ORLANDO, Fla. — Kyle Whittingham reportedly agreed Friday to a five-year deal to become the next head coach at the University of Utah.
And he may not be the only coach trading in the Wasatch Front for the Great Lakes.
The 21-year head coach of the University of Utah is reportedly close to bringing Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck and BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill with to Ann Arbor with him.
News of Whittingham’s emergence with the Wolverines was first reported by ESPN, and comes 16 days after the Wolverines fired former coach Sherrone Moore with “credible evidence” that the longtime Michigan staff member had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member.
Whittingham was initially thought to be considering retirement, but the former All-WAC linebacker from Provo opted instead to step down Dec. 12 after 21 years as head coach of the program, leaving the job for longtime assistant and head coach in-waiting Morgan Scalley to succeed him.
In an interview several days later, Whittingham joked that he was “in the transfer portal,” and still open to work at the right job.
A source confirmed to KSL.com said that Hill is a top target to join Whittingham as defensive coordinator, as first reported by CBS Sports and others. CBS’ Matt Zenitz also reported that Beck, the journeyed quarterback coach who has also coached at Virginia, Syracuse and New Mexico.
Neither BYU nor Utah responded to the early reports.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake said during his Pop-Tarts Bowl head coaches’ press conference with Georgia Tech counterpart Brent Key that he was supportive of all of his coaches moving on to better opportunities and advancing in their careers.
“I do know that I have coaches on my staff that want to be head coaches, and most of those opportunities, they will come along,” he said. “We can be transparent as much as we can about it, but it is going to be really difficult as we go through this. I just need to know how to sustain it, and a lot of it — now that the NCAA has given us an opportunity to have more than one coach at each position — you can have 20 to 30 coaches, if you want. It’s just a balance of how many, and then who to replace them with.”
Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck talks to a player during the team’s fall camp in Salt Lake City on August 6, 2025. (Photo: Anna Fuder, Utah Athletics)
Hill has revolutionized the Cougars’ defense, leading a unit that ranks 28th nationally in total defense with 328.4 yards per game and 21st in scoring defense at 19.0 points allowed per game in 2025.
He’s also recruited well, and — with fellow secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator Jernaro Gilford at his side — brought in young talent like cornerback Tre Alexander, redshirt junior Evan Johnson and safety Faletau Satuala to make immediate contributions (many of them as starters).
Beck, the former BYU quarterback whose coaching career began as a graduate assistant at his alma mater and again from 2013-15 as quarterbacks coach before following his mentor Bronco Mendenhall to Virginia, led a remarkable one-year turnaround at Utah.
The 45-year-old play caller replaced Andy Ludwig last December, important an offense from New Mexico along with built-in starter Devon Dampier, and guided the Utes to the fifth-highest scoring offense in the nation at 41.1 points per game.
He also has experience coaching at Syracuse, Canada’s Simon Fraser and Weber State.
