Former Utah HC Kyle Wittingham drops ‘transfer portal’ take on next coaching step

Longtime Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham says he is “in the transfer portal” after stepping down from the Utes …

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For the first time since 2004, Kyle Whittingham does not know what his next step will be. Many assumed the 66-year-old would be retiring after stepping down as head coach at Utah, but he instead views himself as a “free agent” in the college football transfer portal.

Whittingham, who has been coaching since 1985, does not know what will come next in his life. The two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year certainly has enough money to retire, but he acknowledged that coaching is still “in his blood.”

“I don’t know if it’s ever out of your system,” Whittingham said, via Dana Greene of ABC4 Utah. “That being said, I don’t know what I’m going to do. But when you’ve got coaching in your blood, it just doesn’t go away… We’ll see. I’ve got to stepping down and step away, and reevaluate things and see where we’re at. I’m a free agent; I’m in the transfer portal.

“Like I said, I’m at peace. I did not want to be that guy that overstayed his welcome and people just say, ‘Hey, when’s this guy gonna leave?’ That was not my intention, ever. I hope I didn’t do that. I’m sure with some people I did do that, but to me, the timing is right.”

Whittingham has been with Utah since 1994, when he joined the Utes as a defensive line coach under Ron McBride. McBride promoted him to defensive coordinator the following year, a role he would occupy until agreeing to become the program’s next head coach in 2005. He was retained on staff when Urban Meyer took over in 2003.

Before joining Utah, Whittingham was an assistant at Idaho State, Eastern Utah and his alma mater, BYU. He did not stay with any program other than the Utes for longer than six seasons.

Whittingham entered 2025 as the second-longest tenured head coach in college football with Utah, trailing only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz. His semi-retirement now makes Air Force’s Troy Calhoun No. 2 on the list behind Ferentz.

Source: Utah News