a basketball town, mostly
because of Kyle Whittingham. That's as good a legacy as
anyone's going to leave at any college football program.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Well said Sean.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Appreciate the time, Enjoy the PFL championships, Enjoy France, Travel safe,
and we'll see you next week.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Okay, all right, see you next week. Thanks.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
All right.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Great Sean O'Connell with some perspective on the massive news
that broke right as we were starting this radio show,
Kyle Whittingham stepping down after twenty one years
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