177-Win Head Coach Listed as 'Grade A' Hire for Major College Football Program

A college football coach hired by a Power Four program has been named a "Grade A" hire by a media outlet.

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham watches the team warm up before the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

33 different FBS college football programs searched for new coaches in the 2025-2026 coaching carousel. The carousel began to rotate in the middle of September and did not stop moving until late December of 2025.

The last Power Four program to make a head coaching change was Michigan, firing head coach Sherrone Moore with cause in the middle of December. In a stunning move, the Wolverines came away with former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham as Moore's successor.

The move to Michigan from Utah marks the first time Whittingham has left one school for another since he left his defensive coordinator post at Idaho State to become the Utes' defensive line coach in the 1994 offseason.

Utah promoted Whittingham to defensive coordinator in 1995, a role he held for 10 seasons before succeeding Urban Meyer as head coach.

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham reacts to a play against the Arizona State Sun Devils | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

In 21 seasons as Utah's head coach, Whittingham guided the Utes to eight seasons of 10 or more wins, the best of which was a 13-0 mark capped off by a Sugar Bowl win over Nick Saban-led Alabama in 2008. The Utes won a Mountain West Championship in 2008 and a pair of Pac-12 Championships in 2021 and 2022 under Whittingham's watch.

Prior to his departure from Utah in the 2026 offseason, Whittingham had earned a reputation as one of the longest-tenured head coaches in all of college football.

Only Kirk Ferentz of Iowa had a longer tenure in the FBS ranks. Whittingham is the winningest head coach in Utah program history, one of only two Utes coaches to have won more than 100 games in his tenure, the other being Ike Armstrong, who held the job from 1925 to 1949 and won 141 games.

Richard Johnson of CBS Sports released grades for each of the 33 FBS head coaching hires on Friday. Johnson gave Michigan an A for its hire of Whittingham to replace Sherrone Moore, one of four programs that received A's for their hires.

"It wasn't exactly a stunner that Kyle Whittingham stepped down at Utah -- he had been on retirement watch annually as he got older -- but it was surprising that he ended up back in the game at Michigan," Johnson wrote. "His identity should play well with the Wolverines, and the offense run by Jason Beck is tailor-made for Bryce Underwood."

Whittingham marks the first coach the Wolverines have hired directly after serving at another college head coaching job since Brady Hoke in the 2011 offseason.

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham (right) argues a call with field judge Matt Mills | Rob Gray-Imagn Images