Former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer has been a vocal supporter of Michigan's Kyle Whittingham, but Meyer disagrees with Whittingham's philosophy on the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.
On "The Triple Option" show Aug. 24, Meyer discussed Whittingham saying he has no hatred for Ohio State.
"If the Ohio State coach ever said that, that would be a problem," Meyer said. "People would lose their [expletive] in Columbus, Ohio. They would. And I got news: You're not going to change that. So play the game."
Ohio State fans would "lose their sh!t" if a Buckeyes' head coach said they didn't hate Michigan pic.twitter.com/hpgAjJRqWT
— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) August 24, 2026
On July 30, Whittingham spoke at Big Ten media days and dismissed the need for hatred in any sports rivalry.
“A rivalry can
be intense and emotional without the hatred factor,” Whittingham said. “I don’t think there is any place for that personally. I think Ryan Day is a good person. To sit here and say I hate Ryan Day, I’d be making crap up, because that’s not true.”
Whittingham clarified his stance during a Michigan press conference Aug. 11, when he said he was not attempting to downplay the rivalry game.
"Do we have a better chance to win if I hated them?" Whittingham said to reporters. "… Whatever gives us the best chance to win, I'm all for it. I want to beat them worse than anybody around, and so I don’t know how that got to be such a hot topic.”
Meyer agreed with Whittingham not making the rivalry personal when it comes to the opposing coaching staff, but Meyer still took issue with Whittingham's original stance.
"Did I hate Jim Harbaugh? Did I hate Brady Hoke? Of course not," Meyer said. "... But do I hate [Michigan]? Of course I hate them. That's your job to hate them."
Along with being friends, Whittingham served as Meyer's defensive coordinator at Utah for two seasons, but Meyer said he did not call Whittingham after his comments at Big Ten media days.
"After his visit to Columbus this year, and he gets scarred up a little, and some of the things that are going to be said and thrown at him and seen, he'll develop a little bit of a hatred," Meyer said.
During his Ohio State tenure, Meyer went 7-0 against Michigan. The margin in four of those victories was more than a touchdown. The closest Michigan came to victory against Meyer was in 2016; the Buckeyes and Wolverines went to double overtime before Ohio State running back Curtis Samuel scored a game-winning touchdown to make the final 30-27.
Said Meyer: "When you use the word hatred, it's that maize and blue team across from you. It's not the person. It's not the university. That's common sense, Coach Whit. I know that. But when you're a player and you're getting ready to put your hand in the ground in front of 110,000 people, you better have a dislike and distaste for that person across from you."
Whittingham will face Ohio State in his first rivalry game on Nov. 28 in Columbus.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Urban Meyer disagrees with Kyle Whittingham on Ohio State-Michigan rivalry
