In Crazy College Football Coaching Carousel, Somehow Michigan Comes Out On Top

This year's college football coaching carousel has been as wild as any in recent memory. Big name coaches were fired, or removed, from top tier programs. 

Penn State moved on from James Franklin. Virginia Tech had an opening. Auburn fired Hugh Freeze. The Florida Gators ended the Billy Napier era. The UCLA Bruins fired DeShaun Foster after a brutal year and a half in Los Angeles. LSU fired Brian Kelly after he under-delivered on the potential of the Tigers program. Ole Miss, Michigan State, Kentucky, Cal, Arkansas, Stanford, Oklahoma State…the list is virtually endless. 

Then there's the Michigan Wolverines. Boy oh boy did Michigan fire its head coach.

RELATED: Michigan Hires Kyle Whittingham As New Coach Following Sherrone Moore Scandal. Is He The Right Guy?

Some of these teams made big hires that could improve their outlook moving forward. LSU pried Lane Kiffin away from Mississippi. Virginia Tech upgraded with James Franklin. UCLA made a smart hire with Bob Chesney from James Madison. Penn State got Matt Campbell and Florida took Jon Sumrall from Tulane. 

But after all the drama, shocking revelations about Sherrone Moore and his behavior in the immediate aftermath, Michigan somehow came out on top. Hiring Kyle Whittingham is the best outcome and biggest upgrade for any program this year.

Michigan Hires Utah's Kyle Whittingham As New Coach Following Sherrone Moore Scandal. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

Kyle Whittingham Is Biggest Coaching Upgrade Yet

Whittingham has, for years now, been the most underrated coach in college football. The Utah Utes football program would hardly be described as a powerhouse or blue blood. It doesn't have anywhere close to the financial backing of big name teams, which, as ASU's Kenny Dillingham spoke about recently, is arguably the most important variable in the modern landscape.

Yet year in and year out, Whittingham helped make Utah a contending team in the Pac-12 Conference. In six of the nine seasons from 2014-2022, the Utes finished ranked in the top-25 of the final AP Poll of the season. They were 12th in 2021 and 10th in 2022. This year, they went 10-2, with their only losses coming against playoff-bound Texas Tech and top-12 BYU. 

The level of consistency Whittingham achieved at Utah is the envy of much larger programs, and he's done it in Power 4-5 conferences. Take Florida, for example. Since 2014, the Gators have finished ranked in the top 25 five times, while Whittingham's Utes teams have been ranked in seven seasons. That's with the recruiting, financial and historic advantages Florida has over Utah. 

Same with Auburn. The Tigers have been ranked only four times at the end of a season since 2014. Despite its SEC pedigree and top recruiting, Auburn's spent a grand total of two weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 since the start of the 2022 season. Four years, two poll appearances. Utah's been ranked for 46 weeks in that same time frame. 

That's who Michigan hired. Someone who took Utah, and turned it into a program that can go toe-to-toe with much bigger and richer teams. The Utes beat an excellent USC team in 2022, twice, though once was after Caleb Williams got hurt. They won the Pac-12 Championship that year, falling in the Rose Bowl to a very good Penn State team. In the expanded playoff era, that's a playoff team. 

Now give a coach with that same resume the financial backing Michigan has. The massive fanbase. The gigantic home stadium. The NIL support. The recruiting opportunities. That's a recipe for success. 

Yes, Whittingham is older, at 66. But sometimes top programs look for the up and comer, expecting they'll provide stability and quality for a decade or more. But as we've seen, all too often, they either fall well short of expectations, or move on to a bigger job for more money long before their contract is up. 

Whittingham isn't going anywhere. He's got five years to turn Michigan into a consistent contender, without the off-field drama or issues that Harbaugh and Moore had. Given what he accomplished at Utah, that's a bet worth taking.

And the best part, as one intrepid Reddit user found, he only follows two women on Instagram: his wife and daughter. And he hasn't posted in 10 years. That's the kind of track record Michigan needs right now.