UTAH UTES

Urban Meyer Calls Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham ‘Best CFB Coach’

Oct 26, 2023, 12:57 PM

SALT LAKE CITY – Urban Meyer knows a thing or two about Utah football and Kyle Whittingham so when he says Whitt is the best college football coach in the country, it means something.

Meyer went on Urban’s Take with Tim May the other day and boldly made the proclamation.

I’ve said many times that Kyle Whittingham is one of the best coaches in college football. Now he’s the best. He’s the best coach in college football.

Meyer’s remarks come after Whittingham and the Utes marched into the L.A. Coliseum last weekend and snatched victory from the USC Trojans and Heisman winning quarterback Caleb Williams with a former walk-on pig farmer leading the charge.

Is Kyle Whittingham The Best Coach In College Football?

Meyer certainly seems to have a point.

Whittingham has spent nearly 20 years of his life as the head coach of the Utes and almost 30 total counting his time as an assistant coach. He’s been a critical part of every facet of Utah’s growth into a budding college football power.

Whittingham was there helping head coach Ron McBride turn the ship around in the 90’s. Whittingham was also there when Meyer kicked things up a notch in the early 2000s. Whittingham has since maintained and grown the template put in place by the other two head coaches- often with much less than some of his more revered contemporaries.

 

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After Utah’s second straight Pac-12 Title last season, stars Cam Rising and Ja’Quinden Jackson went to bat for their coach when asked if he should be in the conversation of best college football coach.

“YES! YES! Most definitely,” Jackson said. “I don’t know why it’s not, but back-to-back Pac-12 Championships? Come on now. He’s been here too long for people not to be talking about him. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever been around. It’s time.”

“He’s one of the most winning coaches in the Pac-12 and the most winning coach at Utah,” Rising continued on the topic. “He’s been doing something right and he’s been tenured there for so long that you’ve got to be doing something right if you’re there for that long. He’s just a great coach and going back-to-back I think he’s moving up on that list for sure.”

Urban Meyer Respects Bryson Barnes Too

Later in his interview, Meyer went on to talk about how much he respects Utah quarterback Bryson Barnes who was unexpectedly called into action permanently in 2023 after starter Cam Rising couldn’t fully recover from a knee surgery he had after the Rose Bowl in time.

Barnes was a key player in Utah’s victory over USC last weekend and Utah’s season opener against Florida earlier in the year. Meyer says he was particularly taken with how Barnes handled the Utes’ last drive of the USC game to secure the win noting he did everything he could to make sure they were set up to win.

 

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“I really wish we were doing that game cuz I wanted to go watch him and shake his hand,” Meyer said. “You know how I love toughness. Go back and watch that last drive. He ran over the safety and runs 30 yards on a play that is dead.”

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports

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Urban Meyer Calls Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham ‘Best CFB Coach’