People can say what they want. I liked Whitt, but him gutting the program is a jerk move. People can say they respect him, and can wish him well. I am hoping UM crashes and burns. I hope they run the table backwards and lose every game.
I respected Whitt, but he just disrespected the Utes fans and the school with his actions. The poaching he did, and is apparently going to continue is a slap in the face.
I just saw the twitter of Whitt being introduced at a UM basketball game touting his new coaching staff. I’m ready to climb the walls. Whitt is a huge selfish jerk. He’s a greedy ego maniac, and his actions show it!!
Here’s hoping Whitt fails and that program continues to collapse!!!
Totally destroyed his legacy here. Someone said Gary Anderson tweeted that maybe Utah shouldn’t have pissed him off or something? If that is really what is going on with Whittingham, some beef with the U administration, then he’s everything his critics said he was.
I really don’t have a problem with what Whit is doing, I get it. If it’s true that Harlan encouraged him to retire then Harlan is to blame for these problems, not Whit.
All the assistants are replaceable, but Harding was great. That one hurts more than the others.
I hate how this all went down, if the rumors are true, Whit deserved a lot better.
I think Scalley is very smart and driven, I expect him to do what it takes to succeed.
I get what you’re saying but if Kyle wanted to continue coaching and Harlan wouldn’t consider that, then Kyle is doing what is best for him. I think Harlan is responsible for most of this. Look at Jason Kafusi, apparently he’s willing to come to Utah but Harlan isn’t willing to pay for his buyout, which is just wrong on every level. He’s got to give Scalley every opportunity to succeed, now is not the time to cheap out.
Maybe Kyle’s pursuit of what’s best for him is no longer what’s best for Utah football. Maybe, it remains to be seen what’s best for Utah football, and by extension Michigan football…whether or not it’s a good decision: Kyle makes more money in a year or two, than the entire staff of either school
makes in their lives.
From all points forward; I’m rooting for what’s best for the University of Utah.
Well if you really want to go down that road let’s go.
By all accounts Kyle asked for a 5 year $50,000,000 contract. Taylor Randall said no, not Harlan.
But it’s not as simple as that. Kyle, by many accounts, had told everyone all year he was retiring. In fact it’s been indicated he had been telling everyone for 3 years he was retiring. He came back in 2023, then again in 2024, bad season was a “I don’t want to go out like that” and everyone agreed.
He changed his mind this time after Sitake got his big contract, and suddenly he wanted a new contract.
Kyle likely just can’t grasp the idea of not being a coach, which is fine, but it’s far more complicated (see below)
You have no actual idea what’s happened with Kaufusi.
There are lots of rumors. But the most accurate info is there was an unexpected issue with his buyout.
You’re making an assumption Harlan is saying no. But that’s 100% an assumption on your part. Just like you assumed Harlan said no to a new contact for Kyle, which by all well placed accounts was not his call.
The entire administration, to include Morgan, has to decide where they prioritize money. There’s not an endless supply. You can’t keep running to donors “oh wait, I know we had a budget but I want this now”. That’s not how the world works.
Kyle has a lot of responsibility for this. Kyle is who insisted Scalley be given the coach in waiting title.
Kyle is who kept saying he was going to leave, he was not interested in coaching past 65.
If Kyle has never done those things, there is no timeline. But he insisted on a succession plan and then kept trying to change it. Part of that plan was players knowing Scalley would be their coach when Kyle left. If you lose Scalley cause Kyle never leaves, what happens?
Frankly, this is partially an issue of social media.
Lots of people blasting lots of info, most with zero actual information.
Totally agree. I stood up for Whitt and told the nay sayers they were just upset and didn’t like his success. His actions now demonstrate the things that I defended Whitt against. I had heard he was a huge selfish guy, with his big ego on a power trip. Now I believe it. Whitts a tool IMO. And to suddenly days before the game say he’s not coaching so he can go to the UM game? If I was a player I’d have been pissed!
Whatever happened happened. Whitt has been hinting at retiring for years. Last year was supposed to be it, but the season sucked. It’s his decision to go out with class or go out looking like an @$$, and he chose the @$$ option all the way. He not only told the admins to piss off, he’s telling the players, the fans, and really the coaches to piss off too.
I am not going to accept, condone, and defend his actions any more, when he is the one marring his legacy.
I understand being close to big money is to make big money along with the earning power of athletic - and other - unique talents. However, it’s also a little disturbing many of our best professors of medicine and other disciplines make remarkably less than a million bucks a year for considerably more training, risk and pressure.
I would have felt better if Kyle just said that his market value i.e. USC and other schools’ interest was very important to him and he would consider leaving for another program; now that his heir apparent (and personal choice) is ready to take the program into the future, bla, bla, bla…
But he didn’t.
I guess I feel like the ski industry, pro sports are pricing out anyone who isn’t making 6 figures. The notion that our athletic department budgets dwarf entire colleges within the university is exponentially apparent just in the last ten years or so. I mean, how much money do people have to make? It seems like those who make millions or even billions aren’t satisfied anymore.
I blame Sherrone. If he wasn’t such a sleezeball, he’d have the UM job and Kyle has no where to go. Crazy chain of events and timing (even Alabama winning the 1st round probably changed things as DeBoer might have been successfully courted). But a cascade of unfortunate affairs has now left us debating follow-up actions.
This all kind of reminds me of recruiting. Debate and complaints about this or that, but ultimately, it won’t change much or matter until we see who is in house and getting playing time come September. How they’re coached, and how they execute.
Of course we want the best, but this program is probably around 10-20 at best on a consistent basis (having stability and staying in that range is ideal). We outpunch our weight class consistently. 8, 9 win seasons consistently is our norm, with being in the running for the conference championship every other year is aspirational (this year was once of them, ending #3), and a truly top 10 team once a decade would be thrilling. So many little things, a few plays a game, can change a season’s outcomes drastically.
Change is hard, but my approach is time to move on (from Whitt). Appreciate what he did while here. Good luck to him at UM. Sucks how it went down and ended up harming the transition, but I’m not going to hold a grudge. CFB is a mess. Having a completely new team each year is becoming more normal (sucks). Kids chasing life-changing money while it’s out there to get (even better than NFL in some cases). Harlan’s meh, Randall is awesome. Hopefully Scalley is stable and program stays strong and we eventually are included in a P2 league.