ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- It's rare for first-year head coaches in the Michigan football vs. Michigan State rivalry to win their first game, but for the second time in three years, both teams will have a new head coach entering the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
In 2024, Sherrone Moore bested Jonathan Smith, but Moore had been with the Michigan program since 2018, so he knew very well what the rivalry was all about. Smith, however, was getting his first taste. Kyle Whittingham is about to get his, though Pat Fitzgerald certainly knows about both teams, given that he was the longtime head coach at Northwestern before he ended up in East Lansing.
After the win over Rutgers, Whittingham noted that it's not Michigan's biggest rivalry, but it is, indeed,
a rivalry. So WolverinesWire asked him on Monday morning what he knows about it going in.
"Well, it's intense, obviously. A lot of nastiness in it," Whittingham said. "I guess there was a fight in the tunnel a couple years ago, somehow, some sort of altercation in the tunnel. So yeah, it's a game that both teams throw out the records and whatever else is going on. It's its own entity, and you've got to be ready to play."
Before arriving in Ann Arbor, Whittingham says he was well aware of the rivalry between the Wolverines and Spartans. He's hearing more about the nastiness that can ensue during or after the game as it draws nearer.
But he also cautions that he's got to get his team ready for the game. It doesn't require extra preparation in terms of the schematic game plan, but it will require the players to understand the emotional component and be ready for an extra level of physicality.
Thus, he's bringing in some former players to educate those new to the rivalry on what it's all about.
"Yeah, well, first of all, I think everyone in the country knows about it. I mean, anybody that's a football fan, certainly as a coach, understands that it's a rivalry, that, you know, it's bragging rights in the state of Michigan," Whittingham said. "There's a lot attached to it, the trophy, the Paul Bunyan trophy, and that type of thing.
"Now, we have 55 new guys on our team this year that have never played in it and don't know a whole lot about it. So a lot of this week will be educating those guys on what the rivalry is all about. We've got some former players that will come in and talk to our guys and get them up to speed and give their background and their take on the thing. So we'll do our very best this week to educate them without overdoing it."
Running back Savion Hiter said on Saturday that all he knows about the rivalry is 'it's a dirty game.' Whittingham was asked about his evaluation as such, and he noted that it's a game that's much more important to one side rather than the other, pointing earlier in his presser that the Ohio State game at the end of the season takes full precedence.
"So I don't want to paint or come across as if the rivalries aren't important. They are," Whittingham said. "This game is the Super Bowl, particularly for them, in my opinion. And so we don't want to downplay it at all. I'm not trying to downplay it. But still, when all's said and done, you've got to keep everything in perspective. So I guess that's the position I'm trying to take."
Michigan and MSU will kick off at 7:30 p.m. EST at The Big House. The game will be broadcast solely on the streaming platform Peacock.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham addresses Michigan State rivalry, calls it 'nasty'
