The Michigan Wolverines can move forward into its new era. The university has announced the signing of a new head coach on a five-year deal.
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Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel of ESPN broke the news on Friday afternoon and revealed that Michigan has agreed to terms with Kyle Whittingham. Michigan then confirmed the news with a press release.
The 66-year-old coach will now take over the troubled program and try to get it back on track after multiple scandals.
This includes the arrest of former head coach Sherrone Moore in early December. Michigan fired Moore on Dec. 10 over an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. He was then arrested and charged with a third-degree felony and two misdemeanors for a "home invasion."
Whittingham announced earlier this month that he would step down as head coach of Utah's football program after 21 years. He made comments at the time that he was not retiring. He was simply entering the transfer portal.
Whittingham served as co-coach of the Utah football team to close out the 2004 season, Urban Meyer's final run before his departure to the University of Florida. This tenure started with a Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh.
The California native remained the head coach of Utah in 2005 and beyond while continuing to achieve success with this program. He led the team to a 7-5 record and an Emerald Bowl win in his first full season.
Whittingham then coached the Utes to 16 more winning seasons. His run of success included a perfect 13-0 record in 2008, which culminated with a 31-17 win over the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide. He earned MWC Coach of the Year honors for this feat.
The veteran coach has an overall win-loss record of 177-88 at Utah and a Bowl Game win-loss percentage of 64.7%. He has celebrated some major wins over such teams as Washington, Alabama, USC, Oregon, Baylor, and Texas Tech. Now, he will have the task of taking down Michigan rival Ohio State.
"Kyle Whittingham is a well-respected and highly successful head coach who is widely recognized as a leader of exceptional character and principled leadership," said Director of Athletics Warde Manuel. "Throughout our search, he consistently demonstrated the qualities we value at Michigan: vision, resilience, and the ability to build and sustain championship-caliber teams.
"Kyle brings not only a proven track record of success, but also a commitment to creating a program rooted in toughness, physicality, discipline and respect — where student-athletes and coaches represent the university with distinction both on and off the field. We are excited to welcome Kyle to the University of Michigan family as he takes the helm of our football program."
