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
Zoning limits bills prompt cities and towns to fight Michigan lawmakers
Mayors and township supervisors across Metro Detroit are alarmed about state housing legislation that they said could result in much denser development that would tax local infrastructure, though advocates argued it would reduce the cost of housing.
The legislation, introduced in February, has pitted local officials against some state lawmakers who contend that Michigan needs to address local regulations that restrict the building of more affordable housing. The bills, now in a Michigan House committee, would allow for smaller lot sizes and smaller setbacks, paving the way for more affordable homes, said State Rep. Kristian Grant.
“What we know is that over the last 20 to 30 years, zoning regulations that may have been well-intended when they started have gone further and further and have really become a redlining tool to keep people out of communities,” said Grant, a Grand Rapids Democrat who is championing the bills.
But local government officials said the bills take a one-size-fits-all approach to zoning across the state and that local infrastructure, including sewer and water systems, can’t support potential increases in housing density. They countered that the bills do not ensure that the new housing will be sold or rented at affordable prices.
Multiple communities, including Bloomfield Township, Clinton Township, Romulus and Sterling Heights, have passed formal resolutions opposing the legislation. Dozens of officials from across Metro Detroit gathered at a February press conference, organized by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, to blast the legislation.
“There’s never been an issue in Lansing in the time that I’ve been working on legislative advocacy that has galvanized our membership and local leaders statewide in favor or against something so much ― in this case, against a bill package,” said Kevin Vettraino, SEMCOG’s director of planning.
The Michigan Municipal League, SEMCOG and the Michigan Townships Association have organized a letter of opposition that more than 2,000 officials across the state and over 100 residents have signed. The issue is about local control, they said.
“We are strongly of the opinion that we are closest to residents and that we should have a say,” Bloomfield Township Treasurer Michael Schostak said. “We have the ultimate say on our issues that impact the local community.”
But Grant argued that zoning is one of the issues that increases the cost of housing. Americans live differently than they did several generations ago, as more families have single parents and some married people don’t have kids, she said, necessitating more housing units.
Grant said her legislative package is not focused on “getting rid of zoning in any kind of way.”
“It focuses really closely on five zoning laws that are very directly correlated to housing,” she said. “It also does not remove local input.”
Not all local officials in Metro Detroit oppose the legislation. Ann Arbor officials support the proposals as addressing the unaffordability of housing by increasing the supply and thus lowering the price.
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor said the legislation doesn’t eliminate local planning, but rather “ensures that there are minimum levels of housing opportunity everywhere.”
“This package provides a floor,” Taylor said. “It doesn’t provide a ceiling.”
Home builders explain why zoning rules are costly
Zoning rules often make it prohibitive for developers to build smaller starter homes, said Dawn Crandall, executive vice president for government relations at the Home Builders Association of Michigan.
“If they have, say, one-acre minimum lot sizes, … that increases the cost of a home just in the land,” she said.
Crandall said the costs of land and building materials, as well as lending issues, have made home development more expensive. Zoning law changes are “one piece of the puzzle” to increase the state’s housing stock, she said.
“This is just one way that we can look at maybe putting some guardrails and some stability across the state for builders who sometimes build in numerous communities,” Crandall said.
But SEMCOG’s Vettraino said the bills don’t ensure that newly constructed units are affordable. He pointed to a development under construction in Harper Woods that is targeting families earning 60-120% of the area median income. He said that this ensures that the units are “affordable currently and into the future.”
“There is no confidence that the end result of that bill package results in affordable housing, because it gives all the decision-making to the developers,” said Amy O’Leary, SEMCOG’s executive director.
Grant countered by noting that the current low supply of new housing is driving up costs. and. She pointed to Austin, Texas, where a Pew Charitable Trusts article said policy reforms starting in 2015 “aimed at encouraging the development of new housing, especially rentals,” resulted in rents decreasing as more homes were built.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said he hasn’t been able to pinpoint how the package helps reduce the cost of home construction.
The city is already conducting quick reviews of site plans — Dearborn’s site plan guide says reviews take about 20 days — and working on pre-approved housing designs for single-family homes and duplexes, he said. The moves are intended to speed up construction by vetting certain home designs in advance to ensure they comply with local zoning and building codes.
“We are doing all the right things, but the cost of construction is just high,” Hammoud said.
Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight said he’d rather see lawmakers give developers an incentive to build higher-density housing by subsidizing infrastructure costs, such as utilities and roads, that have to be paid before home construction can start. That can cost $100,000 per house, he said.
If legislators can find a way to provide that kind of incentive, McCraight said, “Now you’re talking.”
What the zoning bills say
House Bills 5529 and 5530, which are sponsored by Grant and state Rep. Jennifer Wortz, R-Quincy, respectively, would prohibit communities from establishing a minimum parcel size of more than 1,500 square feet for detached single-family residences served by public water and sewer, according to a SEMCOG summary of the bills.
Grant said land is expensive.
“If we require people to buy large amounts of it for one single-family home, not only does that take away from someone else who could have built on that land, but it prices people out,” she said.
House Bill 5583, sponsored by state Rep. Matt Longjohn, D-Portage, would ensure that the zoning in communities in or adjacent to a Metropolitan Statistical Area, such as Metro Detroit, doesn’t require setbacks larger than 15 feet at the front of a building or five feet at the side or rear. A setback is the space between where a property line starts and where a housing unit is built.
The setback changes would allow more land to be used for housing, Grant said.
Grant’s House Bill 5582 would restrict zoning ordinances from requiring more than one parking space per dwelling unit in a multifamily development. And House Bill 5584, sponsored by Rep. Joey Andrews, D-St. Joseph, would make duplexes “a permitted use” in any zoning district that allows single-family residences.
Developers would be able to submit a proposal for a duplex, but local governments could still set requirements for duplexes, including regarding the design of the building or its parking, Grant said.
“What the bill is essentially saying is that you cannot, off the bat, just make duplexes illegal to build in your community,” she said.
How the proposed legislation would increase housing density
SEMCOG’s Vettraino said the bills don’t specify how the setback sizes and minimum parcel sizes were determined. The legislation would allow 1,500-square-foot lots with homes that are 500 square feet in size and “minimal setbacks,” he said.
“What does this really look like?” Vettraino said. “When you do the math for a single acre, this would result in as many as 29 single-family units on a single acre.”
The legislation doesn’t talk about setting aside land for green space, utilities or infrastructure, but if 30% of the land were reserved for those elements, there would be 20 single-family units per acre, he said.
“This still is far more dense than anything that we currently have in the region,” Vettraino said, adding that Hamtramck is the densest city in Michigan at 18 housing units per acre, followed by Detroit at 12, Ypsilanti at nine and Center Line at eight.
The smallest lot sizes in Sterling Heights are 7,200 square feet, which are typically 60 feet by 120 feet, said City Planner Jake Parcell, which equates to just under six homes per acre.
Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool said a few thousand housing units need to be built in the city in the coming years.
“Now, is it smarter to do it in the way we’ve been doing it, or is it better to have legislation that just mandates density anywhere in the community residential areas?” Vanderpool said.
The city manager pointed to the Lakeside City Center project, which will include “a couple thousand” housing units. The project will turn the Lakeside Mall property on M-59 into a mixed-use center, with restaurants, hotels, housing, park space and more.
Officials debate setback concerns
In Oakland County, which is home to hundreds of lakes, officials worried that reduced setbacks — meaning the space between where a property line starts and where a housing unit is built — could put developments too close to wetlands.
Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett said his community has had “major flooding” in recent years — something he said the proposed bills don’t take into consideration.
The Oakland County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution opposing the bills out of committee in March. Gwen Markham, a Democratic county commissioner from Novi, said the setback for wetlands in the county is currently 50 feet. One legislative proposal would allow up to a 25-foot setback from wetlands, inland lakes or streams, and high-water marks for the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair, according to the SEMCOG summary.
“Wetland setbacks protect buildings, whether it’s homes or businesses or public buildings,” Markham said.
“The local officials don’t feel as though you can just tell us across the board, ‘You need to be able to do this.’”
Ann Arbor City Councilwoman Lisa Disch disagreed, arguing that Oakland County could create natural feature protections in its zoning code that would address bodies of water and coexist with the proposed rules.
Macomb officials worry that communities could be ‘upended’
Macomb Township Supervisor Frank Viviano said that when he and his wife were deciding where they wanted to raise their family, they chose an area where they thought they could “get value” and liked the surrounding community.
“Now, if these bills were to go through, the community that I invested to, and the community that literally hundreds of thousands of southeast Michigan residents invested into, could be upended, meaning that we could have a duplex next to us, five feet from our property line,” Viviano said.
Clinton Township Supervisor Paul Gieleghem said he and other township officials believe the proposed changes would reduce property values.
“Reducing the value of someone’s home is literally pulling money from them,” Gieleghem said, adding that a family’s single largest investment.
“We are for development and affordable housing options, but where the infrastructure exists to be able to support it,” Gieleghem said.
Kelly Karll, the manager of SEMCOG’s environment and infrastructure group, said municipal engineers are responsible for making sure roads, water, sewer and stormwater lines in an area can safely support what’s being built.
“So when the state overrides local control with one-size-fits-all-type mandates like this, it breaks that connection between development decisions and the capacity checks that engineers are required to make,” she said.
Karll said the bills would allow “major increases” in density in places where infrastructure was sized for a significantly lower level of use.
But Rep. Aragona said he and the other lawmakers are not trying to “overwhelm any type of system.” If they have to amend the legislation to ensure that infrastructure isn’t overwhelmed, they will, he said.
“We don’t want anybody’s basement flooding or any streets getting ruined because … there’s not enough impervious surface or what have you,” Aragona said.
Some opponents are backing another proposal, called the MI Home Program, which was introduced as House Bill 5660 by State Reps. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester, and Samantha Steckloff, D-Farmington Hills.
Under the MI Home Program, the state would spend $160 million annually for five years to accelerate housing construction and rehabilitation and promote updates to local zoning regulations, a Michigan Municipal League document said. The homes built or rehabbed using the state money would be required to be sold to people earning within 120% of the area median income, SEMCOG’s O’Leary said.
“If they want to actually fix affordability, they need to put some funding behind it,” said Orion Township’s Barnett, who supports this bill.
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NASA announced this week the four-man crew that will embark on the Artemis III mission, and one of those astronauts has ties to Michigan.
Mission specialist Andre Douglas, who served as a backup crew member for the recently completed Artemis II mission, received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of Michigan in 2012, according to NASA.
Douglas will now join fellow astronauts Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano and Frank Rubio. Bresnik will serve as commander with Parmitano as the pilot.
The crew is expected to launch into Earth orbit in 2027 to test rendezvous and docking procedures with moon landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin before the U.S. sends astronauts back to the moon in 2028.
“To get an opportunity to serve in the Artemis program as someone who kind of just came in the door not too long ago, it’s a huge honor,” Douglas told CBS News.
According to NASA, Douglas was born in Miami and grew up in Virginia, graduating from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake. Douglas received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2008. After earning his master’s degrees from U of M, Douglas later earned his doctorate in systems engineering from Georgia Washington University in 2021.
NASA selected Douglas to join the 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class, and he reported for duty in 2022.
The Artemis III crew will carry out a mission similar to the Apollo 9 flight in 1969. During that time, three astronauts tested the spindly lunar excursion module in Earth orbit.
Note: The video above previously aired on June 9, 2026.
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.
Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham talks spring practice
Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham talks spring practice at Schembechler Hall in Ann Arbor on Thursday, April 9, 2026.
This is part three of a three-part series ranking Michigan football’s toughest games in the 2026 season, the first under new coach Kyle Whittingham. Part 1 and part 2 can be found here.
No. 4: Oklahoma (Sept. 12, noon, Fox)
The first evidence that Michigan football’s 2025 campaign might not be what fans hoped came Week 2 in Norman, Oklahoma, when the Wolverines lost 24-13 in Bryce Underwood’s first road start. While the game is at home this year, the Sooners’ trip to Ann Arbor in the second week of the year will likely be telling about which way the season is headed.
Oklahoma had the No. 17 transfer portal class in the country this past offseason, per 247Sports, bringing in 16 players from schools like Texas, Florida, Tennessee and even Michigan. Linebacker Cole Sullivan leaving for OU to take a spot in the middle of Brent Venables’ defense was perhaps the biggest portal loss the Wolverines suffered all offseason.
On offense, wide receivers Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Trell Harris (Virginia) and tight end Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) are three more weapons for an Oklahoma offense looking to take the next step.
One reason to believe it will is the return of quarterback John Mateer, who carved Michigan up last season and is the key to another solid Oklahoma team. Mateer threw for 270 yards, ran for 74 and accounted for all three touchdowns in Oklahoma’s win over Michigan before an injury sidelined him for the middle portion of the season and slowed him the rest of the way as he fought through it.
Oklahoma came in at No. 9 on The Athletic’s top-25 rankings after spring ball and is a notably difficult test, particularly so early in the season.
No. 3: Indiana (Oct. 24, kickoff time TBD)
The only reason Indiana is not higher on this list is because Michigan gets the game in Ann Arbor.
Outside of that, this is going to be an absolute battle. The defending national champion Hoosiers lost eight starters to the NFL this past season, including No. 1 overall pick and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, but have once again reloaded under Curt Cignetti, who has orchestrated the greatest turnaround the sport has ever seen.
In come quarterback Josh Hoover (TCU), running back Turbo Richard (Boston College) and wide receiver Nick Marsh (Michigan State) to restock the offensive supply and pair with wideout Charlie Becker. On defense, the Hoosiers return defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker, linebackers Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy and corner Jamari Sharpe.
Hoover is yet another proven quarterback, coming to Bloomington after four years at TCU and enters as the nation’s leader in career passing yards (9,629). Hoover ran the second most RPO’s of any quarterback last year, behind only Mendoza, so he appears to fit the scheme.
According to CBS Sports, Indiana’s roster is No. 8 in cumulative FBS snaps played (30,540) and No. 4 in FBS level starts (462), so this should be a veteran group playing for a scheme that’s proven to work. An argument could be made this is U-M’s toughest game.
No. 2: at Oregon (Nov. 14, kickoff time TBD)
Michigan makes its first trip to Autzen Stadium as Big Ten foes − the only remaining stadium in the league it has not played as league opponents is UCLA in the Rose Bowl − against an Oregon side that has, per usual, reloaded.
It started with the decision of former five-star quarterback out of Detroit King, Dante Moore, who opted to spurn the NFL where he was expected to be a top-five draft pick, to return for one more year in the NCAA ranks. He will be buoyed by Evan Stewart, one of the top wide receivers in the country, who returns after missing the 2025 season with a torn patellar tendon in his knee.
There are new faces leading both the offense and the defense after last year’s offensive coordinator, Will Stein, took the head coach job at Kentucky and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi took over as head coach of California. Dan Lanning opted to keep a semblance of continuity and promote from within for both positions, with Drew Mehringer now leading the attack and Chris Hampton in charge of the defense.
Oregon brought in 13 players through the portal this year including a pair of Big Ten defensive standouts in cornerback Aaron Scott Jr. (Ohio State) and safety Koi Perich (Minnesota).
Oregon made the CFP national semifinal last season before it was routed by Indiana (both of Oregon’s losses last season came to the Hoosiers) and now appears poised to get back to the playoffs at the very least.
This is just about as tough as games come.
No. 1: at Ohio State (Nov. 28, noon, Fox)
As if there was any doubt about who would finish off this list, it is of course the Buckeyes.
Ohio State led the way with 11 selections in the 2026 NFL Draft, which included four first-rounders and three second-rounders, but the NFL factory in Columbus, simply reloads every offseason. OSU returns its starting quarterback, Julian Sayin, running back Bo Jackson and the undisputed top wide receiver in the country, Jeremiah Smith.
They also brought in a number of stars from the portal in running back Ja’Kobi Jackson (Florida), edge Qua Russaw (Alabama) and defensive backs Earl Little Jr. (Florida State) and Dominick Kelly (Georgia), not to mention five-star freshman wide receiver Chris Henry Jr.
OSU landed the No. 2 freshman class in the nation and the No. 7 portal haul in the country as the Buckeyes, who were stunned by Miami in the national semifinal, look to get back to the national championship for the second time in three seasons.
Michigan has won the past two games in Columbus − a 45-23 pummeling in 2022 and then a 13-10 stunner for the ages in 2024 − but have not won three straight games at OSU since doing so from 1986-90 under Bo Schembechler and Gary Moeller.
All eyes, as always, will be on this game and there’s a decent chance (like last season) U-M will be playing for a spot in the CFP with this game deciding its fate.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
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