How much will Kyle Whittingham and Michigan hurt Utah and BYU? Here are the latest coaching and transfer rumors and reports.

Kyle Whittingham is off to Ann Arbor, but he still wields a heavy hand in Salt Lake City.

The longtime Utah coach could take a hammer to both major in-state programs in the coming days — raiding them for coaches and players.

He’s already started by peeling away BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill and Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck. He took most of Utah’s offensive staff around Beck, too — with Jim Harding, Freddie Whittingham and Micah Simon all heading east.

Time will tell which players Whittingham is eying for his Wolverines. It certainly wouldn’t be crazy to think Whittingham wants to pick off some of the top players that helped his Utes win 11 games in 2025 and, maybe, steal a few away from a Cougar program that bested Utah earlier this year.

All of it leaves new Utah coach Morgan Scalley a mess in his first days on the job. As the transfer portal opened Friday, he still needed two coordinators, a different recruiting director and an entirely new offensive system.

Whittingham didn’t do his longtime friend Kalani Sitake any favors either by stealing away Hill. With how much power and responsibility Hill amassed in Provo, replacing him is far more complicated than just a normal defensive coordinator.

Here is where it stands for the Utes and Cougars as Whittingham reshapes the state’s football landscape.

Scalley’s coordinator rebuild

With two coordinator positions to fill, Scalley will have to get busy as Utah’s head coach.

Utah linebackers coach Colton Swan is a likely candidate to become the Utes’ next defensive coordinator. He’s been with the program for seven seasons and has helped develop linebackers like Devin Lloyd, Karene Reid and Lander Barton.

Where things could get tricky for Scalley is trying to replace Beck after he led one of the most high-powered offenses in Utes history, especially if he’s trying to hold onto quarterbacks Devon Dampier and maybe, more importantly, freshman phenom Byrd Ficklin.

With no realistic internal candidates, Scalley has looked at former Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith and Arizona State’s current offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Marcus Arroyo to fill the shoes left by Beck.

Arroyo has been with multiple Power Four programs over the years, including Oklahoma State, Oregon and most recently Arizona State. He could be a premier candidate to land in Salt Lake City, due to his work with top quarterbacks like Sam Leavitt and Justin Herbert.

Utah was looking at BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick as a potential option, but that appears unlikely to happen at this point.

What is clear? Scalley wants to maintain the offensive firepower the Utes had this season under Beck. The formula could change, however. The first-year head coach could look to pivot away from Whittingham’s run-heavy approach that Utah has had for so many years to a passing offense, much like what the Utes did in their bowl win over Nebraska.

What players are leaving the Utes?

All-American defensive end John Henry Daley said he would enter the NCAA transfer portal before Utah’s bowl game and could be a prime candidate to join Whittingham and Jay Hill on the Wolverines.

Utah starting defensive backs Tao Johnson and Smith Snowden entered the portal on Friday and could also be set to follow Whittingham to Michigan.

On offense, the most notable names to watch for the Utes are Dampier and Ficklin. Dampier has followed Beck at every stop since joining on as New Mexico’s offensive coordinator several years ago. It remains unclear whether or not the junior quarterback would join Beck in Michigan, with five-star quarterback and former No. 1 recruit Bryce Underwood still under center.

That could leave Dampier with the option to remain in Salt Lake, go to the Wolverines with no guarantee of playing, or open up his options in the transfer portal. Dampier is from Arizona and has ties to Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham.

Ficklin also has a bevy of options to work with, even though he’s already signed a one-year deal to remain with the Utes. He had multiple Power Four suitors knocking on his door before he signed. That would remain the case if he got out of his deal with Utah next season.

But if he stays and Dampier leaves, the true freshman quarterback has a real opportunity to be Utah’s starter in 2025. Ficklin could also opt to follow the one man who gave him his only Power Four offer in high school: Whittingham.

What the two quarterbacks do remains to be seen. Will they stick around, leave or join Michigan? All options remain on the table.

The most powerful man in Provo?

Aaron Roderick might just be the most important person in Provo this week.

For the last three years, BYU’s offensive coordinator has taken a backseat to Hill. Hill came in with a shiny resume as a successful FCS head coach and immediately took on the associate head coaching responsibilities. He recruited at a high level, routinely beating out Utah for top prospects — something that hasn’t been done in over a decade.

Hill was the presumed next head coach if Sitake ever left Provo. And BYU athletic director Brian Santiago came close to acting on those contingency plans when Sitake flirted with Penn State in December. Because Hill meant so much to BYU, he commanded resources and significant pay raises every offseason.

Last year, Hill was in the running for the Utah State head coaching position. BYU kept him in Provo after a pay bump, according to multiple sources.

But now, it should be Roderick’s turn as BYU’s priority.

Even if it wasn’t as flashy as Hill, Roderick contributed just as much to BYU winning 23 games in the last two seasons. He took quarterback Jake Retzlaff from a junior college prospect into a legitimate Power Four starter. This year, Roderick recruited and mentored freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier to 12 wins and the Big 12 title game. Arguably, this season was more of Roderick’s masterpiece than Hill’s.

And now Roderick has some real power in this situation.

Sitake can’t afford to lose two coordinators in one offseason — not when BYU has been building to a College Football Playoff berth the last two years. Plus, Roderick built the foundation of this program on Bachmeier. BYU desperately wants to keep its young star quarterback in Provo — and maintain the continuity around him to develop with a full offseason.

It has been rumored Roderick will have other options, including the open Utah offensive coordinator position. Roderick coached at Utah before with Scalley. But it is trending toward Roderick staying in Provo.

Beyond Roderick, Sitake needs to keep the key pieces on his offensive staff.

TJ Woods helped reshape BYU’s offensive line. BYU ran the ball extremely well the last two years, a key factor in the program’s turnaround from a 5-7 start in the Big 12. Keeping Roderick, Woods and tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride will be pivotal in the next few days.

Replacing Hill

Sitake believes there are plenty of people who could replace Hill, including those currently on staff.

But there is a difference between understanding the defense Hill left behind and filling his shoes.

Hill was a good playcaller and effective coordinator. And there are definitely people he mentored in Provo who could do those things.

But he was also a high-level recruiter, a ruthless decision maker when it came to moving off players and adept at navigating the NIL space.

Those factors are just as critical in the next coordinator and, in theory, associate head coach. And we don’t know how the internal options measure up in those aspects.

One benefit Hill had was being a former head coach. He had navigated most of those other duties before. As he said, he knew how to be helpful to Sitake because he had Sitake’s position.

Everyone knows the names of the internal candidates: Kelly Poppinga, Gary Andersen and others. But the outside hires really have intrigue. Would former Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski work? Or former Cal head coach Justin Wilcox?

Bringing in a big name might have an additional benefit for the perception of BYU’s investment. If Sitake takes a big swing, it could show that BYU football is doubling down on its resources to continue to compete for Big 12 titles. The Cougars just gave Sitake a massive contract extension and touted extra resources for its staff. When is a better time to flex those muscles after losing Sitake’s top lieutenant to Whittingham?

Is Hill taking anyone?

Hill has a track record of taking his former players with him to his next spot.

BYU was the beneficiary over the last three years as Hill picked off his best Weber State players to join him in Provo. Eddie Heckard and Jack Kelly had fantastic stints in Provo.

This isn’t just about talent for Hill. Part of his method of bringing in former players is helping him install a complicated scheme. Hill’s system takes time to learn, but he put plenty of responsibility on Heckard and other players to help him implement it from the ground up. Heckard was so key that Hill eventually put him on staff.

So it wouldn’t be a shock to see Hill take some players with him to Ann Arbor. But who those players are is more difficult to discern.

The obvious choice was Faletau Satuala, who Hill flipped from Utah and turned into a star safety. But Satuala is a Utah native who chose between BYU and Utah in high school, spurning bigger offers. And he confirmed his plans to return to BYU in a tweet on Friday afternoon.

Another candidate was Tre Alexander. The long, athletic corner was one of Hill’s key additions. But Alexander announced this week that he is staying in Provo rather than following Hill to Michigan.

Hill could take coaches with him, with the first priority being corner coach Jernaro Gilford. Hill retained Gilford from the previous staff at BYU and promoted him to passing game coordinator. Gilford is in line to be a coordinator one day, but Hill is hoping he can keep him as a position coach for now.