Utah’s head coach could seek other coaching opportunities moving forward.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kyle Whittingham announced that he is stepping down as the head football coach at the University of Utah.
One word missing from Kyle Whittingham’s goodbye announcement?
Retirement.
The 66-year-old announced Friday that the time was right to “step down” from his role as head coach of the University of Utah football team.
After 21 seasons in charge, he said thank you and farewell. But he did not put an end to the speculation about his future.
“He still has that fire and that desire to do something in some capacity to help some team win,” said his son, Alex Whittingham, the Kansas City Chiefs’ assistant defensive line coach.
The Athletic reported that “Whittingham … is not retiring, according to a source close to the coach, and may pursue other coaching opportunities.”
Alex Whittingham said his father told him about his decision to leave the Utes on Friday morning.
“I talked to him this morning, before I went out to practice and he told me that he had made the decision to step down,” Alex Whittingham told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I am still kind of processing it. He’s been coaching there since I was 2 years old, and it’s all I’ve ever known.”
A year ago, Whittingham signed an amendment to his contract.
Before that, the contract outlined a five-year role as a special assistant to the university’s athletics director. The position would pay the longtime coach $995,000 per year.
Under the new deal, Whittingham would be paid $3.45 million annually for a two-year term as special assistant.
Whittingham will coach his final game with the Utes in the Las Vegas Bowl against Nebraska on Dec. 31.
But will that be the last game he coaches anywhere?
“I’m not sure exactly what his next immediate step will be,” Alex Whittingham said. “When I conversed with him, he basically said this is not going to be full-on retirement. I think he still has that competitive fire. I still think that he wants to continue in some capacity, I don’t know where, how or when.”
