Grading Whittingham

[iamthepreacher]

I was thinking about the various aspects of being a head coach and for kicks and giggles decided to grade Coach Whitt across each these categories:

Recruiting: B+ (Recruiting has been pretty solid under Whitt, and it’s certainly on an upward trajectory. The only knock would be securing more of the top local talent and perhaps landing a few more elite athletes at the skill positions. If he can do that, we can break into the Top 25 recruiting rankings, perhaps even top 20.)

Developing Talent: A (It’s hard to argue Whitt’s track record of getting talent into the NFL, and many of the guys he’s gotten to the league were not heavily recruited, but received exceptional talent development while at Utah)

Game Planning: B+ (Overall Whitt seems to have a good game plan heading into most games. Of course, players don’t always execute the game plan the way it was designed but I try not to let that impact this grade. That said, there always seems to be a game or two where we we’re not prepared. Our games against Rich Rod (up until last season) are a good example. Last year the Oregon game was a good example—neither side of the football looked prepared with a good game plan.

Game Management / In-Game Adjustments: B+ (There’s room for Whitt to improve here, as we’ve seen him lose several games by becoming too conservative on offense too early in the game. Hopefully having Taylor on the staff will help with game management. I’ve also found myself banging my head a few times when watching our 2-minute offense. But, he’s also won his fair share of games through playing the percentages well.

Team Discipline & Managing Off-the-Field Issues: A- (All things considered, Whitt runs a very clean football program. There are a few minor issues each year but he does a great job of addressing them quickly. He also seems to apply the right amount of discipline…not too little and not too much. The only knock I would have is some seasons seem to be plagued with far too many unsportsmanlike conduct penalties…that’s not an off-the-field issue per se but can reflect some poor player discipline at times.

Media & Fan Relations: A (You never have to worry about Whitt saying something embarrassing when talking to the media. He provides a great interview and although he’s closed off a lot of media access to practice, it’s hard to fault his rationale for doing so.)

When considering each of these areas, it was pretty eye opening for me to see what a great head coach we have in place.

How would you grade him in these areas?

[Tony (admin)]

Over his tenure I would have agreed with your B+ assessment in game planning, but last season he went down to a C.  Not sure I agree on the local talent commentary.  I don’t think we need more locals to succeed and generally there’s much better talent outside of our little bubble.  There are exceptions though.

[gUrthBrooks]

A BIG part of that poor game planning was due to T. Williams having a partially torn MCL…he wasn’t the same, throwing, running, hell, even moving around in the pocket. 

[BCSx2]

This is why I don’t think it’s true that there is still a battle for the starting spot at QB.  We played an injured Williams last year over Huntley. So unless Huntley has progressed a ton during the offseason, how in the world is a healthy Williams not starting over him?

[gUrthBrooks]

I agree, unless it’s the Troy Taylor factor that is making things that much easier on Huntley. 

[Ute Bc]

I like your grades.  I would maybe adjust down in these areas:

Game Planning and Adjustments (2 categories): C+ –  The reason is I think he’s done well on the D but his offensive game planning and management have been horrid.  Our red zone woes, etc.  Also don’t like how he calls off the dogs.  Finally, our end of season woes plays into the lower grade.

Developing Talent:  B – we have done great in some positions but others….  QB has been bad as has WR and TE.

[Rick]

Starting Travis as a true freshman killed both Travis and our QB pipeline for years.  We did the same thing with Wynn and we will likely do it again with Tuttle.

[ProudUte]

How about KW’s “Nice Pants” comment to the lady sideline reporter?

[ladyinred]

Lol, I was just about to comment about that. He took such a beating in the media for the nice leather pants comment. It’s kind of sad really, because he now seems even more tight-lipped than ever. 

---

[iamthepreacher]

What about it?

[Duhwayne]

What about it exactly? Thought he was trying to be funny. None of the pervy tone of Mussburgers thing re that QBs GF. Also after the comment he literally turned around and hugged his wife. You have to keep a forcefield around that stuff.

[Ute Bc]

See I didn’t mind what Mussburger did either.  I thought he was hilarious and was just being complimentary.  Maybe I am just too old…

[Tony (admin)]

Musberger was a little too hot to trot over that QB’s girlfriend. 

[ladyinred]

I don’t even know what the Mussberger thing is. I will google it later.
Being a chick, I like to think I can recognize the difference between a dorky, harmless comment and an aggressive one with bad intent. Kyle’s comment definitely fell into the harmless category. Anyone who made it out to be something else is a troll who needs to get a life- that also happens to be the definition of countless tds fans. So there you have it.

[ladyinred]

ok I just googled the Musburger incident. That was much further toward the creepy end of the spectrum for me. He wasn’t being interviewed by her, really had seemingly little reason to be even talking about her, unless I missed something.

It set off my creeper alert radar to a medium level.

[utahsportsguy]

Winning Games: C+. We’ve had a couple really good years. We’ve had a couple years where we’ve crapped the bed. It’s been a few minutes since we’ve played for anything meaningful and I’m getting more than restless. 

[gUrthBrooks]

More wins per dollar spent than 99% of all college programs….just sayin’

[noneyadb]

Takes time to go from a G5 to a P5 schedule. Unfortunately USC is only beginning to get their recruiting classes back to normal…

[UteThunder]

Are you serious? We’ve been in the thick of the Pac-12 South race in the month of November 4 of the 6 years we’ve been in the conference.

[noneyadb]

Finally agree with you on something. 😂

[UteThunder]

Thanks . . . I guess? 

[noneyadb]

Finally agree with you on something. 😂

[UtMtBiker]

You left off arguably the most important category, besides winning, for any coach. Staff (personnel) management.

I give him a C- in this category. 9 Offensive coordinators in 10 years is just insanity. You’ll never know what an offense could have been until a team and offensive coordinator have 2-3 years to fully implement. There is something to be said for cutting ties early if you don’t see promise, but on the other hand make a good hire/promotion for hell sakes.

I love Whittingham for Utah, talent management on his staff is, to me, his glaring weakness. I have him a B overall because of this.

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