This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Ten years ago, BYU coach Gary Crowton picked me up as I was walking to his resignation news conference, and then I awaited Utah coach Urban Meyer's potential arrival on two campuses.
So I never imagined any football coaching situation in this state being crazier than the developments that took me from BYU to Notre Dame to Florida and back to BYU in December 2004, during a two-week period that at least temporarily reshaped four programs from Logan to Provo.
The latest twists and turns may top that sequence of events, which resulted in the hiring of Meyer at Florida, Kyle Whittingham at Utah, Bronco Mendenhall at BYU, Ron McBride at Weber State and Brent Guy at Utah State.
Regardless of how Whittingham's future is resolved, the issue has blown up beyond any proportions that anyone could have seen coming. Well, I've been naïve, anyway. Once the Utes reached 7-3 in mid-November with a win at Stanford, I figured any discussion of Whittingham's status was moot.
Even when defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake moved to Oregon State last week, I cited reasoning apart from anything having to do with questions about Whittingham's position. Same story, with some twists, with offensive coordinator Dave Christensen's departure to Texas A&M. But the trend should have suggested something was amiss between Whittingham and Utah athletic director Chris Hill.
So here we are, 30 days after Utah's regular season ended, and (as of this minute) there's no resolution regarding Whittingham's future. Something has to happen soon, obviously. But why couldn't it have been handled three weeks ago?
If the timing of this entire discussion is odd, following Utah's 9-4 season, the big question is why the issue has lingered this long. And if Whittingham ends up being out at Utah, one way or another, the process will be extended even longer, with all kinds of possible outcomes.
And once that's done, I'll begin preparing for another round of coaching craziness in 2024.
Twitter: @tribkurt