Despite Year 1 in the Big 12 not going as planned, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham is coming back for the 2025 college football season.
There was some speculation that Whittingham might decide to retire after a disappointing 2024 campaign. But Whittingham released a statement on Sunday afternoon through the University that read simply, “I’m back.”
Utah just wrapped up a 5-7 season where they went 2-7 in the Big 12, their first since joining the conference from the Pac-12.
In 20 years as the head coach of the Utah Utes, Whittingham is 167-86. Utah has finished with a winning record in 17 of his 19 years as head coach, including 10 in a row, before that streak was snapped this season. His 11 bowl wins (11-6) ranks fourth among active coaches with his record including a 2-2 mark in New Year’s Six bowls.
Utah won back-to-back Pac-12 titles in 2021 and 2022, while also winning at least a share of the Pac-12 South four times (2015 – shared, 2018, 2019, 2021).
Utah football already has a “Coach in Waiting” in defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley. But Scalley is going to have to continue to wait, at least one more season, with Whittingham set to return for the 2025 season.
Utah’s 2-7 Big 12 record included an opening win in conference play against Oklahoma State, and then seven losses in a row, before ending the season with a win over UCF.
