Utah’s Kyle Whittingham ranks high on ESPN’s list of best college coaches
ESPN recently released its list of the top 10 coaches in college football, and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham ranked high.
A panel of ESPN college football reporters put together the list this month. Georgia’s Kirby Smart ranked first, followed by former Washington and current Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Ranked right after those two was Whittingham.
“Whittingham has been a hallmark of consistency, finishing with just two losing seasons in 19 years (right after Utah made the jump from the Mountain West to the Pac-12),” ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura wrote. “He guided the Utes to an undefeated season in 2008, two Pac-12 titles and eight top-25 finishes in the AP poll, including six in the past 10 years. All at a school without the resources of the other coaches’ programs on this list.”
Whittingham is gearing up for his 20th season at the helm in Salt Lake City. The 2024 season will be his second conference change as a head coach as he leads the Utes into the Big 12 Conference after the collapse of the Pac-12.
Whittingham has consistently done more with less — though Utah’s recruiting has seen a significant bump in recent years, the Utes have never had a top-15 class — and has won three conference championships and led Utah to perhaps its greatest season ever in 2008, finishing off the 13-0 season with a win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Along the way, he’s remained loyal to Utah — tied for the second-longest tenured coach with one school — and has rebuffed offers from schools like Tennessee along the way.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, Kansas’ Lance Leipold and Ohio State’s Ryan Day rounded out ESPN’s top 10.
