Michigan HC Kyle Whittingham Talks Ohio State Hatred, Urban Meyer and Utah Exit

Urban Meyer might be persona non grata for plenty of Michigan fans after he went 7-0 against the Wolverines as the head coach of archrival Ohio State, but he is apparently providing advice when it comes to building the program's next coaching staff.

New head coach Kyle Whittingham, who is replacing the fired Sherrone Moore, told reporters Sunday he is asking his longtime friend in Meyer for advice on building a staff of seven to eight new assistants with two to three holdovers from the previous group.

"I don't know if that's a four-letter word in this place or not," he said of Meyer.

Wolverines fans can at least take solace knowing their new coach has quickly learned how he is supposed to feel about the Buckeyes:

It didn't take Whittingham long to reportedly make a significant move with that staff, as Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported Michigan is hiring BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill to the same position.

Despite Meyer's connections to the other side of the rivalry with Ohio State, he and Whittingham have long been close.

Whittingham was a defensive coach on Meyer's staff at Utah before the head coach left for Florida, and they actually served as co-coaches during the Utes' Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh to end the 2004 campaign.

Whittingham took over the program from there and went 177-88 with 10 bowl game wins as one of the most consistent coaches in the country.

The 2025 season was the 66-year-old's final one with Utah, and he said Sunday it was his decision to step down while clarifying he was treated fairly. The Utes impressed on their way to a 10-2 record and will face Nebraska on Wednesday in the Las Vegas Bowl.

While there may be some concern about how demanding a job like Michigan will be for Whittingham at this point of his career, he said "there was a lot left in the tank." He also said the Wolverines were one of the few teams he would have considered taking over as head coach after stepping down from Utah.

That will put him under the spotlight in one of the most heated rivalries in sports.

Ohio State Wins

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Ohio State has current bragging rights after going into Michigan and preventing Bryce Underwood and the Wolverines offense from finding the end zone in a 27-9 win. The Scarlet and Gray have also largely dominated the rivalry since the turn of the century and went 17-2 from 2001 until Michigan got some momentum back in 2021.

Meyer's tenure was during that stretch of dominance, but the Wolverines won four straight after he left from 2021 through 2025 until Ryan Day turned the tide again in this year's matchup.

How Whittingham's tenure is remembered by Michigan fans will largely come down to whether he enjoys success in The Game. And he at least has a sense of the overall importance and history considering he said Sunday he first fell in love with college football when Bo Schembechler led Michigan to a win over the Buckeyes when Whittingham was seven years old.

It will be up to Whittingham to create some of those memories for young Wolverines fans now.