Kyle Whittingham will keep his options open once he steps down as Utah's head coach

Oh, how a simple choice of words can dictate the narrative surrounding something much more complex than it seems.

Some Utah football fans might've experienced that for the first time last week, when it was announced that Kyle Whittingham will step down — not retire — as the head coach of the Utes after their postseason matchup with Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 31, 1:30 p.m. MT).

That basic yet underlying phrase, "step down," was a hard-hitting reality check for anyone who assumed Whittingham would ride his motorcycle off into the sunset following the 2025 season. The 66-year-old had been at the helm of the Utes for the last 20 years, in addition to another 10 as an assistant coach. He guided the program to new heights, taking it from the Mountain West to the top of the Pac-12, and then into new territory as a member of the Big 12.

After spending the past three decades establishing his legacy at one place — becoming Utah's all-time wins leader while architecting its rise up the college football hierarchy — there was no way Whittingham would pursue opportunities elsewhere, right?

Well, that's still to be determined.

"I'm a free agent in the transfer portal," Whittingham said Thursday as he fielded questions from the media regarding his future. "It's a different feel. But like I said, I'm at peace and I did not want to be that guy that overstayed his welcome."

Sep 27, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham celebrates with fans after defeating the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

It's unclear who would've made Whittingham feel like he was sitting in the head coach's chair for too long at this point, given he's been at the helm full-time since 2005 and clearly has the desire to compete. But with defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley waiting in the wings, Whittingham will be handing the keys over to someone who knows the program's identity and culture inside and out as a former player and long-time assistant coach.

"He's really good at connecting with players," Whittingham said of Scalley. "His culture ideas, my culture ideas align perfectly. We both have a lot of the same recruiting strategies and thoughts, evaluation wise, how you navigate the portal, all that stuff. It's very consistent."

Even so, Whittingham isn't exactly ready to call it quits on his coaching career.

"I don't know if [coaching is] ever out of your system," Whittingahm said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but when you got the coaching in your blood, it just doesn't go away."

Retirement is still on the table, but through Whittingham's tongue-in-cheek comparison between being a player in the transfer portal and his own job status, it's clear that sitting at home and watching football on Saturdays isn't his preferred choice if he can be on the sidelines instead. He'd probably be skiing or riding his motorcycle more frequently than he already does if coaching weren't an option.

But for now, it seems like anything and everything is possible for Whittingham. He could do what many initially expected from last week's announcement and retire as a three-time coach of the year and multi-time Rose Bowl participant who ended his career with the third-most wins among active Football Bowl Subdivision coaches; or, he could decide to keep his phone ringer on and wait for the next chapter of his career to unfold somewhere else.

If the latter route is the one he so chooses to go down, it'd be intriguing to see which schools reach out. Currently, there are two FBS programs without a head coach (Michigan and Ohio). There's been some thought that he could pursue the Wolverines' vacancy, though it's unclear what TurnkeyZRG, the firm that was brought in to help Michigan find its next head coach, thinks of Whittingham and the potential fit in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Would the NFL come calling? Whittingham's son, Alex, has experience in the arena as an assistant defensive line coach with the Kansas City Chiefs. It would certainly be something to see another father-son duo coach alongside — or against — one another at the professional level. Whether Whittingham would want to make the adjustment to the NFL coaching lifestyle, instead of just continuing what he's used to doing at the collegiate level, though, is a different question entirely.

It's all speculation, anyhow. The reality is that fans will have to get used to looking at Utah's sidelines and not see Whittingham with a headset on and decked head to toe in Utes' gear after the Las Vegas Bowl.

However, they should still be prepared if he's wearing another team's colors in the near future.

"I don't want to overstate my welcome," Whittingham said. "I don't know [who would've gotten 'sick' of him], but I just didn't want to be that guy."

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