Utah’s Kyle Whittingham Ranked Top Coach In Pac-12 By CBS Among Power-Five Coaches

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham is the highest ranked coach in the Pac-12 and nearly top 10 in the country according to CBS Sports.

Tom Fornelli of CBSSports.com released his top 25 list of the best coaches in power-five conferences and put Whittingham at No. 11 on his list.

Here is what Fornelli said about Whittingham in his ranking:

“There’s no doubt that the way the season ended left a sour taste in the mouths of Utah players and fans. It also led to a lot of people who seemed too eager to say, ‘I told you so,’ about the Utes. But don’t you think we should stop and think about how Kyle Whittingham had Utah on the brink of a playoff berth last season? He has helped navigate the program from the Mountain West to Pac-12, and he’s been at the helm of the best program in the Pac-12 South for the last six years. The same Pac-12 South that is home to USC. Since 2014, Utah has won 55 games to USC’s 51. That’s not the way this is supposed to work! Whittingham is one of the most underappreciated coaches in the country, but he isn’t with this panel.”

You know those arguments you have with your friends about who the best college football coaches are? Well, you're never going to have them again cuz it's settled.

The Top 25 Power Five Coaches: https://t.co/yDvgTk2ahw

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) May 20, 2020

The longest tenured coach in the conference, Whittingham led the Utes to a 11-3 season in 2019 with a trip to the Pac-12 Championship game after winning the south division for the second straight season. They lost to Oregon in the title game as well as to Texas in the Alamo Bowl. He was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.

On this list, the Pac-12 has three coaches including Whittingham ranked.

Here is the entire top 25 list from Fornelli:

1. Nick Saban, Alabama
2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
3. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
4. Ed Orgeron, LSU
5. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
6. Kirby Smart, Georgia
7. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
8. Dan Mullen, Florida
9. James Franklin, Penn State
10. Ryan Day, Ohio State
11. Kyle Whittingham, Utah
12. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
13. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
14. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
15. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
16. Gary Patterson, TCU
17. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
18. Gus Malzahn, Auburn
19. David Shaw, Stanford
20. Mack Brown, North Carolina
21. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
22. Mark Stoops, Kentucky
23. Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia
24. Mario Cristobal, Oregon
25. Matt Campbell, Iowa State

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.