Michigan Set To Hire Kyle Whittingham As New Coach Following Sherrone Moore Scandal. Is He The Right Guy?

The Michigan coaching search has finally ended after a few weeks of conversing with potential candidates following the firing of Sherrone Moore. Now, it will be Utah coach Kyle Whittingham leading the Wolverines program into the future. 

There has been plenty of discourse since the firing of Moore as to who would be the right candidate to take over the Michigan football program. 

Earlier this month, Sherrone Moore was fired with cause for having an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a female staffer. The same day, he was arrested on multiple charges after breaking into the staffers' home and threatening to kill himself with a knife. 

Sherrone Moore Taken Into Police Custody For Assault Hours After Being Fired By Michigan

Even though officials in Ann Arbor at first had their sights set on someone like Alabama's Kalen DeBoer, along with a few others, the Wolverines might have landed on the right guy. 

Earlier this month, Whittingham announced he was stepping down as the Utah head coach, but not retiring. This left open the door for him to look for his next opportunity, with the Michigan job being floated as a possible opportunity if it was presented. 

Michigan Scandal Update: New Sworn Testimony Reveals What Sherrone Moore Did At Staffer's Home After Firing

Over the course of 21 seasons at Utah, Whittingham went 177-88 as the head coach. He is set to coach the Utes one final time in the Las Vegas Bowl on New Year's Eve. 

Earlier this week, sources told OutKick that Michigan officials had finally moved on from hoping Kalen DeBoer would change his mind, which came after multiple denials from the Alabama head coach that he would leave Tuscaloosa. 

During that time, interim coach Biff Poggi lobbied pretty hard for school officials to remove the interim tag from his title, also providing a few interesting quotes about the current state of Michigan football. 

"It has been five years of — let's just call it what it is — a malfunctioning organization where there's something every year," Biff Poggi said on Monday. "The athletic director has made it very clear he doesn't want any more of that. If I am named the coach, which I don't know if I am, there will be a massive self-examination of what's happened in this building. And you can expect a lot of changes."

Biff Poggi: Michigan's 'Malfunctioning Organization' After Latest Scandal With Sherrone Moore Has To Be Fixed

But, this was probably not the best way to publicly interview for the job, and Poggi knew that school officials were talking with other candidates. 

Turns out, one of those coaches that was vetted extensively was Kyle Whittingham, who brings a plethora of experience after keeping Utah in the national conversation over the past fifteen years. 

Kyle Whttingham Most Likely Not To Excite Michigan Fan Base

The biggest problem that the Wolverines were running into during this entire debacle following the firing of Sherrone Moore was fans starting to become agitated with the direction of Michigan football. 

Now, the Wolverines athletic department will have to sell Whttingham as the guy who can lead them back to the college football playoff. Sure, his resume' speaks for itself. But, that does not mean donors, fans and players will all join them in celebrating this hire. 

While it's certainly been a chaotic month in Ann Arbor, I don't see things calming down much inside the football building. There is an ongoing investigation into the firing of Sherrone Moore, along with events surrounding multiple NCAA investigations over the past five years. 

After Sherrone Moore Scandal, Michigan Board Orders Investigation Into Athletic Department

There is also another question that comes with the hiring of Kyle Whittingham. 

Will AD Warde Manuel keep his job over the next year? This part of the equation is tricky to answer, even though he has been leading the coaching search. 

If we're being honest, Whittingham is not the most exciting candidate for fans. And, this is a risk, with plenty of players on the current roster mulling a decision to enter the transfer portal. 

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

Does this type of hire do enough to keep talented quarterback Bryce Underwood around? Will the donors continue shelling out millions of dollars for players in the future? 

Whittingham is walking into a tough spot, with the fate of Wolverines football in his hands. Even though this might take a lot of selling by the Michigan administration to its supporters, the Utah coach is the stabilizing person that this program needs in a time like this. 

At 66-years-old, Kyle Whittingham decided it was time for him to step down as the Utah head coach and pass the torch. Almost two weeks later, he's taking the reins at one of the blue blood jobs in college football. 

I guess timing is everything in coaching. Now, he has his work cut out for him in Ann Arbor. 

Is Kyle Whittingham the sexiest pick as the next Michigan head coach? No, but he might end up being the best guy for the job right now.