Utah's Kyle Whittingham will make career decision after the season

Utes head coach will take some time after the season ends to evaluate his future

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham is the program's all-time wins leader with 176 career victories heading into the final week of the 2025 regular season. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

As Kyle Whittingham walked off the field following Utah's improbable comeback against Kansas State, Utes fans wondered if that'd be the last time they see the program's winningest head coach take a bow from Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Those speculations will have to wait until the offseason, though, as Whittingham and his team have at least two more games left in the 2025-26 campaign.

"That's an that's an after the season thing," Whittingham said during his weekly press conference on Monday, following the Utes' 51-47 win over the Wildcats. "As soon as everything's culminated, and you have a few days, and maybe even a week or two, to sit back and evaluate and see where you're at."

Whittingham, who returned for season No. 21 as head coach of the Utes following a disappointing end to the 2024 season, indicated during a media availability session on Nov. 18 that he wouldn't announce his retirement prior to his final game.

Utah finished 5-7 in its first go around in the Big 12 but turned things around drastically in year No. 2, giving itself a chance to compete for a conference championship heading into the final week of the regular season with a 9-2 record (6-2 in league play).

Head Coach Kyle Whittingham speaks at his weekly Press Conference 🎙️

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The Utes would need help from several Big 12 teams in order to punch a ticket to Arlington, Texas, for the conference title game on Dec. 6, though it had already secured bowl eligibility by the end of October and remained in the hunt for an at-large College Football Playoff bid going into its Week 14 matchup at Kansas (Friday 10 a.m. MT, ESPN).

Regardless of how Utah finished in the postseason, Whittingham's consistent success at the helm of the Utes had already cemented his legacy with the program. The Utes have finished with a winning record in 18 of his 21 seasons as head coach and are on the verge of clinching their eighth 10-win season under his guidance, while his 11 bowl game victories are the second-most among active Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches (Clemson's Dabo Swinney has 12).

Overall, Whittingham's 176 career wins rank No. 4 among active FBS coaches. He's guided the Utes to a pair of Pac-12 championship titles (2021 and 2022) and a Mountain West championship (2008). He'll have an opportunity to claim his fourth national coach of the year honor at the end of the season as a contender for the Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year Award.

Whittingham, 66, is tied for the third-oldest active head coach in the FBS with Temple's K.C. Feeler. Only North Carolina's Bill Belichick (73) and Iowa's Kirk Ferentz (70) are older.