Kyle Whittingham wanted to stay.

Yet two weeks after beating Kansas and completing a 10-win regular season, he announced his resignation from the University of Utah and just a couple of weeks later signed a deal to become the head football coach at the University of Michigan.

Documents Yahoo Sports uncovered through public records requests show how the plans changed and how a relationship between coach and school soured in Utah.

Whittingham is the all-time winningest coach in Utes football history, a tenure that began in December 2004 for a coach who had been a member of the staff since 1994.

After finishing the regular season and before a date in the Las Vegas Bowl, Whittingham — who was the second-longest tenured head coach in the FBS — relayed to the school through agent Bruce Tollner that he wished to remain in the job and included a litany of requests. 

According to Yahoo, Whittingham wanted his salary to jump from $7.4 million to $9 million, $20 million in NIL funds and an increase of $2 million in a pool for his coaching staff. 

Three days later, according to the report, Utah sent Tollner an offer for a one-year, $8 million deal that included several stipulations — notably that the 66-year-old would begin to cede some control to defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley, who had been announced as Utah’s coach in waiting in July 2024 and whose presence loomed over Whittingham’s exit.

Included in this offer, according to Yahoo, was that Scalley would be the program’s general manager and have “full and final” oversight in decision-making regarding recruiting, player personnel and staffing decisions that would affect the school beyond 2026. Additionally, athletic director Mark Harlan would be in charge of approving some staffing decisions made by Whittingham.

This deal was never inked. On Dec. 12, Whittingham announced his resignation and signed a deal with Utah in which he would receive $13.5 million in three installments over two years as a “transition bonus,” according to Yahoo.

“As consideration for the transition bonus,” reads the separation agreement, “Coach Whittingham agrees that he will work with the University and its Athletics Department to facilitate a smooth and successful transition of the Football Program to the incoming head coach of the Football Program and his coaching staff.”

On Dec. 26, Whittingham joined Michigan and brought a number of staff members with him, including offensive coordinator Jason Beck and strength coach Doug Elisaia. Whittingham also flipped four-star defensive back Salesi Moa from a Utah commitment to join him in Michigan.

Utah apparently felt this violated its $13.5 million agreement, though a letter from Harlan to Whittingham that Yahoo obtained shows the university followed through with an $8 million check in January.

“This represents the first payment of a Transition Bonus to be paid in three installments over the next two years under the Fourth Amendment to your Employment Agreement,” the letter reads. “As you know, the University was disappointed by your actions last month. The University felt that your involvement with recruiting our football coaches and staff to Michigan was contrary to the terms of your employment agreement which requires you to assist with a smooth and successful transition of the football program to the new head coach and his coaching staff. Your position was that this provision only prohibited non-disparagement. We have determined that a fight over this issue would not be in the long-term interests of the University and its football program or your legacy as our long-time football coach. We have decided to look to the future and we hope and expect that you will do the same.

“Future payments of the Transition Bonus will be paid pursuant to the ongoing terms of the Fourth Amendment. We wish you well.”

That consistent belief and confidence in this team will keep the Mammoth in tight games and help them pick up points not only this season, but in the future as well. It also speaks to the pride and identity this team has.

“It’s important,” Guenther said. “I think showing that drive throughout the full 60 (minutes) is huge and it speaks to our character. You can’t win them all, but it was a solid game.”

Guenther’s goal opened the scoring in the first two minutes of the game. It was the result of hard work and making quick plays. After Guenther couldn’t connect with Peterka’s shot for a tip-in, the forward went to the weak side. Durzi recovered the puck and quickly passed to Guenther, whose one-timer soared to the back of the net. The tally was Guenther’s 34^th of the year.

“It was a nice play, even in his own end,” Guenther said of Durzi. “I think he got the puck out, we got a three-on-two, and Durzi is really good with the puck. He is really smart, and he is always looking for other guys. I was over there on the weak side, and he made a good, hard pass. It is good to start the game that way.”

The Mammoth will have an opportunity to rest and recover after a tough back-to-back against the two of the top teams in the Pacific Division. On Sunday, Utah will play its third game in four nights against a team chasing them in the standings, the Los Angeles Kings. In addition to bringing the effort and fight Utah did tonight, the Mammoth will look to finish on more of their chances after the team scored one goal on 30 shots.

“I think our push was great; we just didn’t finish,” Sergachev explained. “We had a lot of chances, a couple of breakaways, a couple going against the goal in front of the net, and we didn’t finish. That was the difference in the game.”

“Solid effort, back-to-back, they had a good push, we had a good push, and we just got to bear down a little bit more on some plays,” Guenther shared. “I mean, it’s right there, so I think there’s some positives.”

Additional Notes from Tonight (per Mammoth PR)

• Guenther has scored six goals in his last eight games. He has also tallied 22 points over his last 22 contests (13G, 9A).

• Jack McBain continued to bring a high level of physicality tonight. He dropped the gloves with Jeffrey Viel in the second period, earning his sixth fighting major of the season and 22^nd of his NHL career. 

• The Mammoth closed the 10^th of their 11 back-to-back sets in 2025-26. They have now earned a 4-4-2 record in the first game and a 3-6-1 record in the second game of back-to-backs this season.

• Utah’s penalty kill went 5-for-5 and are now 172-for-218 this season which is a 78.9% success rate.

The Mammoth continue their four-game homestand with a game against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. Tickets are available here!

Upcoming Schedule

CEDAR CITY — The discovery of child sex dolls in a southern Utah landfill led to the arrest of a man police say had more of the illegal dolls in his home.

Shane Alexander Larson, 54, of Cedar City, was arrested Thursday and charged Friday in 5th District Court with six counts of distributing or purchasing a child sex doll, a third-degree felony; and six counts of possession of a child sex doll, a class A misdemeanor.

The investigation began a week ago when Iron County sheriff’s deputies were called to the county landfill, where an employee, while conducting “routine checks of the dumpsters for anything that is not supposed to be put in the dumpster to prevent fire hazards,” found two such dolls, according to a police booking affidavit.

“The box that the sex dolls were in had the shipping label on it, an attempt to black out the label with a Sharpie marker, but the shipping label was still legible,” the affidavit states.

The box and shipping label were traced back to Larson’s home and investigators obtained a search warrant for the residence. At the home, detectives found additional dolls, the affidavit states.

When questioned, Larson admitted that those found at the landfill were his and that he discarded them “because they appeared to look too young,” according to the arrest report.

Larson was arrested at the conclusion of the interview.

In 2023, HB108, which bans the possession, distribution or purchase of sex dolls made to look like children, and was sponsored by Rep. Matthew Gwynn, R-Farr West — who is also chief of the Roy Police Department — sailed through both chambers of the Legislature without a single lawmaker opposing it. The bill was then signed into law by the governor.