Whittingham Legacy

[coachklein]

Three conference championships and one meaningful postseason win in 20 years.

Does he get too much credit? I definitely think so. People talk about him getting a statue. He’s the Kirk Ferentz of the west.

Yes, he helped the program transition into the then-P5. Kalani has BYU at 7-0 in Y2 in a major conference. It’s not that special.

KW has been a very good coach and I’d never want to be Nebraska and get sick of winning 8/9 games per year and then recede into irrelevance.

But no one should be immune to poor performance from their employer. People are forced into retirement all the time in every industry. Harlan cannot allow him to return.

[The Miami Ute]

Whitt has got the program by the balls. He’s owed close to $20M (before bonuses) over the next years and that figure doesn’t even include his staff’s buyouts (Ludwig is at $1.85M per season). So, to make a long story short, there’s no way that Whitt leaves the job unless he does so willingly and accepts a negotiated settlement from the university.

[coachklein]

Buyouts are irrelevant in college athletics nowadays. There are many examples nationwide to affirm that fact. These “higher” institutions spend and burn money like they’ve never taken an economics 101 class. If Utah wants him gone, he’ll be gone, regardless of financial repercussions.

[The Miami Ute]

How’d that work with Krystkowiak? Remember him? Utah had to suffer through at least two seasons beyond his expiration date because they couldn’t swallow his buyout. And he was getting paid half what Whitt is getting.

[coachklein]

That’s on Harlan. He’s a limp noodle. Didn’t fire LK, allowed the program to slip, and then hired Smith at a premium. The fact Craig Smith is making $2.1M is sickening. I don’t want the football program to resemble the hoops program.

[The Miami Ute]

That’s on Harlan? Are you new to Utah sports? It was Dr. Chris Hill who signed Krystkowiak to the unfireable extension. It was Harlan who had to clean up Hill’s mess.

[coachklein]

Definitely not new to Utah sports. Season ticket holder to FB and MBB since 1990.

It’s still on Harlan. Was it a mistake for Hill to extended LK? Yes and no. LK had some success. But when it comes to business, there is “no point of no return” — and many ADs clean house when they come in to get coaches that they want. Right or wrong, that’s a fact. Harlan is a noodle

[The Miami Ute]

Hey look, I’m not a member of the Harlan Fan Club. In fact, I think he’s pretty much a glad-handing moron. However, the Krystkowiak debacle is all on Hill. Harlan couldn’t can him when he took over in 2018 because of how much money was left in his contract. And you’re confusing college ADs with pro GMs. College ADs rarely, rarely clean house due to the number of coaches in all sports present in a university and also due to how much power successful football and MBB coaches wield.

[Roy Rangum]

This is probably foolishness on my part, but I do find myself increasingly hoping that sometime in the next two weeks, Whitt decides to hang it up and that Ludwig goes with him, and that he does so acknowledging he is now “in the way”. He can still maintain his legacy, but he can appear selfless and noble by putting the team above himself (as it legit feels like the current coaching staff has lost the locker room).

But if not now, I don’t know that Whitt wants to come back next year to the dumpster fire his presence is creating either.

[AlohaUte]

Uuuhhh, Utah was nothing, They were essentially New Mexico, before Urban and Whit. He’s don’t incredible and in no way are we or anyone overstaying his legacy.

People need to take a deep breath about these last 3 games. I know it sucks, but teams have their ups and downs. Whit is still awesome and even if we lose the rest of the games this season, we should still name the field after him and build him a statue.

[coachklein]

Comparing Utah to New Mexico is absolutely comical unless we’re talking about basketball.

[jshame17]

2 seasons have been tossed into the garbage Because he’s too stubborn to actually do what’s needed and tell the truth.

He has stayed long enough to become the villain in his own hero story. It appears the game has passed him buy with the time management, handling of timeouts, roster depth, regressing position groups, treating media and fans as enemy combatants that cannot be trusted, etc etc.

[The Miami Ute]

If the team ends the season on an eight-game losing streak, should Whitt be back? It reminds me of that line from Batman. “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

[TruckStopTerrors]

Whit’s football legacy is a great one. I don’t think the results this year should have us questioning that or piling on. Before the season we were saying, if this is his last season, let’s go out on a high note. A lot of people are concerned about it being his last season. Now some a trying to push him out. I get it, things didn’t go as planned but let’s honor him, and if he decides to go and him off the right way. If he doesn’t, then we need a new OC and better recruiting/NIL.

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