Overview
- Public records confirm Whittingham told Utah on Dec. 2 he planned to keep coaching and sought raises to $9 million and $9.6 million, $20 million in NIL funds, and a $2 million increase for assistants.
- Utah’s Dec. 6 counter proposed a one-year, $8 million deal that transferred recruiting and personnel authority to coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley starting Feb. 1, 2026, with immediate control over decisions affecting 2027 and beyond.
- After talks collapsed, a Dec. 12 Fourth Amendment replaced a post-retirement role with a $13.5 million transition bonus payable in three installments and allowed Whittingham to take jobs outside Utah without forfeiting the bonus.
- Utah sent the first payment of about $8,013,808 on Jan. 23 with a letter from AD Mark Harlan expressing disappointment and asserting Whittingham’s recruitment of Utah coaches and staff to Michigan conflicted with transition obligations.
- Whittingham accepted Michigan on Dec. 26 and brought multiple Utah assistants and several players, while Scalley became Utah’s head coach on a five-year contract reported at $27 million in base compensation with incentives up to $36 million.