Whittingham likely not retiring

[ProudUte]

Note: This comes from a good source, but I cannot find anything that confirms it.

Not my words:

Whittingham is digging in his heels and saying that he never had any intention of retiring. Arbuckle wanted to coach with Scalley but learned that Whitt was likely not going anywhere.

Also, Leftwhich is likely going to Texas Tech. Harlan would not budge on his offer because of Leftwhich’s minimal experience.

Again, the source is reliable, but I cannot confirm it. Take it for what it’s worth. I tend to believe it based on what we are seeing.

[Anfernee]

Soooooooo who’s going to be our offensive coordinator?

[silverliningsurfer]

To be honest this is all lining up as worst case scenario. I’m not adamant that Whitt needs to step down but if he’s staying he needs to cede offensive control to Scalley and his vision. Why mention Scalley has been involved in the decision process if it’s going to come down to Whitt’s preference anyway?

I’d rather have Whitt retire and take our lumps with Scalley and any transfers if it meant we are going to modernize the offense instead of staying in purgatory where our offense isn’t QUITE good enough.

Also, Harlan needs to realize this school is NOT a destination. Losing a guy from OK to a blue blood program I can stomach (though it definitely stings to hear he would have come to coach with Scalley), but imo there is no excuse to lose to a school like TTU. If they needed to pay a premium to a top-tier candidate to get him out of Texas, so be it. If he is playing hardball in these negotiations that is frustrating considering they were massively overpaying Ludwig for years.

[ProudUte]

To make matters worse – I just heard that Whitt is not allowing Morgan to have the say he promised he would. Whitt is still in control and is letting everyone including Harlan know it. Harlan’s hands are tied.

I am very upset about this if it is indeed true.

[jshame17]

Exactly as I expected…

There are reasons people believe and defend Whitt so aggressively, and it has little to do with his record…

Whitt holds absolute control over his program, as is his right, but he is not straight forward when talking to the press or updating the fan base (it’s why he closed all practices and limits press).

He will make ALL the decisions and it’s comical anyone argues otherwise.

[silverliningsurfer]

As someone who also follows the NFL, there are a lot of parallels to how Bill Belichick’s tenure ended in New England. He was allowed to “mutually walk away” but the obvious subtext is he was fired.

Harlan is Whitt’s boss, at the end of the day. No one wants to see it get ugly, but to say his hands are tied isn’t quite correct imo as he could truly fire him if he needed to. Not saying we’re there yet, but if Whitt made certain assurances about how he’d be working with Scalley and what his input would be and he’s walked that back, it shouldn’t go unchecked.

[2008 National Champ]

typically, schools will fire the AD before a major coaching change since you don’t want to tie a new AD to someone they didn’t hire. And since Harlan has already handpicked Whitt’s successor, Utah’s hands are effectively tied through the end of Whitt’s and Scalley’s contracts. Any change at this point would cost 10’s of millions in buyouts and 3 firings.

[RustyShackleford]

Harlan’s a moron, I have no faith in him not f*cking up any hire

[2008 National Champ]

Worst bet of the season would be taking Whitt to walk away from 20 MM because he was such a great guy who didn’t care about money and would do what he decided was best for the program and not him. Anyone who saw his retirement comments as anything more than his usual coachspeak was in denial.

At this point, the only change to the offense for 2025 will be in name of OC only. I’m surprised he hasn’t already given Bajakian the full time job and announced Rising is coming back. Because while sequels usually suck, it’s the trilogy that really sinks the franchise.

[highlandute7]

What a disaster.

[DataUte]

Hearing Whit would walk if given $10M buyout. But let’s look at the numbers from the contract.

Coaches out contract: $5.4M for 2025 + $5.9M for 2026 + $6.5M for 2027 = $17.8M + some incentives

Buyout if fired: $3M/yr (or $4M if last year) x 3 years left (2025, 2026, 2027) = $9M. Harlan would have to have the guts to do it (or at least threaten it). He doesn’t.

Retires today: $1.5M payment + $995/yr for 5 years as some assistant to AD = ~$6.5M

Whitt Contract

Whit said he didn’t want to coach deep into his 60s, but here we are and he is 65 and holding onto his power. Not sure why he had a contract to 68.

He won’t give up. He won’t retire because he has pride to turn the ship. But he is also stubborn after 20 years to do it his way and not let full control to OC, DC, and take on ST and program/game mgmt (but to him, that means TOP, types of plays, etc.).

[Holladay Ute]

I don’t think this is enough information to form opinions or conclusions. Based on my experience on this website, I feel like the reliability of a lot of these sources ends up being spotty. I also have a source that is theoretically very close to the program (I’d bet as close as whoever the sources on here are). I never post anything I get from that source b/c even from this person the reliability has been spotty. A lot of the time, my source contradicts what I read from sources on here.

[silverliningsurfer]

You’re not wrong, but when there is a lack of official news, fans are left to speculate. As an example, see how fans acted during the last 2 years of QB misinformation. Not justifying it, but when people are passionate, they are going to discuss the topic with or without official reporting.

[Utah#1]

Understand, but Whitt led on the media and fanbase about Rising’s injury and poor judgment on Wilson being QB #2, and the results thus far have gone against his better judgment. His name is also synonymous with “game time decision”, and again, we all know how that turned out? 8-5 and 5-7 seasons. Many fans and media now don’t believe him or take anything he says at face value. In other words, he’s lying and not being honest with everyone what seems to protect his fragile ego.

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