Gordon Monson: 20 things Michigan football fans need to know about Kyle Whittingham

Here’s an open letter to all Wolverines, far and wide, a message about your new football coach, Kyle Whittingham, that includes 20 important and not-so-important things you should know about the man now atop Michigan football …

1. He’s a hard dude, a hard-working coach who expects proper diligence and preparation from his assistants and his players. When he declared in his introductory news conference the other day, “We will not become you … you will become us,” he meant it. That was the latest usage of one of his favorite expressions, an expression that is a bang-on representation of not just who he is and what he believes, but how he goes about every bit of his business. He is not the easiest head coach for whom to work. At times, he can wear his assistants thin and raw and out. While he comes across as an intelligent, reasonable individual in regular spaces and places, in casual conversation, in the heat of battle, he can be a madman. Any assistant who works for him or player who plays for him had best have on-point answers to his direct questions regarding why they do what they do, why they did what they did.

2. He says he’s mellowed through the years, but that’s a little like saying a once-used razor blade isn’t quite as sharp as it was when it came straight out of the package. Years ago, when Utah played Wyoming at Rice-Eccles Stadium, then-Cowboys coach Joe Glenn had the audacity to predict at a pregame pep rally in Laramie that his team would beat the Utes. When Whittingham heard about that, it was as though his competitive fires had nitro-fuel poured on them. When Utah took a 43-0 lead in the third quarter, the coach called for an onside kick.

“My emotions got the best of me,” he said afterward. Glenn responded, right there in front of the whole stadium, by flipping Whittingham off.

More recently, Whittingham said: “When I was young and brash, some of the things I did …” His voice trailed off. “… I’m a little more polished now.”

3. For all of his success at Utah over a 21-year span, he was usually quick to credit his players before attempting to grab the spotlight for himself. “It’s always about recruiting, always about the players,” he said again and again, neglecting to explain why, then, he as head coach — before the days of NIL — was making millions of dollars. At least now, the players get some cash, too.

4. Whittingham is a rock ’n’ roll fanatic. He favors classic rock. Not only does he listen to it and favor it, he studies it. Ask him trivia questions about who the lead singer was for, say, Three Dog Night or the Moody Blues, and he’ll fire off the answer in seconds. He’s happy to argue with you and you and you about who the best frontman is or was in rock history. He’ll say Freddie Mercury or Mick Jagger or David Lee Roth or Robert Plant. He absolutely loves Michigan’s own Bob Seger, as well as groups such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Beatles, the Eagles, and Van Halen. He adored Eddie Van Halen. When the revered guitarist died, Whittingham opened a subsequent press conference, unprompted, by paying tribute to the musician. Surprisingly, though, for reasons known only to him, he’s not a big fan of Bruce Springsteen or U2. He once told a friend: “If I ever see Bono, I’ll punch him in the face.”

Whittingham claims he remembers — “so clearly” — watching the Beatles debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. He was all of 4 at the time. He liked the Doobie Brothers until Michael McDonald joined the group. He thinks the greatest live performance in rock history was Queen’s famous appearance at Wembley Stadium.

5. He’s never been a great quarterbacks coach. Some of his QBs through the years have gotten freaked out over the possibility of throwing interceptions, and then having to face the wrath of the Dark Lord. They’d rather chuck the ball five yards out of bounds than attempt to bore a hole through a tight window. Nor has Whittingham been a wonderful friend to his offensive coordinators. Over one decade at Utah, he burned through 10 OCs. One of them said his number one job in play-calling was to protect Whittingham’s defense.

6. As a former linebacker and a longtime defensive coach, he’s always emphasized defense first. He likes to run the ball and cause chaos with his rugged resistance. One of the reasons he’s so high on Jason Beck is because this season’s offensive coordinator found a way to roll up a gazillion yards on the ground. He celebrates the pass — when it doesn’t interfere with his priorities. Utah quarterbacks never wore a path out to the NFL. Something for Bryce Underwood to consider.

7. For years, Whittingham made it a habit to avoid carrying money. His young daughter once asked him at a school event if she could have a buck to buy a drink at a concession stand. He had to borrow a dollar from a friend.

8. Whittingham is used to dealing with a hot rivalry. He played at BYU, but for much longer was the lead dog at Utah. The bitterness in that rivalry might not approach the ultra-heated Michigan-Ohio State deal, but it’s close. He’s familiar with both the sting of losing a rivalry game and, more often than not, winning it. And he knows how to disrespect “the team down south.”

9. He’s tight with former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who he worked with at Utah, but smart enough now to kick that to the curb, at least publicly.

10. He’s a mix of competitive and stubborn. Playing a round of golf with another friend, he found himself in a deep fairway bunker after a wayward tee shot. He was advised to take his losses and simply punch an easy shot out, and he said, “No way.” Four hacks with a fairway wood later, he was still in the sand. His face, as Johnny Miller once said it, looked like that of Curtis Strange after a three-putt.

11. Whittingham used to be easily bothered by public criticism. He’s learned to temper that, showing some patience, if that’s the right word, in working the media. He gives great opening statements in postgame interviews, rather than running from problems, he frankly addresses issues that emerged in the game, both negative and positive. Ask him a tough-but-fair question and he seems to almost appreciate the chance to address it. Whittingham doesn’t say everything, but he gives enough candid information to feed the beast.

12. Whittingham showed considerable insight at Utah, recognizing talent that might not have been outwardly obvious at first and then developing it enough to make mediocre players good and good players great. He also moved players from one position to another, one that fit them better.

13. One of his hallmarks at Utah was molding together players from all sorts of backgrounds, races, ethnicities, religious beliefs, beliefs of other kinds, forming those players, and their varied differences, into teams that not only won, but also treated each other like family.

“That’s the foundation of our culture,” he once told me. “Family is the bedrock of the program. These players genuinely love each other.”

14. When Whittingham first took over as Utah head coach from Meyer after the 2004 season, he had lessons to learn. And he learned them. The aforementioned intensity was sometimes off the charts. He came around, at least in part, on that. He took Utah from the Mountain West into the Pac-12, where he saw his share of success. He evolved into one of the best coaches in the country.

“Smart guys know in the beginning what dumb guys don’t know until the end,” he said with a laugh.

Make no mistake as a Michigan fan, though, you might not agree with every call of every play, you might not like it when Whittingham goes for it on fourth down-and-long when in field-goal range, but it will become more than obvious that Whittingham is more intelligent, more savvy than a lot of coaches. He’s nobody’s dummy and he’s nobody’s fool.

15. In 2008, Whittingham’s Utes finished the season with a record all Wolverines would appreciate. He went 13-0 and beat Nick Saban’s Alabama team in the Sugar Bowl.

16. As leathery-tough as the coach can be, under the facade, he’s got soft spots galore. He cares deeply about family, even as a coach’s busy existence can sometimes leave certain family members feeling isolated. When his kids were young, he made strong efforts to attend their activities inside and outside of sports, even during the season. He once said, as a young defensive coordinator: “There’s nothing more exciting in my life than watching my sons’ baseball games or my daughters’ gymnastics … just normal dad stuff.”

When his father, Fred, a veteran football coach, died far too early at the age of 64, as Whittingham spoke at his funeral, the first words he uttered were: “My dad is my hero.” When two of his players — Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe — died within a short time of one another on the tragic business end of a fired gun, Whittingham was more than emotional. He masterfully guided himself and his team and his community through a time of mourning. As Utah went on to remember Jordan and Lowe between the third and fourth quarters of games, paying tribute to their fallen brothers with a special “Moment of Loudness,” where fans send voices to the heavens with cheers, Whittingham, in the middle of competitive games, let his feelings flow.

“I tear up,” he said. “It’s awesome.”

17. After playing at BYU, Whittingham took a shot at making the NFL. He was undersized at 5-10, 225 pounds, and was cut by the Broncos, landing instead in the old USFL, where he played for the Denver Gold. Later, after that league collapsed, he was asked by Fred, who was an assistant coach with the L.A. Rams, if he wanted to fill in at middle linebacker for the club during the 1987 players’ strike. He did so, making $40,000 as a three-week starter for the Rams. After that, his playing days were over.

18. Whittingham is his father’s son. Fred also was a grizzled, tough-minded coach, a man who played the game in the same manner in which he coached it — almost menacingly. Fred was a linebacker in the NFL for the Eagles, the Saints, the Cowboys and the Patriots. He coached at BYU, Utah, for the Raiders and Rams. Gary Andersen, now on BYU’s staff told a story about Fred that illustrates who he was, who Kyle is.

When Andersen tried out as a player for the Rams many years ago, he said he was in the team’s weight room with other offensive linemen as Fred Whittingham walked in. Guys, NFL veteran players were working, but also laughing and goofing around until You-Know-Who showed up. “When [Fred] did, everyone in the room fell silent,” Andersen said. That’s the kind of respect the pros had for the senior Whittingham.

19. Asked once to characterize his personality, Whittingham gladly used an unexpected word: “Boring,” he said. “That’s the way I like it.” Still, that word is more a reflection of a different term highly prized by the coach: “Consistent.” That’s what he likely meant to say.

20. Like a lot of coaches, Whittingham is a religious man — in his case, a follower of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — but he doesn’t throw that around or wear anyone out with his personal beliefs. He just does what he does and happily lets others do likewise. A couple of offshoots from the compass that centers his life are integrity, doing what he says he’ll do, and gratitude.

He’s said it this way: “I count my blessings every day. I’ve been beyond blessed.”