College Football

Whittingham Sits Down With Urban Meyer

Updated Aug. 18, 2020 12:51 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

In the third episode of The Ring Chronicles, Urban Meyer and Utah head coach Whittingham dive into their battle for the Utes head coaching job, Utah's emotional overtime win over Air Force, a memorable rivalry game win over BYU, and much more.

The conversation aired Monday on FOX's College Football social accounts, the FOX Sports App and FOXSports.com.

Meyer and Whittingham's relationship began when both were interviewing for the head coaching spot in Salt Lake City. Whittingham took over as Utah's defensive coordinator in 2001, while Meyer was still the head coach at Bowling Green.

However, Meyer beat out Whittingham for the Utah job in 2003, and despite his initial idea to bring in his own defensive mind, Meyer retained Whittingham, which proved to be a success for both coaches and the Utes program.

Urban Meyer, Kyle Whittingham look back on Urban almost firing Whittingham at Utah

Both Urban Meyer and Kyle Whittingham were in the running for the Utah head football coaching job before the 2003 season. When the Utes hired Meyer, he was pretty sure he was going to bring in his own defensive coordinator. However, as Urban and Whittingham remember, one important meeting changed that.

Whittingham immediately became a trusted figure for Meyer, and was able to do what few others could: get Meyer to listen in the heat of the moment.

To this day, Meyer is grateful for Whittingham's gentle reminder of the importance of respect in the Utes' 3-0 win over rival BYU back in 2003.

Urban Meyer recalls when Kyle Whittingham kept him from going for TD in 3-0 win over BYU

Up 3-0 in a snow-filled game, all the Utah Utes had to do was take a few knees to defeat rival BYU. However, head coach Urban Meyer wanted to score a touchdown. Defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham was having none of it. The two men look back on their sideline discussion.

The bond between Meyer and Whittingham ran deep, and was strengthed by not only triumph, but tragedy as well.

During the 2003 season, Whittingham's father passed away during the week leading up to Utah's game against Air Force. 

The Utes would go on to earn a 3OT win over the Falcons.

Kyle Whittingham reflects on emotional 3OT win vs. Air Force following father's death

Urban Meyer, Utah's head coach in 2003, and Kyle Whittingham, Utah's current head coach and 2003 defensive coordinator, look back on the Utes' emotional 3OT win over Air Force that season. Whittingham's father, Fred Whittingham, died the week of the game. Both coaches reflect on the magic they felt in the stadium that night.

share

Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

College Football

Utah Utes