Longtime Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is pondering whether to retire or return for his 21st season as the school’s head man.Whittingham, 65, said he will decide on his future after the season. The Utes finish Friday at UCF.”My decision will be made on what’s best for the program, not what’s best for me,” Whittingham said during his Monday press conference. “So, it’ll be completely determined on how I feel this program is best served going forward.”Utah has struggled mightily in its first season in the Big 12 and has dropped its last seven games. The Utes were preseason favorites but sit 4-7 overall and 1-7 in Big 12 play.This marks just the third losing campaign in Whittingham’s 20 seasons as head coach. The other two were in 2012 and 2013 when the Utes were in the Pac-12.Whittingham has recorded seven seasons of 10 or more wins and has a 166-86 record with the Utes since replacing Urban Meyer late in the 2004 season.The school has been preparing for the future by announcing prior to this season that defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley would become head coach whenever Whittingham chooses to retire.”I’ll sit down and evaluate everything,” Whittingham said. “I can tell you right now that Coach Scalley will be involved in decisions going forward because it’s only right that he does that because he’s the coach in waiting and when that time comes we need to make sure that he’s had input on big decisions. So it’ll be a team effort in that respect going forward as far as hiring and recruiting and that type of thing.”Whittingham said not many coaches get to pick their timing in terms of their tenure ending.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham to decide future after finale
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