In a day and age where finesse in football is all the more common, new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham understands that the basic tenets of football will never change. Games are won and lost at the line
of scrimmage, and if you aren’t tough, you aren’t going to consistently win.
In Whittingham’s introductory press conference, he put an emphasis on the program having an expectation of toughness.
“What you can expect, physicality will be our calling card,” Whittingham said. “Usually, Utah, the place I was, we were the most physical team in the league, whichever league we played in, that’s not going to be any different here. And I believe in running the football.”
Utah ranked No. 2 in rushing offense this season. Utah ran the ball 55.3% of the time and passed it at a 44.7% clip.
“If you can win the line of scrimmage and be physical up front, you’ve always got a chance,” Whittingham said. “That will be the trademark. And the identity of this football team is physicality, toughness, and grit.”
Whittingham, 66, said that as a child, he was enamored while watching Michigan on television.
“Our team will fall right in line with what Michigan is used to. Michigan football, all the way back with coach Bo Schembechler,” Whittingham explained. “When I was seven years old, sitting in my living room watching a football game by myself, and it just happened to be Michigan versus Ohio State, and I saw those winged helmets come out of the tunnel and Bo Schembechler leading them and playing against Woody Hayes. I was hooked. I was hooked at that point.”
While Whittingham is inspired by the Michigan teams of old, he brings his own preferred schematics of sets featuring three receivers, one tight end, and one running back.
“Spread offense. Based out of a spread, 11 personnel will be our base personnel group. We’re going to run the football efficiently. We’re going to run the ball. The only people that were in the same category as us were the service academies, the Air Force, Navy; they did that. I believe that if you can run the football effectively, everything happens.”
While recently fired former Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore preached about bringing a smashmouth brand of football, it was more bluster than reality, and Michigan didn’t fare well in the trenches in their losses to Oklahoma, USC, and Ohio State this season. Whittingham has a 21-year track record as Utah’s head coach of having teams that fight and battle, which bodes well for Michigan’s offense being an improved and tougher operation in 2026.
