Kyle Whittingham: I Love Ty Jordan And I Miss Him

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham spoke at the Celebration of Life for running back Ty Jordan at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Kyle Whittingham was one of three individuals from Utah that spoke at the services for Ty Jordan on Wednesday, January 6.

It is the first time that Whittingham spoke publicly about the passing of Ty Jordan. He and Utah Athletics Director Mark Harlan each released a statement on Saturday, December 26 when they learned of Jordan’s passing.

“First of all, I want to thank the Jordan family for sending Ty our way,” Whittingham said at the services. “What a special young man. The simplest thing I can say is I love Ty and I miss him. As the head coach of the football team, you really have 120 adopted sons, you care for them like your sons. We love them, you hurt when they hurt. It’s just a special bond. That’s probably the reason I’ve been in this profession so long is the relationship with these young men. You end up loving them all.”

❤️❤️@Utah_Football @UtahCoachWhitt #LLTJ #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/djE2PDXz0Y

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 6, 2021

The Utah head coach talked about his instant connection with Jordan.

“Some of them will take a little longer to connect with than others. I connected with Ty on day one. That was an immediate connection,” Whittingham stated. “I remember we were at a stretch, the first practice. I said ‘Ty Jordan, what do they call you? TJ?’ He said ‘my real name is Ty-Coreous but some people call me Ty Ty.’ So from that day forward, he was always Ty Ty Jordan to me. The smile, the infectious personality and a sparkle in his eyes. I mean, he was just a special young man and a great student. In the short time at Utah, he was well over 3.0 GPA and he did a fantastic job.”

“The simplest thing I can say, is that I love Ty, and I miss him.” – Coach Whitt #LLTJ ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rSqMqCEvYR

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) January 6, 2021

Whittingham added comments about Jordan’s play on the football field.

“He also made a huge impact on the field,” mentioned Whittingham. “Pro Football Focus is a statistical analysis company and they rate every player in the country. Ty Jordan this year was rated the number one running back in the Pac-12. When Ty passed, I received so many emails and texts. There was one that really stood out that I came across in an email and I want to read it to you. It says there are some who bring a light so great to the world, that even after they have gone the light remains and that’s Ty Jordan. He is gone but he will not be forgotten. One thing I can say for certain is that we will all see Ty again. Someday we will see him again and that’s a guarantee.”

Jordan died on Christmas night in Denton, Texas near his hometown to an accidental self-inflicted gun shot wound.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.