Michigan football must face reality. Kyle Whittingham is not the answer

Michigan football must face reality. Kyle Whittingham is not the answer Michigan is running out of reasons to offer Kyle Whittingham a second season.

Key points

• Andrew Birkle reacts to Michigan football firing offensive coordinator Jason Beck after just nine games on Sunday, Nov.
• If Michigan loses remaining games, it'll finish 5-7 for first time since 2014.
• "It's not one step back, it's three steps back, " Whittingham remarked of Michigan's offense after a 15-6 loss to Michigan State.
• Whittingham remarked before the rivalry game this would be Michigan State's "Super Bowl." Is it wrong if the Spartans treated it that way?
• You could fit all of the individuals who believe Kyle Whittingham will reignite Michigan football inside of a thimble.

Andrew Birkle reacts to Michigan football firing offensive coordinator Jason Beck after just nine games on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026.

Kyle Whittingham is not the answer to what ails Michigan. That should be obvious.

Best reasons to keep Whittingham have nothing to do with the coach himself. Michigan is in a state of leadership transition.

Michigan is running out of reasons to offer Whittingham a second season.

He hasn't fixed anything and somehow managed to create a bad offense worse.

No matter how plenty of scapegoats Whittingham benches or fires, he's provided no evidence he'll spur improvement.

Heat check: There's a clear No. 1 on hot seat, but another coach is surging.

College football's playoff wreckers: 5 teams that could blow up the CFP race. Under Whittingham's watch, Michigan is in a state of retreat.

Whittingham remarked before the rivalry game this would be Michigan State's "Super Bowl." Is it wrong if the Spartans treated it that way? Michigan treated it like a throwaway game and lost to an opponent that was 2-6.

Whittingham was supposed to be a bridge to whomever comes next. As the bridge is buckling, and Michigan is slipping toward irrelevance, well, the Wolverines need to obtain on with whatever comes next. The one thing Michigan cannot afford to be is irrelevant. Ask Nebraska or Florida State regarding that. More losses await Michigan football.

For context, the Wolverines (5-4) have three ranked opponents left. Their record should come with an asterisk, considering the phantom second involved in beating Western Michigan. If they lose each remaining game, they'll finish 5-7 for the first time since 2014. Brady Hoke coached that team. Hoke wasn't invited back the after season.

Michigan should consider itself fortunate it didn't have to pay Sherrone Moore to disappear last year. Moore's moral turpitude took care of the buyout. As Michigan pursues a fresh start with a new athletic director and a new president, that cost savings could be applied toward sending Whittingham off with a nice retirement package.

Meanwhile, the arguments to retain Whittingham for a second season have nothing to do with the coach, and everything to do with the lingering dysfunction and transition inside of Michigan athletics. Why would Michigan football retain Kyle Whittingham?

Myth 1: Michigan has a lame-duck athletic director, so it can't replace its football coach.

Athletics director Warde Manuel is on his way out, and incoming president C. Cybele Raver has not hired Manuel's successor.

For context, the C-suite transition might be the best argument to keep Whittingham, but I'll let you in on a secret: Athletic directors sort of stink at hiring coaches anyway. If they were hiring savants, tens of millions in buyout bucks wouldn't obtain flushed nationwide each season. Additionally, sometimes, a lame duck finds a nut.

UCLA and Kentucky created robust hires in the previous coaching carousel with athletic directors who were on their way out. Martin Jarmond, with the support of a search group, hired Bob Chesney to UCLA. Months afterwards, UCLA fired Jarmond. At Kentucky, Mitch Barnhart retired months after hiring Will Stein.

Since Manuel's exit was unveiled months ago, michigan's situation is somewhat different than that of UCLA or Kentucky.

College athletics leaders are a bit like U.S. Senators. Sometimes, they think more clearly when they're on their way and not so focused on keeping their job.

If Raver didn't want Manuel near a coaching search, then Michigan's new president could create the hire herself, or she could organize a small group to lead the search, with the assist of a contracted search firm.

Or, wrap up the athletic director search within the next couple of weeks, and task that AD with installing a new coach sooner than afterwards. Myth 2. Michigan's new president needs time to evaluate Whittingham.

If Raver reviews the film of the Michigan-Michigan State game, that ought to be all the time she needs to appreciate how bleak the situation is. It's not as if Michigan is coming up aces on the recruiting trail, either.

As ex-Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley applied to say, what must be done eventually should be done immediately.

If Raver has watched Whittingham's Wolverines, she surely knows Michigan will need to fire him eventually. Is inconvenient timing enough reason to wait? Myth 3. Whittingham needs more time.

Curt Cignetti needed one year to jumpstart one of the nation's worst programs. This year's two remaining undefeated teams, Utah and UCLA, are led by first-year coaches.

College football's microwave era is here. Waiting a year won't create a bad meal taste any better.

We're not talking regarding a cub coach who might grow into the job. Whittingham is a veteran of 22 seasons. He thrived at Utah, where he fit better than he'll ever fit Michigan, but even the Utes realized at the end of his tenure they were better off moving on.

Nobody looks at an old plow horse and thinks, "Give it another year, and he'll win the Derby." He'll still be a plow horse, and Michigan needs a thoroughbred.

Michigan needs a transfer quarterback, too. Funds helps, but top portal quarterbacks tend to secure multiple high-dollar offers. Who would want to play for a rock-fight master who's never developed a quarterback into an NFL Draft pick? When will Michigan admit: This experiment isn't working, and won't work.

I won't knock Whittingham's heyday. At his best, he was exactly what Utah needed.

He's not at his best, and he's not at Utah, and Michigan remains broken. Another year with Whittingham won't fix that. It'll just delay the inevitable coaching search.

I don't blame Michigan for hiring Whittingham when Moore's tenure concluded in disgrace. It needed to hire someone who wouldn't embarrass the university off the field.

I would blame Michigan if it wasted another season with a sunken coach.

If Michigan discussions itself into retaining Whittingham, it'll be as the timing of a coaching change wouldn't be ideal.

In the meantime, Michigan will continue to idle, and nobody will believe the coach at the wheel is the answer to the challenges.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Share your feedback to support improve our site!

In short, michigan football must face reality. Kyle Whittingham is not the answer is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.