University Of Utah Football Coach

Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Kyle David Whittingham is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Utah, a position he has held since 2004, and is the all-time leader in wins at Utah. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utah's defensive coordinator for ten seasons. He was named head coach of Utah after Urban Meyer left for the University of Florida in 2004. He won AFCA Coach of the Year and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2008 after leading the 2008 Utah Utes football team to an undefeated season and a win the 2009 Sugar Bowl over Alabama. He and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy are the second longest tenured FBS coaches , trailing only Kirk Ferentz.

The 2004 season ended with Utah becoming the first BCS non-AQ conference team to make a BCS bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl. After winning the Fiesta Bowl, the Utes' overall record improved to 12–0. After the 2004 season, the Utes lost junior starting quarterback Alex Smith to the NFL and head coach Urban Meyer who left to the University of Florida. After the regular season, and before the Fiesta Bowl, Whittingham was offered the head coaching job at Utah and also the head coaching job at his alma mater, Brigham Young University. Because Urban Meyer had already officially accepted the head coaching job at Florida before the Fiesta Bowl, Whittingham and Meyer acted as co-head coaches of the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. Utah and the NCAA credit the Fiesta Bowl to both Meyer and Whittingham.

Whittingham became a graduate assistant for BYU during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. In 1987, Whittingham was named defensive coordinator at the College of Eastern Utah. After five seasons with Idaho State, Whittingham joined the Utah staff as defensive line coach, working alongside his father, Fred Whittingham. In the 1995 season, Whittingham replaced his father as the defensive coordinator, serving under both Ron McBride and Meyer until being named head coach in 2004.

Prior to taking over as head coach as Southern Virginia, Fitzgerald spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at SVU. Before heading to Buena Vista, Fitzgerald spent one season as the offensive coordinator at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee. He also spent two years as the special teams coordinator at Tennessee-Martin. Johnson joins the Warriors after serving as the offensive coordinator at Copper Hills High School under Corey Dodds.

He also was an assistant head coach at Cheyenne High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He and Dodds played at the University of Utah under then-head coach Urban Meyer. His team defeated the University of Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl to complete an undefeated season.

Holliday joined the Utah coaching staff in 2016 after holding the same position at BYU for three years. He has been coaching for the better part of two decades both as a wide receivers coach and an offensive coordinator. Late on Monday night a University of Utah spokesperson confirmed to multiple outlets that head coach Kyle Whittingham and the football program have parted ways with wide receivers coach Guy Holliday. The news comes after a tumultuous Sunday night that involved Holliday's son, Justin, stating that the U had fired his father. Whittingham joined the Utes' coaching staff as the defensive line coach in 1994.

He moved to defensive coordinator and safeties coach in 1995 for two seasons, before moving to coaching the linebackers while still calling the plays on defense. In 1998, Whittingham went back to the safeties and was still DC until 2000. Before the 2001 season, Whittingham went back to linebackers coach until 2005 when he was promoted to head coach.

Keep track of all of the latest FBS coaching moves here, from head coach firings and hires to assistants on the move to stories and scoops from The Athletic's team of college football reporters. Bookmark this tracker to stay up to date with all the latest news on the college football coaching carousel. Fitzgerald brings 22 years of college football coaching experience to the Thunderbirds, including 13 years as a head coach and a proven track record of building programs by implementing a winning culture. Entering his eighth season as the offensive line coach, Jim Harding has also served as Utah's assistant head coach (2017-present) and co-offensive coordinator ( ). He has coached five first-team All-Pac-12 selections and 2016 Morris Award winner in Isaac Asiata. Harding has produced and six NFL draft picks, including four members of the 2016 offensive line and at least one in three of the past six years.

Harding's linemen have blocked for a 1,000-yard rusher in six of the last seven seasons. He came to Utah after five seasons at Wyoming as an offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator . The Southern California native is familiar with the significance of the oldest bowl game in college football. Holliday is a 27-year veteran college football coach, including more than two decades overseeing receivers and six years as an offensive coordinator. Fitzgerald spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Southern Virginia before becoming the team's head coach.

Fifth-year running backs coach Kiel McDonald has progressively elevated the running game. Utah led the Pac-12 in rushing in 2019 as Zack Moss achieved his third consecutive 1,000-yard season and became Utah's all-time leading rusher last season. Moss was named the 2019 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, earned All-America honors and was taken in the third round of the NFL Draft. In 2020, Ty Jordan was named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American. Before coming to Utah, McDonald spent five years at Eastern Washington ( ), where he was also the co-special teams' coordinator. The Eagles made the FCS playoffs four times, advancing to the national semifinals in 2012, 2013 and 2016.

In a list of the highest paid NCAA football coaches, via USA Today, Sharrieff, a cornerbacks/special teams coordinator, was listed in the 211th spot with a $450,000 annual salary. Meanwhile, according to an additional report from Open Payrolls, it was noted that Sharrieff received a total of $553,215.17 for the 2020 school year, including bonuses, benefits, retirement contributions, and pensions. The day before Holliday revealed his departure, his son, Justin, a high school wide receivers coach in El Paso, Texas, tweeted a series of messages on Sunday saying Utah had fired his father. He also questioned why Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley was still employed.

Fitzgerald played football at Potomac State College before transferring and playing his final seasons as a fullback at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. After leading his team to an Atlantic 10 Conference championship in 1999, Fitzgerald began his coaching career at Bridgton Academy in Maine in 2000 before returning to James Madison as a defensive assistant in 2001. Fitzgerald played football at Potomac State College before transferring and playing his final seasons as a fullback at James Madison University. Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham celebrates with fans following their NCAA college football game against UCLA Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Cited by ESPN.com in 2014 as one of "10 coaches who adapt and thrive," Shah has helped his players do the same, developing five cornerback converts into NFL players. Onetime safety Keith McGill was the first Pac-12 cornerback drafted in 2014—by Oakland in the fourth round.

Eric Rowe, who also began his Ute career at safety, was a second-round pick of Philadelphia in 2015 before going to New England, where he played on three Super Bowl teams ( ), and now Miami. Receiver-turned-cornerback Brian Allen was drafted in the fifth round by Pittsburgh in 2017. Dominique Hatfield came to Utah as a receiver before moving to cornerback—later joining the L.A. Rams as an undrafted free agent—and Josh Nurse moved from wide receiver to safety to cornerback and was signed by Baltimore as an undrafted free agent in 2020. Morgan Scalley, defensive coordinator of theUniversity of Utah football team, was put on leave Friday following the discovery of a 2013 text message in which he used a racial slur. The announcement was made byMark Harlan, the university's athletic director.

"On behalf of Aggie nation, I am thrilled to announce Blake Anderson as our new head football coach," Utah State athletic director John Hartwell said in a news release. "I have watched his Arkansas State teams over the past seven years, first when I was at Troy and then here at USU, and I am excited for our fans to witness first-hand his high-octane offense and championship brand of football. Helped guide Utah State to three-straight 20-plus win seasons, three-consecutive NCAA Tournament berths and two MWC Tournament Championships.

Instrumental in the development of Neemias Queta, a 2021 honorable mention AP All-American at Utah State. Coached South Dakota teams to back-to-back 20-win seasons, a regular season Summit League Championship. In his final season at WSC, the Tetons won 27 games and earned the program's first-ever top-25 ranking. Graduated from UW-La Crosse with a bachelor's degree in physical education. Master's degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in sports management and education from South Dakota. DeLane Fitzgerald comes to SUU with 22 years of college football coaching experience, including 13 as head coach, most recently at Frostburg State University, an NCAA Division II school in Maryland.

When Whittingham joined Utah's coaching staff way back in 1994 as a defensive line coach, and even when he was hired as the head coach a decade later, he had no idea that he'd wind up as the school's winningest coach. In 2008, Whittingham engineered the best season in Utah football history. The Utes went 13-0—concluding the season with a Sugar Bowl rout of Alabama, a team that had spent five weeks at No. 1. Utah was declared the national champion that season by major selector Anderson/Hester and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll.

Whittingham's success has continued in the Pac-12 Conference where Utah won the South Division title outright in 2018 and 2019, and shared it with USC in 2015. Whittingham has coached 25 All-Americans, including seven consensus picks. He has coached the only major national award winners in Utah football history with three Ray Guy Award winners ( ), a Lou Groza Award winner and a Ted Hendricks Award winner to his credit. His glossy bowl record includes a 2-0 mark in bowls currently part of the College Football Playoff New Year's Six, with wins over Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl as co-head coach and Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl. Ohio State, on the other hand, will be without top players who declared for the draft and are sitting out the bowl game.

Wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, defensive tackle Haskell Garrett and offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere opted out to avoid injury that could impact their draft status. Utah will take the field on Saturday with six players who declared for the upcoming NFL draft but still opted to participate in the Rose Bowl. Offensive lineman Nick Ford, defensive end Mika Tafua, tight end Cole Fotheringham, running back TJ Pledger, wide receiver Britain Covey and Sewell headline Utah's top talent bound for the next level. Holliday's release comes shortly after the departure of two of Utah's most talented wide receivers.

Bryan Thompson, who spent three seasons with the team recording 33 receptions for 756 yards and four touchdowns, announced his transfer to rival Arizona State on Feb. 18 via his twitter account. The third time was the charm as he finally was able to secure his first collegiate head coaching job at the University of Utah. He was one of the first Utah coaches in the Lavell Edwards era to compete with BYU. He finished with a 6-7 record against the Cougars who at that time were a national powerhouse. Whittingham, 55, took over for Urban Meyer for the 2005 season and has not looked back since. With an career regular-season record and an 8-1 record in bowl games, the head coach has made Utah a consistent presence in the Top 25 polls.

Since the University of Utah dismissed former wide receivers coach Guy Holliday, some drama has ensued. The Utah athletic department confirmed that Holliday was no longer a part of the football program on Monday, only after the former coach shared a cryptic-tweet indicating his departure. First season with the Runnin' Utes after serving in the same capacity under Craig Smith at Utah State since 2018. Worked three years at Nebraska-Omaha as an assistant for two seasons before being elevated to director in 2017.

Also worked as an assistant at Augustana College and two years as a graduate assistant at South Dakota State ( ). Holds certifications through the CSCCa , NSCA , FRCms, USA Weightlifting , the Gray Institute and is RPR-2 certified. Was a seven-time NAIA national qualifier in track, earning All-America honors in 2011, and a two-time All-GPAC pick in football. Graduated from Northwestern College in 2011 with a degree in exercise science before earning a master's in exercise physiology and human performance from South Dakota State in 2014. Nonetheless, Coach Shah isn't the head coach of the University of Utah. Instead, he has been the Utah Utes' cornerbacks and special teams coordinator for nine seasons.

Due to the injury, Wynn, who finished the regular season in spite of his injury, missed the Las Vegas Bowl – a 26–3 loss to the Boise State Broncos. It was the program's first bowl loss since the 1996 Copper Bowl and snapped a 9-game bowl winning streak, which was, at the time, the longest active streak in college football. Covers the Group of Five conferences, college football coaching and national college football for The Athletic. Joe Johnson, a former University of Utah football player, has taken over as the Warriors new head football coach.

Scalley, who was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2016, has been with the football program for 12 years. In 2019, The Utes had the second-best total defense in college football. The Utah Utes' football program appears to be in a bit of disarray, after reports surfaced of discontent between athletic director Chris Hill and head coach Kyle Whittingham. Hill responded to those reports on Tuesday, denying that issues were present.

Worked at UNLV for two years after spending eight seasons at Utah ( ). Helped lead the Utes to five-straight postseason appearances, which included back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths, a Sweet 16 appearance and an NIT runner-up finish. On staff when the Utes had a player selected in the first round of the NBA Draft in three-consecutive years ( ). Before coming to Utah, spent four seasons at Colorado State, where he worked alongside Smith under Tim Miles.

Assistant coach at Idaho ( ) and the director of operations at Southern California ( ). Played two seasons at Dixie State before finishing out his career at Georgia Southern, where he earned a degree in public recreation and kinesiology in 2001. As a junior at Georgia Southern, was the team's second-leading scorer before finishing fourth in scoring as a senior.

On several occasions, Shah has referred to her husband as 'Coach Shah' and contacted him for his 'daily pep talks' to get her through whatever issues she's working through that day. He's known for being really good at solving problems and talking people up when they need to hear it most — a trait that would come in handy for a college football head coach. Before that, he spent one season as the offensive coordinator at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee.

Before his historic run at Frostburg State, Fitzgerald spent five years as the head coach at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Virginia. His teams progressed every season after going 3-8 in his first year, and finishing with an 8-2 record and No. 1 ranking in the USCAA Coaches Poll in 2013. The Knights have not achieved a winning season since Fitzgerald's departure.

Utah Utes defensive end Mika Tafua brings down Oregon State Beavers quarterback Chance Nolan as Utah and Oregon State play a college football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. Prior to his time at Frostburg, Fitzgerald spent five years as the head coach at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Virginia. His teams at SVU progressed every season after going 3-8 in his first year, and finishing with an 8-2 record and No. 1 ranking in the USCAA Coaches Poll in 2013. Whittingham co-coached the 2005 Fiesta Bowl with Urban Meyer, who was coaching his last game at Utah before leaving to take over the Florida football program. The 2005 season was the first full season under Whittingham for the Utes.

They went 7-5 before going 8-5 during the 2006 season and improving once again to 9-4 in 2007. The 2008 season was special as Whittingham led the team to an undefeated 13-0 record and beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. SALT LAKE CITY – Kyle Whittingham picked up his 142nd career win as head coach of Utah football and is now the all-time winningest coach in school history. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham watches from the sideline during the first half of the team's NCAA college football game against Southern California on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, in Los Angeles. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham reacts to a call during the first half of the team's NCAA college football game against Weber State on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, in Salt Lake City.

Redshirt junior wide receiver/return specialist Britain Covey was one of 19 players to participate in pregame senior day festivities on Friday before Utah played Colorado. Sharrieff Shah is in his 10th season coaching the cornerbacks and third year as the special teams coordinator after serving three years as the co-coordinator. Shah has sent five cornerbacks to the NFL, and coached Jaylon Johnson to All-America and first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2019. He also has a first-team All-America punt returner and a Freshman All-America punt returner to his credit. The cornerbacks were instrumental in Utah ranking second in total defense and No. 1 in pass efficiency defense in the Pac-12 in 2020. Shah was cited by ESPN.com in 2014 as one of "10 coaches who adapt and thrive." He was a practicing attorney before becoming a coach at Utah.