‘Intense, Without Hatred’: New Michigan Coach Kyle Whittingham Lowers Temperature on Ohio State Rivalry

Michigan can give all the reasons it wants for its December hiring of ex-Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, but one has stuck in the public’s mind: his complete public allergy to B.S., namely the off-field drama that characterized Wolverines football at times under coach Jim Harbaugh and most of the time under coach Sherrone Moore.

Whittingham has presented himself as the coaching equivalent of a reform candidate in an election, and on Thursday at Big Ten media days he went further than ever before in that regard. Discussing Ohio State, Whittingham made a point to distance himself from the politics of annihilation that have characterized the rivalry in recent years.

“I just think a rivalry can be intense and emotional without the hatred factor. I don’t think there’s any place for that personally,” Whittingham said via Chase Brown of Eleven Warriors. “I think [Buckeyes coach] Ryan Day is a good person. To sit here and say I hate Ryan Day, I’d be making crap up because that’s not true.”

Whittingham has a tangential tie to Ohio State

The Utes hired Whittingham as their full-time head coach in Dec. 2004, and he replaced Urban Meyer, who was in the process of decamping for Florida after steering Utah to its first unbeaten season since 1930.

They’re still friends, which is interesting because, after winning two national titles with the Gators, Meyer went on to a decorated career at Ohio State. While with the Buckeyes, he never lost to Michigan, and remains persona non grata in Ann Arbor.

“If Urban wants to come to practice, he can come every week but one,” Whittingham said. “There’s one week he can’t come.”

A particularly poisonous 2020s for Michigan-Ohio State

The Wolverines and Buckeyes have enjoyed one of college football’s most spirited rivalries for over a century, but the feud has taken on an even nastier streak than usual this decade. In 2020, the game was called off due to COVID-19 considerations, a perfectly normal`20 sports occurrence that was interpreted in many Ohio State circles as Michigan backing out. The Wolverines then beat the Buckeyes in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, winning in every way imaginable: a quasi-blowout, a tight game turned eventual laugher, a bona fide thriller, and one of the series’ biggest upsets.

In `23, the game was overshadowed by Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal, and Moore emotionally thanked the suspended Harbaugh afterward (a move that later reports suggested was taken internally as evidence of his wavering mental health). In `24, a group of Wolverines attempted to plant a flag in the center of Ohio Stadium postgame, which ignited a near-brawl and resulted in Columbus police using pepper spray on national television.

That is a lot of interlocking subplots, none of which covers the elephant and donkey in the room—the rivalry’s growing sociopolitical undertones as Michigan and Ohio have sprinted in opposite political directions since the 2008 economic downturn.

There is a contrarian argument to be made that some of this is a good thing—couldn’t North American sports use a rivalry with the noxiousness of the Old Firm? A rivalry, however, can provide a forum for play-conflict resolution without devolving into lame theatre, violence or both.

Ask Whittingham.

Whittingham’s last rivalry: also intense, also void of hatred

Unlike Michigan and the Buckeyes’—a rivalry of difference—BYU and the Utes’ hypercompetitive series is, to an extent, a rivalry of sameness. With the cultural primacy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah, fans of the two teams frequently rub elbows on Sunday (it’s called the Holy War for a reason) in addition to during the week.

In recent years, this sameness has served to keep the Holy War semi-civil, namely because of the ties between Whittingham and Cougars boss Kalani Sitake. Both played for BYU (albeit more than a decade apart); Whittingham considered replacing Gary Crowton as the Cougars’ coach before taking the top job with the Utes. Sitake, who worked under Whittingham at Utah, has spoken glowingly of the coach, who he views as a mentor figure; Whittingham has returned the favor.

Weakness? Certainly not—Whittingham mastered rivals like BYU (nine straight wins in the 2010s), Colorado (a 12-3 record, including seven straight wins from 2017 to `23), and Utah State (an 8-1 record). Gamesmanship? Not that either. A genuine détente seems afoot for the Game; let’s see if it’s possible to separate the fun from the foolishness.

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