Head coach Kyle Whittingham comes to Michigan with a singularly robust resume. After leading Utah since 2005, he is the third-winningest active head coach and second only to Kirk Ferentz in the Big Ten.
Michigan
Kyle Whittingham’s resume shows why Michigan bet on a proven winner
Mind you, this is a Utah program that has never won 10 games without Whittingham on staff; a program that has been playing at least 10 games in a season since the ‘50s did not reach double-digit wins until Whittingham joined the staff as an assistant in 1994. Since then, the Utes reached that threshold twice with Whittingham as defensive coordinator and eight times as head coach, including a program record 13 wins in 2008.
Whittingham navigated Utah through two conference changes, Mountain West to the Pac-12 in 2011, and the Big 12 in 2024, and each move came with an adjustment period. His only losing seasons (all three were 5-7 efforts) took place within three years of joining a new conference.
But those were only bumps in the road; excluding 2020 and his first game as head coach — a 35-7 Fiesta Bowl win at the end of the 2004 season after Urban Meyer left for Florida — let’s dive deeper into Whittingham’s winning ways.
Whittingham is 17-3 in season openers, with all three losses coming on the road. Two came early in his tenure against UCLA in 2006 and Oregon State in 2007, and the most recent defeat came in 2022 at Florida. The next time he faced all three of these teams, Utah won by an average of two touchdowns.
This record isn’t propped up by cupcakes either. Utah went 2-0 in openers against Michigan, 3-0 if we include all matchups. In 2008, in what was arguably the high point of the season for the Wolverines, Whittingham came to Ann Arbor and beat Rich Rodriguez by two points. That same Utah team would beat a 12-win Nick Saban Alabama squad in the Sugar Bowl by 14 points.
In 2015, the Jim Harbaugh era officially got underway in Salt Lake City. The Wolverines made it look better at the end, only losing by a touchdown, but the Utes led by multiple scores for most of the contest before winning by seven.
Throughout his career, Whittingham has rarely stumbled out of the gates and has never lost a season-opener at home. He is 10-1 all-time in the month of August and 55-20 in September, a mark that only dips slightly in the months to follow.
Whittingham is 48-28 in October and 48-30 in November. The incredible consistency comes with steady records against all his rivals, regardless of when the games are played. Unlike Michigan vs Ohio State — at least for pre-unwanted expansion — these games don’t take place at the same time every year. They are more similar to Michigan State or Minnesota.
As a head coach, Whittingham has a winning record against all three of Utah’s primary rivals. He is 11-6 against BYU, 11-3 against Colorado (a rivalry that reignited in 2011) and 8-1 against Utah State.
The Holy War is one of the most famous rivalry games in the sport and carries extra significance for Whittingham, who is a BYU alum. He left Utah on a down note, dropping the last three against the Cougars, including the last two by a combined five points. But before his protege Kalani Sitake (Sitake was an assistant under Whittingham for 10 years) began to get the better of him, Utah had won nine in a row, the longest streak in the rivalry since the ‘80s.
Save a year or two here and there, the Rumble in the Rockies was played every year between 1903-1962 before going dormant until 2011. Once resumed, Colorado exacted revenge in the first meeting before Whittingham ripped off a four-game win streak and a six-game (remember we are not counting the season played in front of cardboard cutouts) win streak, with a loss to the 2016 Buffs sandwiched in the middle. With the John O’Korn equivalent at quarterback for the Utes in 2024, Coach Prime smoked Whittingham by 25, but Whitt repaid the debt, winning by 46 last season.
And in the Battle of the Brothers, his only loss to Utah State came in overtime in 2012 during his first losing season as a head coach. He exacted his revenge the next year by four points, doubled down and won by 10 in 2015, and in his final game in 2024, the Utes won by 17.
Whittingham has shown growth in conference championship games. In his first two Pac-12 Championship Game appearances in 2018 and 2019, Utah lost and failed to score more than 15 points each time. The 2018 loss was especially painful, falling 10-3, and losing to Washington for the second time that season.
But in 2021, Utah finally reached the top of the conference. Following an inauspicious 1-2 start and the murder of cornerback Aaron Lowe (the second shooting death of a Utah player in less than a year), Whittingham rallied the troops to win eight of their next nine games and set up a clash with Oregon for conference superiority. Utah had beaten Oregon 38-7 earlier in the year and most expected a closer rematch. The Utes were only favored by three going into the game, but the Utes won handily, 38-10, and reached the Rose Bowl for the first time in program history.
The following year, Utah found itself in a similar situation, in a rematch with USC for the conference title. Utah had beaten USC by one point in one of the best games of the season earlier. In that game, Utah scored with less than a minute remaining and took the lead when Whittingham went for the two-point conversion and the win over the tie to prevail, 43-42. For the rematch, oddsmakers favored Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams and USC by three, who just needed to win to reach the College Football Playoff.
Early on, it looked like the Trojans would Fight On to the CFP. But after continually pressuring and battering Williams, the Utes overcame a two-touchdown deficit and steamrolled USC, 47-24, and went to the Rose Bowl for a second straight season.
The Utes lost both Rose Bowls — one to Ohio State and the other to Penn State — but let’s not lose sight of the accomplishment. Utah has reached a sustainable level of success for more than 20 years despite only having 64 players drafted since 2005. For context, Michigan has had 116 selected in that time, 82 of which came under (or were recruited by) Harbaugh.
No coach has consistently won more with less talent than Whittingham. The first few years in a new conference have proven the most challenging in the past, but history suggests it’s inevitable he’ll return Michigan to the top of the Big Ten.
A shooting altercation between two groups of young people at a shopping mall in Dearborn, Michigan, left two people dead and a third injured over what is typically the most violent weekend of the year in the US, police said.
The shooting occurred as the US began celebrating the Fourth of July, historically a holiday weekend that sees higher rates of gun violence across the country. In 2024, the Gun Violence Archive reported more than 500 shootings over Independence Day weekend.
The shooting at Fairlane Town Center on Friday sent mall patrons scrambling, including a person who was hit by a vehicle outside the mall while attempting to flee, said Issa Shahin, the Dearborn police chief.
People believed to be linked to the fight were being questioned at the police station, but no one was immediately taken into custody, he said.
Shahin said the altercation was not a random act: the two groups knew each other and after they came into contact at the mall a fight started that escalated into gunfire. Members of both groups had handguns, he said.
One of the victims died inside Fairlane Town Center and the other died at a nearby hospital. Details on the third person who was shot were not released.
The mall was evacuated after the shooting and police planned to keep it closed while they investigated.
A video posted to social media appeared to show people running from the shopping center after gunshots could be heard.
Fairlane Town Center has more than 125 stores and restaurants, according to its website.
Dearborn is a suburb of Detroit with a population of more than 100,000 people about nine miles west of Detroit.
Tyhrann Howard, Michigan state police specialist lieutenant, said the agency was assisting with the investigation and referred questions to the Dearborn police.
A person who answered the phone at the telephone number for mall security declined comment.
Associated Press contributed reporting
Lansing — Michigan lawmakers worked through the night into Friday morning on a new state budget that will use an array of spending cuts and funding maneuvers to close a $1 billion tax revenue gap.
The plan will increase the state’s investment in basic per-student support for Michigan schools and will feature $125 million for special projects sought by legislators. However, 10 state departments will get less money than they had the year before, and a variety of state initiatives, such as the arts and culture program, Pure Michigan and the Office of Global Michigan, will see cuts.
Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, described the new budget, which authorized somewhere around $84 billion in spending, as one “full of compromises.”
“This was a very challenging budget negotiation, mainly because of the $1 billion deficit that we had to ensure to address,” Anthony said. “But being able to do so without reducing any benefits for folks who are receiving Medicaid or food assistance is probably the proudest thing … that comes out of this process.”
The Legislature convened throughout the night Thursday into Friday morning, when the state Capitol would normally have been closed for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Under state law, the Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate are supposed to approve a new budget by July 1 each year. The first of the funding bills wasn’t unveiled this week until about 3:13 a.m. Friday morning, two days after the deadline.
Lawmakers would likely have a few hours to read the bills before the final votes, which were expected later Friday.
On Thursday afternoon, Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, said Senate Republicans had no information about what was in the budget blueprint. He labeled the process playing out in the Legislature “nonsense.”
Likewise, Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake Township, said lawmakers had about 30 to 40 minutes between being briefed on the budget and when they had to vote on it.
“We have no idea what’s in these bills,” Runestad said.
In February, Jen Flood, Whitmer’s budget director, said the state was facing a $1.8 billion financial gap. Health care costs had jumped, the Legislature had dedicated more tax dollars to roads, and the federal government, led by Republican President Donald Trump, had forced states to pay for a larger share of costs associated with food assistance for low-income families.
Whitmer initially proposed an $88.1 budget for next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. She sought a bevy of new taxes on smokers, gamblers and digital advertising. Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, refused to go along with the tax hikes.
The new budget will be somewhat close to the current budget in overall amount of approximately $84 million.
Hall and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, had been working for weeks to create the new funding plan. Hall announced a final deal had been reached Thursday.
The ultimate agreement involved dozens of other bills that were tied to the budget’s approval, including a long-sought measure by some Democrats that would double the cap on the state’s transformational brownfield program, which allows businesses behind large developments to keep income tax and sales withholdings resulting from their projects, from $1.6 billion to $3.2 billion.
The incentive is expected to be used to spur the redevelopment of Detroit’s riverfront Renaissance Center. The Senate approved the brownfield bill in December. The House voted 82-26 in favor of it early Friday.
The Senate also took up early Friday a House-backed proposal to ban former lawmakers from being paid to lobby for two years after leaving office. The bill passed in a vote of 29-7.
How will schools be funded?
Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, acknowledged lawmakers were shifting a larger amount of School Aid Fund money, which would normally go to K-12 schools, toward higher education and community colleges.
The number appeared to rise from about $1.3 billion in the current year to about $2 billion in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, setting a new record. Whitmer had proposed using $1.7 billion from the School Aid Fund to support the operations of universities and community colleges.
The moves effectively free up money in the General Fund, where tax dollars are currently tight, for other needs.
“It’s too much,” Camilleri said of the shifts. “But we’re dealing with a divided Legislature with different priorities, and we all needed to fill the budget gap.”
Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, blasted the approach lawmakers took.
“Nothing in this budget justifies it once again being done late,” McCann said. “There is little in it focused on supporting Michigan’s schools, even as it raids nearly $2 billion from the School Aid Fund to pay for data centers and corporate tax handouts.”
The K-12 budget went down from $21.3 billion to $19.8 billion, a 7 percent drop in federal funds on paper.
But the plan appears to allow the federal funds not included in the tally to be spent, so it wasn’t clear how much total spending there would actually be under the legislation.
Lawmakers are increasing the base per-pupil foundation allowance for schools by about 2.5% from $10,050 to $10,300. They are also investing $50 million in high-impact tutoring and instituting a long-term plan for a so-called weighted funding formula, which would tie extra support to economically disadvantaged students and students who are learning English.
House Appropriations Chairwoman Ann Bollin, R-Brighton, touted the weighted funding formula, which will be phased in over the next 15 years.
“This is a transformational school budget, where we are making record investments,” Bollin said.
For Michigan’s public universities, overall funding increased by 12% from $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion, with more money for operations and scholarships.
What were the cuts and projects?
Lawmakers’ final plan also cut $8 million in funding for the Pure Michigan tourism campaign, which received $17 million in support in the current year. The Office of Global Michigan got $500,000 less, dropping its total to about $41.4 million. And the arts and culture program got $685,200 less, dropping its total to $8 million.
Among state departments, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy saw the largest percentage drop in funding of 31%, going from $967 million to $671 million. The decrease was largely due to the reduction of money for a federal sewage and stormwater program.
Lawmakers did provide $125 million for special projects around the state.
There was $3 million for the Schoenherr Road Bridge Reconstruction in Shelby Township, $1.4 million for the Rochester Community House expansion and renovation, $3.7 million for water main replacements in Utica and $2 million for a fire station project in Waterford Township, according to the spending plan.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Michigan lawmakers seek prison director’s exit
30 Michigan lawmakers seek resignation of prison director Heidi Washington after 4 prison deaths; Whitmer orders probe.
Another inmate from Michigan’s female prison died on Thursday, the Michigan Department of Corrections reported, becoming the fourth female inmate to die at the facility plagued by complaints of poor conditions since May.
Dalephenia Jones, 62, of the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility died at Trinity Health Hospital about two weeks after correctional officers found that she needed medical assistance in her cell, the department said.
“As this was an unexpected death, the department will be investigating the events preceding Ms. Jones being sent to the hospital and will provide information on the result of those investigations when they are complete,” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jenni Riehle said in a statement.
Three prior deaths at the women’s facility led 30 state lawmakers on May 19 to urge the resignation of Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington, citing a history of problems at the state prisons under her leadership.
The prison has recently been under fire over its conditions. A state House oversight committee heard testimony in February from prisoners, advocates and former staff who testified about the conditions, including mold and a lack of medical care, similar to complaints that have risen since the two women’s deaths.
The prison’s warden, Jeremy Howard, was put “temporarily on personal leave,” the department said earlier this month.
Washington and other health care leadership have been onsite regularly at Women’s Huron Valley since the other deaths occurred in May, Riehle said.
On June 19, Huron Valley corrections officers took Jones to the facility’s health care area after finding her conscious but in need of medical assistance, the department said. The health care staff requested outside emergency medical services, the department said.
Emergency technicians determined that “Jones was having a cardiac event and she was taken into surgery after arrival at the hospital,” Riehle said.
No other specifics were given about Jones’ condition during the 14 days following surgery or the cause of the cardiac event. But Riehl said Jones “had multiple documented chronic medical conditions for which she was being offered medical treatment as part of a chronic care plan,” some of which potentially increased the risk for cardiac events.
Jones was sentenced in Wayne County to life in prison in 1994 at the Huron Valley facility.
“The department continues to take meaningful actions at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional, and other facilities, to improve the health and safety of incarcerated individuals,” Riehle said.
Riehle maintained that the department has sent “experienced clinical leadership from across the state” to the facility and that it is “hiring additional full-time medical staff, developing a new healthcare staffing plan with enhanced nursing management, improving communication, among other action items that provide additional supports.”
The concerns about the facility began after Khaira Howard, 28, died May 14 in a medical observation cell at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. Howard’s parents are calling for reform at the Ypsilanti facility and for answers about their daughter’s death.
Rebecca Fackler, 57, another prisoner, died May 17. Both Fackler and Howard reportedly died after they were denied medical care, said two attorneys handling civil cases for loved ones of the two women.
In early June, Ashley Hoath, 36, died at Trinity Health Hospital several hours after being transferred out of the prison’s medical unit, Riehle said.
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