While Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and the trio of players he took with him to Big Ten media days had their day in front of the media on Wednesday, Thursday was new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham's turn. You knew it was coming, and that's exactly what happened when Whittingham was asked about what he's learned about the rivalry with Ohio State and how he's going to approach it.
For his part, Whittingham seems ready to lower the temperature a bit and was nothing more than respectful and matter-of-fact about the rivalry with the Buckeyes being a huge one, but one taken into perspective.
"I haven't learned much more than what I already knew. I mean, it's a national game; everybody knows about it. It's "The Game" as we call it, and it's of
great importance, obviously, to both sides," Whittingham said. "But I'm an old-school coach; we've got 11 games we play before that, so we're not going to get ahead of ourselves. But make no mistake, I understand the implications that it has."
And it's true it's not like Whittingham is coming into arguably the greatest rivalry in sports blindly. After all, he is good friends with Urban Meyer, former Ohio State head coach who went 7-0 against the maize and blue. Whittingham pointed to his affiliation with Meyer and how it helped him understand more about the massive, annual tilt.
"A friend of mine, Urban Meyer, he was at the other place for a few years, and we'd talk about the game over the course of that time span, so very well-versed in what it means and the intensity of it, the national allure that it has, and our players are the same," Whittingham continued. "Everybody knows that that game is looming out there, and I think the best-case scenario is it comes down to that game and it's for all the marbles in the Big Ten. I think that would be ideal, so hopefully that happens."
Kyle Whittingham hopes Michigan's regular-season finale against Ohio State has the Big Ten on the line 👀 pic.twitter.com/U9NpbzR6FL
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 30, 2026
The beginning of Whittingham's tenure will usher in a new era of The Game between Ohio State and Michigan, and one can only hope that it's still at the fever pitch it has been, but with a more respectable tone than the last few years. It pains me to say it a little, but with Whittingham there and the human being he appears to be, I think that will be the case.
It's still going to be one whale of a rivalry, though, and it's going to be a lot of fun, and yes, still heated.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham on learning about Ohio State rivalry
