Michigan Coaching Search: ESPN Insider addresses urgency of a Kyle Whittingham decision

ESPN’s Dan Wetzel has been one of the nation’s leading reporters during Michigan‘s ongoing coaching search, including Friday morning’s latest news regarding former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham emerging as a leading candidate.

Wetzel joined ESPN colleague Paul Finebaum on Friday morning’s Get Up to discuss the latest reporting on Whittingham, including the post-Christmas timing and that it’s “not a done deal, but we do expect some details to go across the course of the day.”

Amongst several candidates that have been reported on over the last two weeks, timing has been of the essence, as the NCAA Transfer Portal is set to officially open one week from today on January 2nd. With that deadline in mind, and multiple important roster management decisions to making — including both retaining current players and targeting new ones in the portal — a final decision on Whittingham could come quickly, according to Wetzel.

“Timing has really been the issue for Michigan here. Sherrone Moore was fired after most of the coaching carousel had gone down, so a lot of top candidates had found other jobs, and other top candidates had signed lucrative deals to stay in place,” Wetzel said. “But, with that January 2nd opening coming, and you just heard (interim coach) Biff Poggi say the other day that as many as 25 guys maybe, might not play in the bowl game for Michigan, you really need to bring someone in, keep as much of this roster together, and bring new guys in.

“It’s that January 2nd transfer window that’s really looming on Michigan to try to press forward. (And) Kyle Whittingham has become the focus of that.”

After 22 seasons in total, with 21 full ones as the head coach, Whittingham finished his time with the Utes with a record of 177-88 (.668), with 15 seasons of eight or more wins and eight years with double-digit wins, including this past season in Salt Lake City. However, after having a head coach in waiting named for him two summers ago, and the school’s announcement this offseason that he was stepping down, Whittingham has since made it clear that he wouldn’t yet be retiring from college football.

Nothing is for certain yet as far as this search resulting in Whittingham. That said, with where it’s trending as of this morning, this, considering the timeframe the sport is working with ahead of the new year, could now come together quickly for the Wolverines.