Kyle Whittingham Kyle Whittingham ( born November 21 , 1959 ) is the head football coach of the University of Utah Utes . Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah , Whittingham served as Utah ' s defensive coordinator for ten seasons . He was named head coach of Utah after Urban Meyer left for the Florida Gators in 2004 . He won AFCA Coach of the Year and the Paul " Bear " Bryant Award in 2008 . Playing career . Whittingham played linebacker for the BYU Cougars from 1978 to 1981 . In 1981 he earned first - team all - WAC and WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors . Whittingham was also named the defensive MVP of the 1981 Holiday Bowl . He played in all of the first four Holiday Bowls . In his first appearance , he played as a running back and the other three as a linebacker , during which he recorded 27 tackles . In 2009 , he was inducted into the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame . He graduated from BYU in 1981 and went on to play linebacker for the Denver Gold and New Orleans Breakers of the USFL and the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL . He also played for the Los Angeles Rams ' replacement squad in 1987 . Coaching career . Early coaching career . Whittingham became a graduate assistant for BYU during the 1985 and 1986 seasons . In 1987 , Whittingham was named defensive coordinator at the College of Eastern Utah . He coached there for a season before taking a job at Idaho State . After two seasons with Idaho State , Whittingham joined the Utah staff as defensive line coach , working alongside his father , Fred Whittingham . In the 1995 season , Whittingham replaced his father as the defensive coordinator , serving under both Ron McBride and Meyer until being named head coach in 2004 . Head coaching career . The 2004 season ended with Utah becoming the first non - BCS conference team to make a BCS bowl game , the Fiesta Bowl . After winning the Fiesta Bowl , the Utes ' overall record improved to 12 – 0 . After the 2004 season , the Utes lost junior starting quarterback Alex Smith to the NFL and head coach Urban Meyer who left to the University of Florida . After the regular season , and before the Fiesta Bowl , Whittingham was offered the head coaching job at Utah and also the head coaching job at his alma mater , Brigham Young University . After struggling with the decision for four days he chose the Utes . Because Urban Meyer had already officially accepted the head coaching job at Florida before the Fiesta Bowl , Kyle and Urban acted as co - head coaches of the 2005 Fiesta Bowl . The NCAA credits both Meyer and Whittingham with a win in their win totals . 2005 . Whittingham ' s first season was an up and down ride for Utah as the team not only adjusted to a new coaching staff , including Andy Ludwig , but also a new offense led by quarterback Brian Johnson . Utah struggled early on , going 3 – 4 in their first 7 games , however , a strong finish gave Utah their third straight bowl invite . In the 2005 Emerald Bowl the Utes faced the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets . Utah beat Georgia Tech 38 – 10 , the Yellow Jackets ' worst bowl loss by point margin in school history . Whittingham finished his first year at Utah with a 7 – 5 record . 2006 . In 2006 , Whittingham ' s team faced a degree of adversity . Starting quarterback Brett Ratliff struggled through parts of the year , and so did the Utes . Like the year before , the Utes rebounded toward the end of the season , but lost to rival BYU at home by a score of 33 – 31 . The Utes became bowl eligible for the fourth straight year , a school record . Whittingham led the Utes to a 25 – 13 victory over the University of Tulsa in the 2006 Armed Forces Bowl , running his record to 15 – 10 ( . 600 ) with Utah . 2007 . 2007 would provide more adversity . In Johnson ' s first start since 2005 , he broke his collarbone against Oregon State and starting running back Matt Asiata broke his leg as Utah got routed 24 – 7 by the Beavers . The following week , wide receiver Brent Casteel was lost for the season in an embarrassing 20 – 12 loss at home to Air Force . Utah looked as if it righted the ship the following week with a 44 – 6 rout of No . 9 UCLA , the highest - ranked team ever defeated by the Utes . But the following week represented the worst week of Whittingham ' s head coaching career — a 27 – 0 loss to perennial cellar - dweller UNLV that had many wondering if Whittingham could survive as a head coach at Utah . But like past seasons , the Utes regrouped and won seven consecutive games , using a stingy , big - play defense and the sledgehammer running attack of Darrell Mack ( 253 carries , 1 , 204 yards and 16 total touchdowns ) , who had been scheduled to redshirt in what was going to be his junior season . The Utes 50 – 0 drubbing of Wyoming proved controversial . Up 43 – 0 in the second half , Whittingham decided to go for an onside kick . An emotional Joe Glenn was caught on camera giving Whittingham the bird after the play . In the season finale , Utah suffered its second consecutive loss to rival BYU to end the regular season , 17 – 10 . Whittingham and Utah overcame that disappointment to beat Navy , 35 – 32 , in the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl . It marked the Utes ' seventh consecutive bowl victory , which placed them second to Boston College in longest active bowl winning streaks . 2008 . In 2008 , Utah completed an undefeated regular season and qualified for a BCS Bowl . Utah defeated Alabama , 31 – 17 , in the 2009 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans , Louisiana . Along the way were wins at Michigan , late come - from - behind wins over Oregon State and TCU , and a convincing victory over rival BYU . Overall , Utah finished the regular season holding wins over three teams in the final AP Top 25 . The American Football Coaches Association selected Utah coach Kyle Whittingham as the 2008 AFCA National Coach of the Year Award . The announcement was made at the football coaches ' convention , which Whittingham attended . The AFCA award is the oldest national coach of the year award , dating back to 1935 , and is the only one chosen exclusively by the coaches . He also won the 2008 Paul " Bear " Bryant Award . 2009 . In 2009 , Utah had its second consecutive 10 - win season . They finished with a 10 – 3 ( 6 – 2 MWC ) record and a 37 – 27 win over California in the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl . Whittingham helped the Utes reach these benchmarks with two new coordinators : Dave Schramm as the offensive coordinator and Kalani Sitake as the defensive coordinator . Utah ' s three losses came against teams that finished the season ranked : Oregon , TCU , and BYU who finished the season ranked No . 11 , 6 , and 12 in the AP Poll , respectively . Utah finished ranked No . 18 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches ' Poll . 2010 . Kyle Whittingham turned down the head coaching position at Tennessee early in 2010 . Utah started the 2010 season with an upset of then - 15th ranked Pittsburgh . The Utes then managed the third 8 – 0 start in program history , rising to fifth in the BCS rankings . However , during a 68 – 27 victory over Iowa State , Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn injured his arm and though he continued to play , the injury impacted the remainder of the season . After that 8 – 0 start , the Utes stumbled badly at home against the TCU Horned Frogs , lost a sloppy contest to Notre Dame and then bounced back to end the regular season with victories over San Diego State and rival Brigham Young University . Due to the injury , Wynn , who finished the regular season in spite of his injury , missed the Las Vegas Bowl – a 26 – 3 loss to the Boise State Broncos . It was the program ' s first bowl loss since the 1996 Copper Bowl and snapped a 9 - game bowl winning streak , which was , at the time , the longest active streak in college football . The Utes finished the 2010 campaign 10 – 3 and 23rd in the nation . It marked the first time in program history that Utah produced three consecutive ten - win seasons . 2011 . In its inaugural season in the Pac - 12 Conference , Utah finished with an 8 – 5 record ( 4 – 5 Pac - 12 ) . Personal life . Whittingham was born on November 21 , 1959 in San Luis Obispo , California . His father , Fred Whittingham , played linebacker in the NFL for nine years and then coached at the college and the pro level for almost twenty years . Whittingham graduated from BYU with a bachelor ' s degree in educational psychology in 1982 . In 1983 , he married the former Jamie Daniels . Whittingham then earned a master ' s degree in professional leadership in 1986 . Whittingham and his wife now have four children : Tyler , Melissa , Alex and Kylie . Whittingham is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints . Philanthropy . In 2008 , Whittingham and former Utah head coach Urban Meyer were the first people to donate money to the Elder Joseph B . Wirthlin Family Scholarship , an endowed scholarship which will benefit the football program .