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Kyle Whittingham’s December exit from Utah wasn’t exactly the clean break it seemed at first. Yahoo Sports reports the split came after negotiations between the 66-year-old coach and the university went south over his future role with the program.
Documents obtained by Yahoo show things got tense between Whittingham and athletic director Mark Harlan pretty quickly. The way he handled his move to Michigan didn’t help matters either.
Coming off a 10-2 regular season, Whittingham and his agent Bruce Tollner told Utah they wanted to come back for a 23rd season. But what they were asking for created problems.
Tollner initially pushed for a salary bump from $7.4 million to $9 million per year. On top of that, Whittingham wanted $20 million in NIL funds and another $2 million added to his assistant coach salary pool.
Harlan countered with $8 million, but there was a catch. Morgan Scalley (who was already the coach-in-waiting and is now Utah’s head coach) would get “full and final” control over player personnel decisions, including recruiting. Beyond 2026, Scalley would have “complete decision-making authority” over roster moves and coaching staff decisions.
The proposal also gave Harlan some input on staff hires. An athletic department administrator would be working full-time inside the football facility too.
If Whittingham violated the agreement, he’d face a $500,000 fine first. A second violation would get him fired.
Whittingham walked away from those terms. He signed a $13.5 million separation agreement with Utah instead, set to be paid in three installments over two years.
That first check came with a not-so-friendly letter from Harlan.
After leaving Utah, Whittingham took the Michigan job and brought offensive coordinator Jason Beck and strength coach Elisaia with him. He also flipped four-star defensive back Salesi Moa to Ann Arbor.
Utah wasn’t happy about losing staff and players to their former coach. Harlan made that clear in the letter that came with Whittingham’s first payment (which was $8 million).
The University felt that your involvement with recruiting our football coaches and staff to Michigan was contrary to the terms of your employment agreement, which requires you to assist with a smooth and successful transition of the football program to the new head coach and his coaching staff.
Harlan wrote that fighting over the money in court wouldn’t serve the university’s long-term interests or help the football program. But he made it clear Utah expects Whittingham to follow the separation agreement’s terms going forward.
Whittingham will coach his first game at Michigan on Sept. 6 against Western Michigan. Scalley’s era at Utah kicks off three days earlier on Sept. 3 against Idaho.
After 22 seasons in Salt Lake City, the transition’s been anything but smooth.
