ESPN ranks Utah's Kyle Whittingham among college football's top 10 coaches

Whittingham checked in at No. 9 in ESPN's ranking of the top 10 coaches in CFB

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham before a game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

ESPN's panel of reporters voted on the top 10 head coaches in college football for the upcoming 2025 season.

Utah's Kyle Whittingham checked in at No. 9 in the rankings and was two votes shy of tying Penn State's James Franklin for the No. 8 spot.

Back-to-back seasons marred by injuries to quarterback Cam Rising were disappointing, though they weren't enough to keep Whittingham and the rest of his résumé, which includes a pair of Pac-12 championship belts, from appearing in ESPN's collaborative top 10 list. In fact, two voters placed Whittingham inside their respective top fives, including ESPN senior college football writer Adam Rittenberg.

"I tend to zoom out on these evaluations, and Whittingham's accomplishments at a program like Utah, which lacks baked-in advantages of national powers and has been in four different conferences since 1998, is remarkable," Rittenberg wrote.

"Whittingham's consistency in generating wins and producing NFL players despite unremarkable recruiting classes points to his talent as a coach."

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham watches his team play against the Utah State Aggies in the second half at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. | Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

Over the past 20 seasons at the helm of the Utes — tied with Mike Gundy as the second-longest tenured head coach in the FBS — Whittingham accumulated a career record of 167-86 (66% win percentage), including 11-6 (64.7%) in bowl games. When including his 11 seasons with the program as an assistant coach, Whittingham has contributed to more victories (252) than any coach in program history.

Utah finished with a winning record in 17 of Whittingham's first 20 years as head coach, including a run of 10 straight from 2014-23. He won nine or more games seven times between 2014 and 2022, though the Utes only played five games during the shortened 2020 campaign. Whittingham guided the program to a conference or division title in each of its last four seasons as a member of the Pac-12.

Georgia's Kirby Smart was ranked by ESPN as the No. 1 coach in college football, with Ohio State's Ryan Day, Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman and Texas' Steve Sarkisian rounding out the top five.