$6.9 million head coach steps down after 21 years with major college football program

Long-time college football coach steps down after more than two decades at position

Nov 15, 2025; Waco, Texas, USA; Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham looks on from the sidelines during the first half against the Baylor Bears at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

The 2025 college football season is nearing its conclusion.

The 2025 College Football Playoff is set to begin on Dec. 19 and will feature 12 FBS programs. 70 more programs are participating in bowl games from mid-December into the first two days of 2026.

The end of the season also brings coaching changes across college football programs. At the moment, at least 17 Power Four programs will have a new coach in 2026.

Utah has joined the laundry list of Power Four college football programs to undergo a coaching change in the 2026 offseason. Kyle Whittingham announced his intent to step down from his post on Friday.

Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley will step into the head coaching vacancy. He played defensive back for the Utes from 2001-2004 and has coached at Utah since 2007. Scalley has held the role of defensive coordinator since 2016.

Kyle Whittingham has informed some internally at Utah that the Utes are set to name defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley as the school’s new head coach, sources tell @CBSSports https://t.co/4XPWwZVYBy pic.twitter.com/7ZoZ4llZFy

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 12, 2025

Whittingham played linebacker at BYU from 1978-81. He played linebacker in stints for the USFL and NFL in the 1980s.

After coaching as an assistant at BYU, Eastern Utah and Idaho State, he joined the Utah football program as the defensive line coach in 1994. He served as the Utes' defensive coordinator for 10 seasons before he was promoted to head coach in 2005.

Whittingham finished his coaching tenure at Utah 117-88 overall. He won a Mountain West Conference championship in 2008, four Pac-12 South division championships and Pac-12 conference championships in 2021 and 2022.

Utah was paying Whittingham $6.9 million per season to coach the Utes. That ranked him the 33rd-highest-paid coach in the country, behind Mike Elko at Texas A&M.

Whittingham's success in Salt Lake City made him one of the longest-tenured coaches in college football during his time at Utah.

Sep 20, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley looks on before the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Following TCU's decision to part ways with Gary Patterson in 2021, Whittingham became the second-longest tenured FBS coach behind Kirk Ferentz at Iowa. Troy Calhoun of Air Force is the second-longest tenured FBS coach following Whittingham's decision to step down.

2025 marked the eighth time Whittingham coached the Utes to a 10-win season. The first loss for the Utes in the regular season was to Big 12 champion and No. 4-seed Texas Tech (34-10) on Sep. 20. The second loss was at Big 12 championship runner-up BYU (24-21) in the Holy War on Oct. 18.

Whittingham will coach Utah for the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl before passing the baton to Scalley. The Utes (10-2, 7-2) will face Nebraska (7-5, 4-5) on Dec. 31 (3:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

While stepping down generally indicates retirement, it may not be the case for Whittingham. Stewart Mandel of The Athletic reported the 66-year-old may be searching for other college football coaching opportunities.