There has been turmoil in Ann Arbor this past week, with fans questioning the viability of Kyle Whittingham's tenure -- his press conference sound bites not helping -- and made the worse by Michigan football's loss to Michigan State on Saturday.
After the game, Whittingham staunchly said that he would not make any decisions on offensive coordinator Jason Beck until after the season. However, Beck was summarily fired on Sunday, and Whittingham insisted on Monday that it was his decision after watching game film from Saturday's loss.
However, as On3's Pete Nakos tells it, that sounds a little suspicious compared to what he had been hearing.
Nakos appeared on Crain & Cone on Monday, and he said that no decision on Beck had been made as late as 2 p.m.
EST (he was fired near 5 p.m. EST), and it didn't appear that there was any plan to oust Beck by Whittingham at any point.
"I admittedly did check in with some folks around like noon, 1 (p.m.) central yesterday, and the decision had not been made," Nakos said. "And it almost came across that he wasn't planning on making any staffing changes at that point. So Kyle Whittingham comes out this morning, said he made the decision. I did check in, though, midday yesterday before that news came down. There was no plan. So, you know, continue to have conversations, try to find out more about how things conspired."
There have been rumors that the call has come from above Whittingham's head, with athletic director Warde Manuel getting involved, but nothing on the record at this point.
But more than that, Nakos reports that high-level donors and the board of regents are now questioning Whittingham's viability after the loss, given that this team is now 5-4 and hasn't consistently looked up to par.
"The other thing I heard Sunday morning was that I think Saturday night, that loss to Michigan State, as painful as it was for Cone, was also an eye-opener for a lot of donors and some board of trustees to say, 'Oh, like this is where we're at, where we just lost to Michigan State at home,'" Nakos said. "You know, I think playing Indiana tight and trying to find some rhythm against Rutgers, that's kind of like, OK, maybe we're turning the corner, and then you basically go scoreless against one of your archrivals."
Of course, Michigan has a lame duck athletic director in Manuel, who will be stepping down at the end of the year. The Wolverines announced that they have started the search for his replacement, and there are indications that it's escalating.
Nakos says that if Michigan hurriedly gets a new AD, the gears could potentially turn on a decision on Whittingham, one way or the other, sooner than many might think. A new AD doesn't guarantee that the former Utah coach would be out, but it would certainly give the school some clarity.
"Well, I mean, they've started the search, so hypothetically, the new president could make this hire by the end of the month and get the new AD in there immediately," Nakos said. "How that all shakes out, I mean, I know that they're in the early process. But Florida State just hired an athletic director basically in 14 days."
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football donors question Kyle Whittingham's future: Report
