Kyle Whittingham
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| Date of birth | November 21, 1959 | |
|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | San Luis Obispo, California | |
| Sport | Football | |
| College | Utah | |
| Title | Head Coach | |
| Record with Team | 7-5 | |
| Overall Record | 7-5 | |
| Coaching Stats | College Football DataWarehouse | |
| Schools as a coach | ||
| 2005-Present | Utah | |
Kyle Whittingham (b. November 21, 1959 in San Luis Obispo, California) is the head football coach of the University of Utah Utes. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utah's defensive coordinator for 10 seasons. He was named head coach of the Utah after Urban Meyer left for the University of Florida in 2004.
Whittingham graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1984 and went on to play linebacker for the New Orleans Breakers of the old USFL and the Calgary Stampede of the CFL. Whittingham also became a Graduate Assistant for BYU during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. In 1987 Whittingham was named defensive coordinator at the College of Eastern Utah. He coached there for a season before taking a job at Idaho State. After two seasons with Idaho State, Whittingham joined the Utah staff and coached under his father, Fred Whittingham. In the 1995 season, Whittingham replaced his father as the defensive coordinator, where he would stay until being named head coach in 2004. Whittingham is married to the former Jamie Daniels and the two have four children: Tyler, Melissa, Alex and Kylie
[edit] Head Coaching Career
Whittingham replaced celebrated coach Urban Meyer after Meyer led Utah to a 11-0 season in 2004. That season ended with Utah becoming the first non-BCS team to make a BCS bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl. After winning the Fiesta Bowl, the Utes' overall record improved to 12-0. After the 2004 season, the Utes lost junior starting quarterback Alex Smith to the NFL when he was drafted #1 by the San Francisco 49ers. This contributed to the University of Utah becoming the first school ever to have a #1 draft pick in the NFL and a #1 draft pick in the NBA within the same year. (Andrew Bogut was the first round NBA draft pick)
Whittingham's first season 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 -- with a win over their bitter rival BYU -- 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 great adversity. Starting quarterback Brett Ratliff struggled through parts of the year, and so did the Utes. Yet, like the year before, the Utes rebounded toward the end of the season and became bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, a school record. Whittingham has a record of 14-10 (.583) and will coach the Utes in the Armed Forces Bowl against the University of Tulsa.
[edit] Head Coaching Record
| TEAM | YEAR | WINS | LOSSES | Bowl Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 2005 | 7 | 5 | Emerald Bowl |
| Utah | 2006 | 7 | 5 | Armed Forces Bowl |
| CAREER TOTAL | 2 years | 14 | 10 |
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Urban Meyer |
University of Utah Head Football Coach 2005– |
Succeeded by: Current |
| Utah Utes Head Football Coaches |
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| C.B. Ferris • Cummings • Wilson • Holmes • Maddock • Bennion • Norgren • Fitzpatrick • Armstrong • Curtice • Nagel • Giddings • Meek • Lovat • Howard • Stobart • Fassel • McBride • Meyer • Whittingham |
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