Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham seems to say something head-scratching nearly every time he’s in front of a microphone. And that happened again earlier this week on the “Inside Michigan Football” radio show.
Here’s a look at Whittingham saying that Oregon can “outbid everybody” in recruiting and what Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said in response.
Whittingham’s quote:
“He really does a great job recruiting. It doesn’t hurt that you have $50 million at your disposal to, in essence, to outbid everybody.
Not everybody, but a lot of people. But that’s not his fault. That’s a credit. I mean, that’s a credit to their program and their dedication and desire to win and the support they have. NIL is really the name in the game in recruiting these days; it’s shifted so much. Used to be the facilities you had, the tradition and all these other things; now it’s these guys got 100 grand more for me. It’s a little bit of a factor, to say the least, but not to take anything away from Dan because he’s an outstanding recruiter just in and of itself.”
Lanning’s response:
“I’ve got nothing to say to Coach Whit other than I think he’s an unbelievable coach, and I get it. They’re spending more of their money right now on their coaches that they’re letting go, so maybe it makes it hard to sign players. But I know they’ve signed a couple of guys that we weren’t able to compete with what they decided to do, and maybe a lot of that money is tied up for them in another player. I don’t know. But Coach Whittingham is an unbelievable coach. He’s a Hall of Fame coach. I’ve got nothing but respect for him.”
Lanning is clearly referring to the roughly $10 million Michigan will still have to pay to former offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who was fired on Sunday. He’s also likely referring to the major NIL deal Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood signed.
Lanning’s comments balance the respect he has for Whittingham as a coach and the reality of Whittingham’s comments being out of touch and senseless. What good did Whittingham do for the Michigan program by saying what he said? If anything, Whittingham gave Oregon bulletin-board material. At 66 years of age, one would think Whittingham would realize what benefits his team and what doesn’t, but here we are. Another wrinkle in Whittingham’s comments is acting like tradition now means less because money is involved — that’s ridiculous — trophy games will always matter; playing Ohio State will always matter, whether he likes it or not.
It’s hard to find any fault in Lanning’s response — he’s not wrong.
