As a Michigan Fan, I have No Problem with What Kyle Whittingham Said

I'm about to embark on my final summer vacation, but I want to leave you all with one more piece before I take a week off.

Big Ten media days are happening right now, and since I'm a Michigan fan, I get updates about it pretty frequently. With Kyle Whittingham being the new football head coach, of course I am interested in what he has to say about the upcoming season. Most of what he has said is pretty typical coach speak. That's usually the case at these events. But some fans are "upset" that he has extended an invitation to Urban Meyer to come to practice for any game except The Game, and that he isn't saying the typical Michigan football coach stuff, like "that school down south", or simply calling them "Ohio".

This doesn't bug me at all. To be quite honest, I was already over all the "do it, or die trying", "who's got it better than us" and "smash" talk that has permeated the football program for the past decade plus. What Jim Harbaugh did, returning the national title to the football program, will be forever remembered, and I will always be grateful for that. He restored this program and made them relevant again. His last three years as the head football coach were some of the best times I've had as a fan. But his schtick was wearing thin for me. I was kind of over it. I loved that he was outspoken for his players, he helped usher in NIL and he never stole focus from the team. But the way he spoke, the mantras he held onto and the whole vibe was kind of tiresome. I was fed up.

And then we had Sherrone Moore, who I highly advocated to get the job after Harbaugh left. Moore was all about the "smash" mentality. And when he would be asked what that meant, he would say some nonsense that always frustrated me. "Smash" meant running through walls, giving your all for the team, fighting until the last whistle, which is all well and good, but it just becomes kind of lame after a while. I get it, coaches at this level have to have this kind of mentality and fervor, but it can become gross and weird and, as my kids would say, cringe. The whole "smash" and "do it, or die trying" became similar to me when Dabo Swinney mentioned that Clemson already has NIL, in God's eyes. Or when the new Florida coach yelled at a reporter who's phone went off during a gathering. Or Curt Cignetti telling people to "google him". I'm over all of that shit.

We get it, you guys are highly successful at what you do and you have earned all the respect and accolades that have come your way. But the "coach speak" stuff has got to go. These are 18-22 year old kids you're dealing with now, and I bet they think that shit is wild too. So for Whittingham to invite his buddy and mentor, for him to not speak with some kind of fervor that makes it feel like he is foaming at the mouth, it is a nice and needed change of pace for me as a diehard Michigan fan.

I loathe the university of Ohio State and Michigan State as much as any fan, but I don't go to the lengths that others do. I don't sit and pine and gripe and moan after those games. I want Michigan to win every game every season, but that isn't always likely. And for the coach to not be so angry about his newly inherited rivals, to which he has zero feeling for, why should fans be up in arms at all? This is all new to Kyle Whittingham. Sure, Utah has BYU, and I'm sure he understood the stakes that rivalry held, but I never heard him say some foul shit about BYU. He coached his team for the week, had them prepared to play and, hopefully for him, he won more that game more often than not.

I was so happy that Michigan was able to get Whittingham after they had to let Moore go. This is a much needed change in direction from the past with this team. From Bo to Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr, we had the quintessential Michigan Men. Then it was kind of rough with Rich Rod and Brady Hoke. Then we, the fans, struck gold when they got Harbaugh to come back. He restored this team, but it took time. We all know the fallout from Moore, which was tough. But now Michigan has a coach that is respected for how cleanly he runs a program. He made Utah a perennial 9 to 10 win team. He recruited players that fit his system. He hired coaches he trusted and knew he could get the best out of. I want all of that for Michigan. I'm sick of hearing about sign stealing, damaging phones, buying burgers for recruits, satellite camps and who the former coach was contacting on Instagram. I want my coach to be seen, not heard. I want to see the product on the field before I judge what he says off the field. This is, to quote Jim Harbaugh, "a nothing burger" from some sadistic and stupid fans. Who cares what he has to say about a friend and a school he has, I think so at least, never coached against before in his career.

Time will tell if Whittingham was the right choice to return Michigan to its place in college football, but for fans to get mad over some stuff he said in an interview, before he has even coached a real game as the Michigan head football coach is asinine to me. Don't gate keep stuff that you have zero involvement in just because you're a fan. Whittingham doesn't have to bash anyone or any program if he doesn't want to. That's not his job. His job is to be the head football coach at Michigan, and so far, it has been a nice, quiet offseason. That's the way I prefer it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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