'I'm in the transfer portal': Kyle Whittingham talks decision to step away as Utes head coach

SALT LAKE CITY — Like much of his coaching career, Kyle Whittingham's back was against the wall Thursday afternoon — literally.

And while the stakes weren't as high as trying to lead a program in an ever-evolving landscape within collegiate sports, the task at hand was no less daunting for the Utah head coach of 21 seasons.

Facing one of the largest media crowds of at least the last few years after practice, Whittingham had the unwanted task of answering questions about himself — a sort of chore for someone who always deflects comments about himself and tries to praise the successes of others.

At one point, after a barrage of questions about his decision to "step away" as the program's head coach, he slipped in a comment at the end of an answer, saying "well, let's talk about our guys."

And though he declared the last few weeks as "business as usual," it was anything but for the all-time winningest head coach at Utah. Still, Whittingham answered all the questions the best he could as he described his reasons for walking away from Utah.

"Well, the program is in a good place right now," he said. "As I've said many times, after last season, it just didn't sit right with anybody, particularly me, and so came back. And, fortunately, we were able to get the ship righted and everything's on track. The program, like I said, is in a good spot. We've got good coaches, coach (Morgan) Scalley will come in and do a great job, got good players, so now is the time."

Whittingham still has a passion for the game, saying "I don't know if it's ever out of your system," but said he felt it was the right time to walk away as not to "overstate my welcome."

"Somebody once told me that every year that goes by you're a coach, 10% of the fan base starts to hate you," he joked. "So after 20 years, they all, plus their kids and grandkids, probably hate me. So anyway, it was a good run. It was a good run. I'll say it one more time, I didn't want to be that hanger on that just kept — people just got sick of."

As such, he declared himself a "free agent," while joking that he's in the transfer portal.

Following his announcement Friday, the Athletic reported that Whittingham remains open to coaching, which is why there wasn't a formal retirement announcement. Even then, Whittingham has long said he's wanted to spend more time with family when he retired.

Whether his stepping away becomes a full retirement remains to be seen, but he said he'll keep his options open after the bowl game.

"Who knows? We'll see," he said. "It's stepping down and step away and reevaluate things, and we'll see where we're at. ... If my phone rings, I answer it. And if I like who's calling, then we'll see. That's pretty much the process."

Regardless of what his future holds, Whittingham is treating everything as if it is business as usual as his team prepares for Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl at the end of the month. It's a finish he hopes to end with a win following one of his favorite seasons over his two decade tenure.

"Well, this team has been one of my favorite years," Whittingham said. "The team attitude, the leadership, the work ethic, just the personality and feel, the vibe of the team is outstanding. And having the chance to be around these guys one more month and go to battle one more time with them was something I wanted to do."

Devon Dampier and his future

Whittingham's future wasn't the only one in question Thursday. With the regular season over and a transfer portal date looming, the next biggest question was whether the team's starting quarterback would be back for his last season.

And though Dampier danced around the subject a bit, joking about what's to come, the plan is for the dual-threat quarterback to be back in red with the Utes next season.

"Y'all going to see, but it's good; it's great," he said, speaking about a future announcement to come. "I'm very happy to be here."

Dampier said he and backup Byrd Ficklin, who already announced his decision to return for next season, were planning to do "something special" before news of his return got "leaked out before we could get to it."

"But it's coming," he added. "It's coming."

As such, Dampier said he has no intentions of standing on the sidelines during the Las Vegas Bowl and plans to be the team's starting quarterback.

"I chose to finish out this season with my team," he said. "I'm gonna play in the game. But some people it's a lot higher stakes. Got a couple of first-rounders and things like that. So, you know, we know those guys love us; they let it be known every day since they've been here. So we still support those guys; they support us."

Whittingham added that the only opts outs of the bowl game the team is expecting is starting offensive tackles Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, in addition to defensive end Logan Fano. As such, he expects the rest of the team to be available — including some players who have declared their intent to enter the transfer portal.

On Thursday, Spencer Fano was named a unanimous first-team All-American, becoming the first offensive player at Utah with the honor and the fifth all-time for the university. Fano also recently won the Outland Trophy as the nations best interior lineman.

Both Fano and Lomu are projected to be first-round picks in April's NFL draft, with Fano projected as a potential top-10 pick.

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