Utah HC Kyle Whittingham Discusses USC/UCLA Departure To Big Ten
Jul 29, 2022, 2:46 PM | Updated: 2:47 pm
Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham walks the sideline as Utah and Oregon play an NCAA football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. (Courtesy of Deseret News)
(Courtesy of Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – Much like the rest of the Pac-12 coaches, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham talked about the departure of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten.
USC and UCLA decided to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024, which has an impact on Kyle Whittingham, Utah and the rest of the conference.
At Pac-12 Media Day on Friday, Whittingham took the big stage and was asked about his reaction to news of the Trojans and Bruins leaving the Pac-12.
“Surprised but not surprised. I mean, nothing can really surprise you I don’t believe in college football right now,” Whittingham said. “There’s so much movement and things that have happened through the years. There’s going to be a great deal more change, in my opinion. I think the concept of super conferences is starting to materialize, become a reality. Wasn’t completely taken back by the move. The timing, I don’t know if there was ever a good time, but the timing was a little bit of a surprise. That’s where things are moving. We’ll just have to wait and see when all the dust settles where we’re at. It’s not settled yet. There’s a lot of dust to come.”
On USC and UCLA leaving:
This is driven by TV. How can you generate dollars for your programs? That's what everyone's facing now. It's a new model. I don't know what it's going to look like 5 years from now. – @HermEdwards #Pac12MediaDay
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) July 29, 2022
With the news shaking the college football landscape, Whittingham was asked how he felt about the direction of the sport.
“The future is really anybody’s best guess,” Whittingham said. “I think from my own perspective, super conferences are on their way, already starting to form. A full-blown Playoff, 12, 16-team Playoff, that’s around the corner as well. The landscape is changing rapidly. I don’t think we’re ever going to see anything close to what we’ve been used to the last 50 years in college football. It’s all changing. You add NIL on top of that, it’s a completely different world.
“But it is the world we’re in right now so you got to adapt. It’s just something that as a football coach, no control over those type of things that are going on. It’s really the administration and the commissioners that are handling that obviously. From my perspective, it’s all about our team, this season, recruiting. That’s where I keep my focus, don’t really spend any time thinking about much else.”
