Kyle Whittingham
Kyle Whittingham (born November 21,1959 in San Luis Obispo, California) is the head football coach of the University of Utah Utes. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utah's defensive coordinator for 10 seasons. He was named head coach of the University of Utah after Urban Meyer left for the University of Florida in 2004.
Whittingham graduated from Brigham Young University in 1984 and went on to play linebacker for the New Orleans Breakers of the old USFL and the Calgary Stampede of the CFL. Whittingham also became a Graduate Assistant for BYU during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. In 1987 Whittingham was named defensive coordinator at the College of Eastern Utah. He coached there for a season before taking a job at Idaho State. After two seasons with Idaho State, Whittingham joined the Utah staff and coached under his father, Fred Whittingham. In the 1995 season, Whittingham replaced his father as the defensive coordinator, where he would stay until being named head coach in 2004. Whittingham is married to the former Jamie Daniels and the two have four children: Tyler, Melissa, Alex and Kylie
Head Coaching Career
Whittingham replaced celebrated coach Urban Meyer after Meyer led Utah to a 11-0 season in 2004. That season ended with Utah becoming the first non-BCS team to make a BCS bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl. After winning the Fiesta Bowl, the Utes' overall record improved to 12-0. After the 2004 season, the Utes lost junior starting quarterback Alex Smith to the NFL when he was drafted #1 by the San Francisco 49ers.
Whittingham's first season was an up and down ride for Utah as the team not only adjusted to a new coaching staff, but a new offense led by quarterback Brian Johnson. Utah struggled early on, going 3-4 in their first 7 games, however a strong finish -- with a win over their bitter rival BYU -- gave Utah their third straight bowl invite.
In the 2005 Emerald Bowl the Utes faced the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Heavy underdogs[citation needed], Utah beat Georgia Tech 38-10, the Yellow Jackets' worst bowl loss by point margin in school history.[citation needed] Whittingham finished his first year at Utah with a 7-5 record.
Whittingham's record at Utah: 7-5 (.583).
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