Utah News

Michigan football rumors: Utah HC Kyle Whittingham a ‘fixture’ in Wolverines’ coaching search appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It has been nearly two weeks since Michigan fired Sherrone Moore in the middle of another scandal for the program. Biff Poggi has made his case to have the interim tag removed from his title. Regardless, soon-to-be former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham remains a name that frequently surfaces as a potential candidate to fill the job.

Advertisement

According to John Brice of Football Scoop, Whittingham remains a “fixture” at the center of the coaching search for the Wolverines. Whittingham has announced he will be stepping down from the job at the end of the season, with Morgan Scalley taking over as the new head coach of the program. The Utah coach will still coach his team one more time, as Utah faces Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 31st.

A coach like Whittingham may be a perfect fit for a Michigan program looking for stabiltiy, and to move away from the disfunction and scandals of recent years. He has been a coach at Utah since 1994, and was the defensive coordinator from 1995 through 2004. He would take over for Urban Meyer starting in 2005, as Meyer left for Florida.

Since then, he was gone 177-88 at Utah, won two Pac-12 Titles and a Mountain West crown. Beyond the stability he has brought to that program, he has a spotless track record with the NCAA.

Michigan needs to move on a new head coach soon. The NCAA Transfer Portal opens on January 2nd and runs through the 16th. Further, players can enter the portal for five days following the announcement of a new head coach. With the portal about to open, Michigan needs to give some certainty about the future of the program, or risk losing players elsewhere. Signing a coach like Whittinham would give a lot of certainty to the future.

Related: You won’t believe what Alabama football’s Ty Simpson would do to win a national title

Related: 2026 O-Line recruit follows Matt Campbell to Penn State

The exhausted Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies met up in Utah after playing on the back end of back-to-backs, and the Grizzlies won out 137-128.

Utah, who rested Lauri Markkanen from a nagging groin injury, wasn’t able to keep up with the firepower of Santi Aldama and the Memphis Grizzlies. Aldama scored 37, shooting 7/13 from three and 13/21 from the field. The Grizzlies, in general, were good across the board, shooting 42.2% from three as a team, and Utah couldn’t keep up. They also have length at so many positions, and it was too much for the Jazz to overcome.

Advertisement

For Utah, they had some nice performances from Kyeonte George, Taylor Hendricks, and Kyle Filipowski. George continues to build himself into the leader this team needs. George looked visibly winded because of the back-to-back and still managed to shoot 50% from the field, 50% from three, and 8/9 from the free throw line. Kyle Filipowski also took advantage of his minutes with a team-leading 25 points on great efficiency. Finally, Taylor Hendricks got some real run and was extremely efficient with it. He shot 7/10 from the field and 2/4 from three. He also grabbed 4 rebounds, threw 1 assist, and had 3 steals. It’s just an issue of time and comfort for Hendricks, who is proving to be a high-level three-point shooter. The biggest issue for Hendricks, and the team in general, is defense. But that might be something that the Jazz worry about next season.

Finally, we have to talk about Ace Bailey, who had a nice bounce-back game with 17 points on 7/12 shooting. Bailey is proving that, at worst, he’s going to be an elite shooter. But each game he shows a little more and more in his game. The only thing holding him back is time and reps, because he’s going to get better and better as time goes on. If he can start handling the ball more as the season progresses, that would be so good for his game because it’s clear that the catch-and-shoot element is already great.

For Utah, they are now on the right track to keeping their pick and hopefully rising in the ranks to get more lottery balls. It’s the right thing to do and something they will continue this season as they continue to hope for a chance at someone like AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson.

One final game fore a three-day holiday break concluded at Ball Arena with the Colorado Avalanche facing their budding rival in the Utah Mammoth. As many of their matchups have gone over the last few years, this was a hard-fought contest with the home team emerging victorious in the 1-0 shutout win.

Scott Wedgewood was excellent making 32 saves in his second shutout of the season but the true hero was Samuel Girard who scored the only goal of the game unassisted on a steal and gorgeous backhand finish to give the Colorado Avalanche their 27th win prior to the holiday break.

Advertisement

The Game

It began as a spirited affair with chances for both teams. Each squad also had the chance to show off their power play in the first period. Colorado looks like they are making an effort to move more on the man advantage but are still dancing around the perimeter. Utah got a couple good looks on theirs but Scott Wedgewood stood tall. The best chance in the opening frame was perhaps Martin Nečas on a breakaway who hit the crossbar behind Vitek Vanecek but the period ended in a scoreless tie.

In the second period the Avalanche finally broke through and from the unlikeliest hero as Sam Girard crafted a dandy steal and breakaway with a backhand finish for his second goal of the season to put Colorado up by one.

Later on in the period there was a lengthy review after it appeared Utah’s Clayton Keller scored on a second effort shot but the puck was in Wedgewood’s glove as he outstretched his arm at the goal line. The puck was probably just barely in the net but with no definitive proof the call on the ice wasn’t overturned, thus no goal. The second period ended with Colorado still holding a one-goal lead.

Advertisement

The Avalanche uncharacteristically held on just to survive in the third period and were outshot 12-4 in the process. Utah possessed the puck for an entire two minutes with the extra attacker but couldn’t get the equalizer. Colorado couldn’t find the back of the net again either but Girard’s goal was enough to earn the 1-0 win.

Takeaways

Subject of endless trade rumors, Sam Girard proved his value tonight. The left handed defenseman has been quietly putting up points since his return to action and has scored six points in his last six games. In fact, at just four points behind, Girard is coming up on passing fellow defenseman Devon Toews in production. If we go by the ever-popular pace Girard is already there at 31 points over a full season to Toews’ 27.

Utah required the use of an Emergency Backup Goaltender as Karel Vejmelka was unable to dress for this contest. Utah native Colten McIntyre who is just 21-years-old was chosen for the honor and signed a try-out agreement prior to the game so he could serve as the backup.

Upcoming

A Merry Christmas and then a showdown in Vegas at 8 p.m. MT on Saturday, December 27th.

DEER VALLEY, Utah (ABC4) — The World Cup Events at the Intermountain Health Freestyle International have been moved out of Utah due to unseasonably warm weather.

The aerials and moguls World Cup Events that were scheduled to take place at Deer Valley Resort will now take place at New Hampshire’s Waterville Valley Resort. Additionally, the aerials World Cup will be held in Lake Placid, New York

Advertisement

“In partnership with USS&S and FIS, we made the difficult, but ultimately the right decision to shift Deer Valley’s annual World Cup competition to other venues. This year’s event was scheduled nearly three weeks earlier than in recent seasons, and sustained warm temperatures, unlike anything we have ever seen before, limited our ability to build the aerial and dual mogul venues to the standards our staff and athletes deserve,” said Todd Bennett, President & COO, Deer Valley Resort.

Deer Valley Resort and Intermountain Health to host Freestyle International Ski World Cup

Bennett said that the environment at Deer Valley this season does not meet the standards of athlete safety, performance, and quality.

The aerials World Cup will be held on Jan. 11-12, 2026, and the moguls and dual moguls World Cup events will take place Jan. 15-16, 2026.

Advertisement

The events serve as the final qualifier to determine who will compete in the 2026 Winter Games in Italy.

Latest headlines:

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

Utah women’s basketball is 1-0 in Big 12 play by the narrowest of margins, thanks to a dominant second-quarter surge led by senior guard Lani White.

After building a 16-point halftime lead on the back of a 24-4 second quarter, the Utes needed a final-possession stop to beat Arizona 63-62 at McKale Memorial Center on Monday afternoon in the Big 12 opener for both schools.

Advertisement

“We had a great first half, followed by not-so-much third quarter, and definitely not-so-much fourth quarter. But I’ll take the win as we head into break,” Utah coach Gavin Petersen said in his postgame interview on ESPN 700 AM.

A truly dominant second quarter opened things up

It’s safe to say that Utah (10-3, 1-0 Big 12) owned the second quarter against Arizona.

After the Wildcats held a 19-15 lead through one quarter, the Utes took control of the game in the second, going on a 17-0 run in the period.

At one point, after Maty Wilke hit a 3 with 56 seconds left in the halftime — a shot that gave the senior guard 1,000 career points — Utah led by a game-high 18 and had only allowed a single field goal in the period.

Advertisement

The Utes ended up shooting 57.1% in the quarter, made three of their five 3-pointers in the game during that period and had seven assists on eight field goals in the quarter.

White scored 11 of her career high-tying 26 points in the second quarter, and at one time, she had outscored Arizona by herself, 20-19.

“I felt good in my shot,” White said in a postgame interview on the ESPN+ broadcast. “We were picking apart their defense, and we found the holes, and we just attacked their mistakes.”

The Wildcats, meanwhile, shot a frigid 2 of 13 in the second and turned the ball over six times.

The Utes were ahead 39-23 at halftime, and it looked like Utah would send itself into the Christmas break with a blowout.

Advertisement

“Lani had a great first half, and you know, we rode her that entire first half,” Petersen said.

Lani White was on fire for a half on a career day

White finished the first half with 20 points, and she made eight of nine field goals, including a trio of made 3-pointers, while adding three assists.

Simply put, the Wildcats didn’t have an answer for the shifty senior in the opening 20 minutes.

After halftime, White had more modest numbers — she scored six second-half points on 3-of-8 shooting, while Utah was outscored 39-24 in the final two periods.

Her 11 field-goal makes set a career high, and her layup two minutes into the second half helped stem a 7-0 Wildcats run.

Advertisement

Though the Utes shot 50% from the field in the first half, they were considerably cooler in the second half, shooting 30.6%.

That allowed Arizona to stick around.

Reese Ross led a dominant effort on the boards for Utah. She had her second straight double-double with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, as the Utes owned a 45-31 rebounding edge.

Despite that advantage, Utah couldn’t pull away, even with solid contributions from Chyra Evans (10 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and Wilke (nine points, five rebounds, one assist), who was clearly hampered by a shoulder injury that’s been an issue for weeks.

Advertisement

“We’re banged up. Maty Wilke is playing with one shoulder and kept having to come out of the game,” Petersen said. “… You talk about the grit of a kid like that. I mean, she needs some rest. But we don’t win this game without a Maty Wilke.”

The Utes survived an Arizona rally

Thank goodness, for the Utes’ sake, that the Wildcats struggled finishing at the rim — otherwise, this likely would have been a win for Arizona (9-3, 0-1 Big 12).

The Wildcats slowly fought their way back into the game, despite shooting 37.3% from the field.

Late in the third quarter after Arizona cut its deficit to 47-41, the Utes got key scores on a 3-pointer from Grace Foster, followed by an and-one from LA Sneed to make it a double-digit lead again.

Advertisement

Both teams struggled shooting in the fourth, but eventually Arizona scored five straight points to make it a five-point game going into the final minute.

Utah, which had four turnovers over the game’s final five-plus minutes, got a timely layup from Sneed and appeared safe with a 63-56 lead with 39 seconds to play.

The Utes had to sweat it out, though — Mickayla Perdue, who led the Wildcats with 16 points and two rebounds, was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three, then Arizona forced a turnover.

With 12 seconds left coming out of a timeout, Perdue then hit a 3 from the corner to make it 63-62.

Advertisement

The Wildcats fouled the freshman Sneed, and she missed both free throws.

“At some point, our freshmen and newcomers, they’re going to have to figure it out. You were brought here for a reason,” Petersen said. “You need to be able to do what we ask in closeout games. When we get there, we’re going to be a hard team to beat, but we’re not there yet.”

That gave Arizona possession with 8.4 seconds to play and a chance to win, though the Utes only allowed a poor shot underneath the hoop — one that hit the underside of the rim — as the buzzer sounded on a solid defensive possession.

It allowed Utah to survive and start Big 12 play with a win before taking a holiday break. Their next game is Dec. 31 at home against Arizona State.

“We were able to close the game today, but we got a lot of things to get back to Salt Lake and fix. But we played hard today, good first Big 12 win,” White said.

The ECHL (formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League), which hosts the Utah Grizzlies and 29 other NHL-affiliated professional hockey teams, will halt gameplay effective Dec. 26.

The players are going on strike.

The Professional Hockey Players’ Association, a union that negotiates collective bargaining rights for players in both the ECHL and the American Hockey League, released two memos on Monday.

The first, posted on X at 1:35 p.m. MT, was a message to the fans describing the conditions under which players have been playing, as well as what they feel are “unfair and unlawful” attempts by the league to coerce the players into signing a new agreement.

Included in the memo were complaints alleging that:

• Players were not permitted to choose helmets that “properly fit” them.
• Travel days were to be considered days off — even when there’s a nine-hour bus ride involved.
• Players couldn’t get one day off per week.
• Teams were outfitting their players with used equipment.
• They couldn’t come to a conclusion on a holiday break.
• The league sent two communications directly to the players, rather than going through the union, attempting to “bully and intimidate players with tactics that violate U.S. labor law.”

The second memo came out at 6:15 p.m., notifying the public that the association had served a strike notice.

“We are asking for basic standards around health, safety and working conditions that allow the players to remain healthy, compete at a high level and build sustainable professional careers,” said PHPA executive director Brian Ramsay in the second memo.

The minimum weekly pay is $530 for rookies and $570 for returning players. The weekly salary cap for each team is $14,600 (with an extra $530 per week available in the first 30 days of the season).

The previous CBA expired this summer, and the two sides began this season under the existing terms while negotiations continued.

The ECHL released a memo Monday afternoon detailing what it says is its most recent offer to the players:

• An immediate 16.4% increase to the salary cap for this season (to be paid retroactively to the start of the season);
• Additional salary cap increases in future years increasing the cap by “nearly 27%”;
• Requirements for mandatory days off;
• Addressing travel between back-to-back games;
• Modifying holiday and mid-season breaks;
• Enable every team to provide custom sticks and enable all players to choose an alternate 5-Star rated helmet from the Virginia Tech Helmet Study;
• Increase per diems to $60 this year and more in subsequent years.

While the PHPA has shown frustration on the ECHL negotiation front, they have reportedly come to an agreement with the AHL — the league above the ECHL — on a new CBA, according to a post made by insider Elliotte Friedman Monday morning.

The ECHL did not have any games scheduled between Dec. 21 and 25.