Kyle Whittingham

College coach infobox


Name = Kyle Whittingham
| Caption =
DateOfBirth = Birth date and age|1959|11|21|mf=y
Birthplace = San Luis Obispo, California
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Football
College = Utah
Title = Head Coach
OverallRecord = 24-14 (14-10 MWC)
BowlRecord = 3-0
Awards =
Championships =
CFbDWID = 3762
Player = Y
Years = 1978-1981
Team = Brigham Young University
Position = Linebacker
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 2005-Present
1995-2005
1994
1992-1993
1988-1991
CoachTeams = University of Utah
University of Utah, Defensive Coordinator
University of Utah, Defensive Line Coach
Idaho State University, Defensive Coordinator
Idaho State University, Assistant Coach
FootballHOF =

Kyle Whittingham (b. 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 Utah after Urban Meyer left for the University of Florida in 2004.

Whittingham graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) 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.

Whittingham is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [ [http://www.mormontimes.com/MITN_sports.php?id=1127 MormonTimes - Whittingham explains sportsmanship and LDS beliefs ] ]

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 conference 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, including Andy Ludwig, but also a new offense led by quarterback Brian Johnson. Utah struggled early on, going 3-4 in their first 7 games, however a strong finish gave Utah their third straight bowl invite.

In the 2005 Emerald Bowl the Utes faced the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Utah beat Georgia Tech 38-10, the Yellow Jackets' worst bowl loss by point margin in school history. Whittingham finished his first year at Utah with a 7-5 record.

In 2006, Whittingham's team faced a degree of adversity. Starting quarterback Brett Ratliff struggled through parts of the year, and so did the Utes. Like the year before, the Utes rebounded toward the end of the season, but lost to rival BYU at home by a score of 33-31. The Utes became bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, a school record. Whittingham led the Utes to a 25-13 victory over the University of Tulsa in the 2006 Armed Forces Bowl, running his record to 15-10 (.600) with Utah.

2007 would provide more adversity. In Johnson's first start since 2005, he broke his collarbone against Oregon State and starting running back Matt Asiata broke his leg as Utah got routed 24-7 by the Beavers. The following week, wide receiver Brent Casteel was lost for the season in an embarrassing 20-12 loss at home to Air Force.

Utah looked as if it righted the ship the following week with a 44-6 rout of No. 9 UCLA, the highest-ranked team ever defeated by the Utes. But the following week represented the worst week of Whittingham's head coaching career -- a 27-0 loss to perennial cellar-dweller UNLV that had many wondering if Whittingham could survive as a head coach at Utah.

But like past seasons, the Utes regrouped and won seven consecutive games, using a stingy, big-play defense and the sledgehammer running attack of Darrell Mack (253 carries, 1,204 yards and 16 total touchdowns), who had been scheduled to redshirt in what was going to be his junior season. However, Utah suffered its second consecutive loss to rival BYU to end the regular season.

Whittingham and Utah overcame that disappointment to beat Navy, 35-32, in the Poinsettia Bowl. It marked the Utes' seventh consecutive bowl victory, which placed them second to Boston College in longest active bowl winning streaks.

Head Coaching Record

CFB Coaching Record Team
team=Utah Utes
conf=Mountain West Conference
startyear=2005
endyear=PresentCFB Coaching Record Entry
championship =
year = 2005
team = Utah
overall = 7-5
conference = 4-4
confstanding = 4-T
bowl = yes
bowlgame = Emerald Bowl
bowlopp = Georgia Tech
bowlscore = W 38-10
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Coaching Record Entry
championship =
year = 2006
team = Utah
overall = 8-5
conference = 5-3
confstanding = 3-T
bowl = yes
bowlgame = Armed Forces Bowl
bowlopp = Tulsa
bowlscore = W 25-13
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Coaching Record Entry
championship =
year = 2007
team = Utah
overall = 9-4
conference = 5-3
confstanding = 3-T
bowl = yes
bowlgame = Poinsettia Bowl
bowlopp = Navy
bowlscore = W 35-32
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Coaching Record Team End
team=Utah
overall= 24-14
confrecord= 14-10CFB Coaching Record End
overall = 24-14
bcs =
poll =
polltype =

References

External links

* [http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/whittingham_kyle00.html Utah Official Bio]