University of Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham stepped down after 21 seasons on Friday.
In a statement from the school, Whittingham said that “the time is right” to leave. He will coach the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31 against Nebraska.
“The time is right to step down from my position as the head football coach at the University of Utah,” Whittingham said in a statement. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to lead the program for the past 21 years, and I’m very grateful for the relationships forged with all the players and assistant coaches who have worked so hard and proudly worn the drum and feather during our time here. The opportunity to guide so many talented young men as they pursued their goals — both on and off the field — has truly been a blessing.”
Whittingham was the second-longest-tenured head coach in college football, behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, who has been the head coach for 27 seasons.
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On Saturday, Utah announced that Morgan Scalley would take over. Scalley was officially named the team’s coach-in-waiting in 2024 and has been the defensive coordinator since 2016.
“Morgan Scalley has proven over the course of his outstanding coaching and playing career at the University of Utah that he is uniquely equipped to take over as the program’s next leader,” Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said in a statement. “He not only has great knowledge and perspective of what makes Utah football special, but his passion and love for the University of Utah position him to carry the mantle of leadership forward and continue the program’s legacy of success.”
Whittingham, 66, went 177–88 at Utah. The No. 15 Utes are 10-2 this season and it’s the eighth time during Whittingham’s tenure that the team has won at least 10 games. Whittingham finishes with 18 winning seasons, three conference titles, two appearances in the Rose Bowl, two top-five finishes in the AP poll and led the team to an undefeated season and a Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama in 2009.
Whittingham, who played at BYU, first coached at the University of Utah in 1994 as the defensive line coach. The following season, he was promoted to defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Whittingham was named Utah’s head coach in 2005 after Urban Meyer left to become the head coach at the University of Florida.
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Scalley, 46, played defensive back at Utah from 2001 through 2004 and started as a graduate assistant with the school in 2007. He was a position coach from 2008 through 2015 before he was promoted to defensive coordinator.
He kept his job in the summer of 2020 after an investigation found that he used a racial slur in a text message to a recruit in 2013. At the time, he had an offer to be the team’s coach-in-waiting, but that offer was rescinded until it was extended again in 2024. Scalley also took a pay cut as the school said “the seriousness of his actions” meant his contract should be altered.