So what's to make of Kyle Whittingham's Michigan debut? The Wolverine's win* can only mildly ease the eye sore that was their poor OL blocking, DL pushed around Vs the run, and Underwood still playing like a lost freshman.
Ever since he took the job, Whittingham just sounds happy to have the Michigan job at all, like a teenager finally getting to borrow the parent's fancier BMW for the weekend. Even in the post-game interviews last Saturday, Whittingham sounded in high spirits while answering how fundamentally poor the OL played. Putting a high-achieving team on the field might be an entirely separate matter for Whittingham, to be figured on a whim, like overdue homework, which last Saturday showed.
So, has Whittingham already had all the success he's going to have while at Utah? Where season after season after 21 seasons, his teams were remarkably consistent winners?
Whittingham's Utah teams were anchored on experienced OL/DLs of mostly under-recruited 3-star recruits who redshirted and remained in the program for a long time. A formula which Michigan doesn't have the patience for - not with an NIL budget that's expected to right away field all-conference caliber talent across the roster.
