Patrick Kinahan: Utah's transfer losses to Michigan could include top recruit

SALT LAKE CITY — Access to considerable resources is aiding Kyle Whittingham's intent to stockpile his Michigan roster with talent, including taking multiple starters from Utah.

The former Utah coach has plucked several players out of the transfer portal, moves that appear to include the top high school player in Utah. The money also has helped the Wolverines retain talent of last season's team that won nine games.

Making the rounds of seemingly every national sports media outlet since getting hired on Dec. 26, Whittingham went on Urban Meyer's "Triple Option" podcast and spoke on the cash that is making multi-millionaires out of youngsters still in or barely out of their typically turbulent teenage years.

Instead of battling against the big money that has bankrolled the roster of Big 12 champion Texas Tech, Whittingham no longer will worry about losing talent for financial reasons. Obviously, Michigan can dole out the dollars with the rest of the college superpowers.

Meyer: "Are the Wolverines committed to this and can you go to war with anybody as far as your finances?"

Whittingham: "Absolutely. We've had some of our boosters and supporters step up, and we have made a lot of progress in that regard."

Suffice it to say, he would not have taken the job without the financial commitment required to compete for a national championship, which is the annual expectation at Michigan. Anything less than beating arch rival Ohio State and winning the Big Ten title is unacceptable at the tradition-rich program.

To assist in trying to beat the Buckeyes on next year's schedule that includes Oklahoma, Indiana and Oregon, Whittingham has brought in Utah transfers JJ Buchanan (tight end/receiver), defensive linemen John Henry Daley and Jonah Lea'ea, and possibly touted recruit Salesi Moa, who signed with the Utes last month but entered the transfer portal on Monday.

Signing several Utes has infuriated some in the local fan base, who claim Whittingham is tainting — if not destroying — the impressive legacy he built at Utah. They point to his assertion of leaving the program in a good spot in announcing his resignation last month and then hiring away several Utah coaches and taking players.

The separation has pitted some of the Utah faithful against Whittingham's family, which has been upset at the vitriol that has filtered through social media. At the same time, like most every program in the sport, Utah has brought in several transfers this month.

Depending on perspective, the Utah administration basically forced out Whittingham or he chose to step down through sensing the time had come to turn over the program in coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley. Both factions have taken the high road in public comments since Whittingham left.

Neither side owes the other anything more than respect as each goes about trying to win games. Utah will eventually honor Whittingham, who signed a five-year contract with Michigan, but it will come later than originally expected.

"There will be a time and a place to celebrate everything he brought to this university," Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said last week at Scalley's introductory press conference.

For now, Whittingham will continue adjusting to the dramatic changes that have occurred during his more than 30 years of coaching. He doesn't think the current state of compensating players, which is essentially pay-for-play no matter the protests of some administrators, can last much longer.

"It's a different world," he told Meyer. "I don't think this model is sustainable. It's got to have a complete overhaul. It's going to have to turn into sort of NFL minor league with a salary cap, collective bargaining agreement, players becoming employees. I just don't see any other way around it because the roster money — it goes up 15-20% every year. It's to the point now where it just cannot be sustained."

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