Kyle Whittingham reveals first priorities as Michigan head coach, new staff already beginning to take shape
In his first press conference as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Kyle Whittingham outlined his plan for the foreseeable future.
The newest head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Kyle Whittingham, had his first official press conference as head coach of the Wolverines on Sunday morning. Whittingham relayed his excitement for the job and silenced a lot of doubts about his energy.
Whittingham has a lot of work to do ahead of what will be a chaotic week for the Wolverines. Michigan kicks off a bowl game against the Texas Longhorns on Wednesday, and the transfer portal opens on Friday. Fortunately, it sounds like Michigan’s newest head coach has already hit the ground running.
Whittingham already active for Wolverines
Whittingham relayed his first meeting with any players was with quarterback Bryce Underwood, and his first meeting with Underwood was a positive one.
“I did a lot of listening,” Whittingham said of the 45-minute conversation. “I wanted to get feedback from him. I wanted to get to know him. Just everything from growing up, family, what’s important to him — and it was a great conversation He’s a special young man, carries himself the right way. The quarterback’s got to have that ‘it’ factor, and Bryce has the ‘it’ factor, along with a ton of talent. Big, strong kid, 6-4, 225-plus pounds. His ceiling is very high. The offense we’re going to bring in here, I think, is going to suit him to a T. I think he’s going to really, really excel and have a great experience here.”
Whittingham said his top priority at the helm was focusing on roster retention. The Wolverines went weeks without discussing any “contracts” with players to bring them back for next season amidst their head coach search, so there’s a steep hill for Whittingham and the rest of the staff to climb while playing catch up ahead of the portal opening up on Friday.
Additionally, Whittingham outlined his plan for Michigan’s new coaching staff. He has already gotten off to a strong start, but he took it a slight step further on Sunday.
“I’m not precluding the chance that we will keep some coaches from the current staff,” Whittingham said. “There are some excellent coaches on the staff right now. And I’m going to tell you that most likely there will be a few faces that stay on and help bridge that. It’s much easier to be in the staff room and meeting and say, ‘Hey, I wonder how they do this here. If you’ve got a guy right there, that’s been there, done that, that’s a big help. I would anticipate, of the 10 full-time coaches, 7-8 new guys and 2-3 holdovers.”
Of those “2-3 holdovers”, one of them is heavily rumored to be running backs coach Tony Alford. Alford and Whittingham have a strong history together, and Alford is one of the premier running back coaches in the country as both a recruiter and developer. Keeping him in Ann Arbor is a priority. As for the others, I could see defensive line coach Lou Esposito remaining to coach defensive tackles or tight ends coach Steve Casula remaining in some capacity, but I have a tough time arguing for any other coach to remain.
We’ll see how it unfolds, but Whittingham is ready to go. His presser was open and honest, a refreshing take after some frustrating media outings from Michigan’s previous head coach. If he can keep Bryce Underwood and company while building out the vision for his staff, they’re in a much better spot heading into 2026 than I imagined they would be weeks ago.
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