One by one, Michigan Wolverines football players met with new head coach Kyle Whittingham at the site of the Citrus Bowl in Orlando in late-December. Whittingham, who spent the previous 21 years as the head man at Utah, came away impressed with their character and focus on academics, not to mention his impressions when it comes to football.

Those conversations have been ongoing, of course, with one consistent theme being the desire for discipline and accountability.

“Something that Coach Whitt is emphasizing is accountability, and that’s something the [players that were already at Michigan] asked for,” senior defensive tackle Jonah Lea’ea, a Utah transfer who spent his first three years under Whittingham and followed him to Ann Arbor, said. It’s showing up, and I think everyone is handling it pretty well.”

The workouts are earlier, and everyone has to be on time. Players must be in meetings five minutes before the srar time. The staff monitors, too, if the players attend class. There are consequences if rules aren’t followed.

“They are hungry and willing,” Whittingham said of how the new structure has been received. “I’m not going to say that they were a bunch of undisciplined guys, but our structure is different than what they were used to before, and so there was a little bit of an adaptation period — very short adaptation period.

“They caught on really quickly. We’ve had very few issues, knock on wood, discipline-wise over the last three months. We’re not perfect, but I think we’ve got a really high-character, good group of guys.”

Whittingham has adjusted how Michigan practices, too. Sessions are shorter but upbeat and productive.

“High tempo,” Whittingham called them. “We push the tempo from start to finish, and I don’t believe in being on the practice field for hours and hours. The work is the work, and you’ve got to put it in and it’s got to get done, but if you can be more efficient and get it done in a more compressed amount of time, get the players on and off the field, I think that’s at least my feeling through the years that, that works best.

“It keeps the players more fresh, and I think that they’ve really done a good job of adapting to that new mentality and new philosophy. Of course, I don’t exactly know what the old way was, but they’ve said practices were a little bit longer. They have really done a good job responding to the high tempo and just the pace at which we’re working.”

Overall, Whittingham is pleased with where his group is at.

“A lot of positives,” the Michigan coach said. “Offense is progressing. Defense is progressing. Everything is on track and where you would hope it would be.

“There are new schemes on both sides of the ball, so that was the first order of business, to get those schemes installed and up and running, which we have done. Guys are working hard. Really haven’t had a bad practice. Some better than others, obviously, but nothing we can say, ‘Hey, that was a step backwards.’ So, positive in that respect.”

Kyle Whittingham familiarizing himself with Michigan royalty

None of what Whittingham is implementing is all that dissimilar from the way successful Michigan teams have been led. He’s compared his style to the late former head coach Bo Schembechler, and is getting to know prominent Michigan football players, coaches and staffers.

“I had the chance to meet with [former head coach] Lloyd [Carr] personally in my office,” Whittingham said last week. “What a guy, just a tremendous human being. Sharp, funny. I just really enjoyed my conversation with him.

“I had a chance to meet with quite a few guys from the past. Coach [Jim] Harbaugh‘s father [former U-M assistant coach Jack Harbaugh], I met with him. I was actually able to get on the phone with [former quarterback] Tom Brady the other day. I’m going to get on the phone with [Michigan alum and MLB legend] Derek Jeter tomorrow. I’m a Yankee fan from the word ‘go,’ so that’s going to be big. [Former Michigan basketball] Coach [John] Beilein, as well. Who else? [Former Michigan equipment manager] Jon Falk, what a stud he is. Red Berenson, the [former] hockey coach. Like I said, the tradition, this place is just oozing with all of those historical figures. Very respectful of them.”

A huge sports fan, Whittingham has also embraced Michigan’s athletic department at large. Over the winter, he was often seen at Crisler Center or Yost Ice Arena, taking in basketball and hockey games. He was in Indianapolis last weekend, watching the Wolverines dismantle the Arizona Wildcats in the men’s basketball Final Four.

“Congrats to our basketball team,” Whittingham said. “[Head coach] Dusty May and his crew — what a year. Incredible season. National champions. Just a fun team to watch, and just so proud of those guys and congrats to them.

“A lot of good stuff going on at Michigan right now.”