Now that everyone has had some time to process the hiring of former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, it is time to turn our attention to business.
Whittingham agreed to a five-year contract on Friday and was put on a plane straight to Orlando to start building relationships with the players. He’s got to act fast, as the transfer portal opens on Jan. 2 and players will have some quick decisions to make.
What makes Whittingham a fascinating hire is his ability to do more with less. Coming into the 2025
season, Utah was expected to be working with an NIL operating budget of $8 million. For comparison, according to On3’s Pete Nakos, the Wolverines were expected to cross the $20 million threshold.
Obviously, a lot of that money is allocated to high school recruits, but with the wild west that is the transfer portal, Whittingham could be looking to fill his roster via the portal to compliment the young roster Michigan put on the field last season.
In 2025, Utah was ranked 37th in national transfer portal rankings, according to 247Sports, bringing in 22 new players. He also lost 31 players. For reference, Michigan was ranked 30th with 17 incoming transfers.
The highlights of the portal for the Utes’ was former New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier and Washington State running back Wayshawn Parker, who both helped Utah’s offense drastically. Dampier followed offensive coordinator Jason Beck to Salt Lake City and was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after throwing for 2,768 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Parker was ranked the No. 2 running back in the portal after a terrific 2024 season at Washington State where he rushed for 735 yards (5.4 yards per carry) and four touchdowns. With the Utes this year, Parker ran for 931 yards and six touchdowns.
On defense, Utah received solid play from UC Davis transfer cornerback Blake Cotton. In seven starts, he totaled 25 tackles (two for loss) and seven pass breakups.
However, outside of those three, there was not much other production. The year before showed a similar trend, as Whittingham brought in 12 transfers via the portal while losing 25. Utah was ranked 32nd in the country in transfer portal rankings, with the biggest get being wide receiver Dorian Singer. The former 1,000-yard receiver started all 12 games in 2024, leading Utah with 53 catches and 702 yards to go along with one touchdown.
Most interestingly, of the 22 commits in 2025, six were wide receivers, four were running backs and four were cornerbacks. Of the 12 2024 commits, three were wide receivers, three were edge rushers and three played in the secondary. With a majority of the transfers coming at the same few positions, it appears Whittingham uses the portal to fill holes and build depth more so than just getting the best guys available.
It will be interesting to see how Whittingham plans to utilize the portal in his first season at Michigan, especially with the expectation the Wolverines will lose some of their roster once the coaching staff appears to form. At the very minimum, he will need to replace some of Michigan’s receiving corps, tight end room and secondary with players leaving and those being weak spots on the team this past season.
But with a larger NIL budget and resources, the Michigan brand and the desire to make a splash right away, Whittingham could go away from his typical playbook and hit the portal hard.
