Kyle Whittingham is surprised that you're surprised. The Utah coach had just mentioned his dad, Fred, as the underpinning of the program during the Big 12 Media Days in July. When pressed for more information later by a media member, Whittingham shot an incredulous look that screamed "How can you not know who Fred Whittingham is?"
Easy, really. Few of us raised four sons, two of them who played in the NFL. Few of us survived eight years in the league after coming out of Cal Poly undrafted. Few of us coached a combined 12 years at BYU and Utah, experiencing a bitter rivalry from both sides.
And very few of us walked the walk each day in practice like Fred Whittingham -- at least in the state of Utah's football hinterland.
"He'd stand out there in short sleeves and short shorts in 2-degree weather," said Hans Olsen, one of Fred's former players at BYU. "He'd look at everybody like, 'You're a bunch of candy asses if you tried to throw even a hand warmer on your belt loop.'"
When Kyle Whittingham answers questions about the physical nature of his program, the story always leads back to his dad. As season No. 155 of college football begins, Utah not only has positioned itself as the team to beat in the new Big 12, but also a team that could play in any conference because of what Fred Whittingham left behind.
That would be a piece of himself on that field and inside the soul of his son.
"My father was a physical guy," Whittingham said. "He always emphasized being tough, being physical."
None of us, then, have injected the fierce physicality into Utah football that Fred did. His spirit defines the program to this day, hovering over the 48-mile strip of Utah highway between Salt Lake City and Provo that separates Utah and BYU.
Fred and Kyle coached for both schools. Father actually coached son as defensive coordinator for three years when Kyle was playing linebacker for the Cougars from 1978-81. For six years, the pair coached together at Utah. In 1994, Fred was defensive coordinator while Kyle guided the defensive line. They reunited from 1998-2000 when Kyle was the defensive coordinator and Fred was the linebackers coach.
"I was a grad assistant for Fred when he was Utah defensive coordinator," said Alema Teo, head of the All-Poly Camp based in Salt Lake. "Bro, he was gangster tough. Not the current gangster type. I'm talking mobster type. When he spoke to you, you listened to that guy. He commanded respect."
"It was the best experience and worst experience," Whittingham said of coaching with his dad. "He was tougher on me than anybody else. I wouldn't have traded it for anything."
Son followed father as a BYU player. That's why part of this story becomes complicated. While scores of coaches have been employed by both schools over the years, Fred was a legend -- at least for the way got to each school.
He transferred to Cal Poly after a couple of years at BYU. Fred is actually pictured on Cal-Poly's website as a member of its Hall of Fame wearing a Utah tie. We told you it was complicated.
In 1960, Fred suffered a concussion and didn't make the trip with the Mustangs to Bowling Green. The team plane crashed on the way back, killing 22.
Fred's legacy also lingers in a different way. Now that BYU and Utah are in the same conference for the first time since 2010, Fred would love that his two old schools will renew the "Holy War" on an annual basis.
"You have BYU that was so thankful it got the Big 12 invite," Olsen said. "And then quickly the Pac-12 collapses and the Big 12 picks up Utah. BYU fans look at it like, 'We saved your ass.' Utah is like, 'We're gracing you with our presence because we should be in the Big Ten.
"Both are trying to act like they don't need each other," he continued, "don't want each other and are too good for each other."
But BYU is a faded national power. From 1977 to 2009, the Cougars finished in the AP top 15 17 times, winning the 1984 national championship. The other is still on the rise, seeking to forge a similar championship path 40 years later. For the first time in its history, Utah has been ranked in the AP preseason poll each of the last six seasons.
People are catching on. The Utes' No. 12 preseason ranking heading into Thursday's season opener against Southern Utah is the second-highest in program history. Two years ago, they started No. 7, finished No. 8 in the CFP Rankings, won 10 games and the Pac-12 while advancing to the Rose Bowl for the second straight season.
"We expect to play for championships every year," Whittingham explained.
The expanded College Football Playoff has made a run for Utah more likely. Someone has to win the 16-team Big 12, after all. That winner is all but assured a spot in the field.
In recent years, Utah has battled Oregon to bully-ball its way to the top of the Pac-12. The Utes won two of the last three Pac-12 titles, going to back-to-back Rose Bowls. Since 2018, the Utes have finished in the top three in conference rushing every year but one, leading the Pac-12 twice.
Its rush defense has been smothering. Since 2015, Utah has led the Pac-12 in rush defense six times. In 2019 (third) and 2023 (fourth), it finished in the top five nationally. Rice-Eccles Stadium is one of the country's true pits. The crowd feeds off the style. The Utes have won 20 of their last 21 home games with a familiar strategy.
"It's ingrained in our culture," Whittingham said. "You ask any of our players what our calling card is and they'll say physicality ... at least they better say that."
By now, you're probably scoffing. Every team is physical. Some more than others. Try your average weekend in the SEC. Oregon has long played with similar toughness in the Pac-12 and is on a similar track in the Big Ten. But Utah's migration includes four conferences since 1998. It also includes one coach in the last 19 years: Fred's son.
There is legacy and toughness all over. Utah quarterback Cam Rising starred in a recent promo in which he drove Fred's vintage Ford Ranger pickup. Kyle had kept and restored his dad's pride and joy.
Rising is back after blowing out his knee in the 2023 Rose Bowl against Penn State. On Thursday when Rising once again takes the field, it will have been 574 days between live snaps for the quarterback.
Utah had to get by using multiple quarterbacks in 2023 and still won eight games. Bryson Barnes was an inspirational story, but he wasn't Rising.
You want tough? Rising -- who has had to rehab four times since high school -- is entering his seventh year of eligibility. Tight end Brant Kuithe is entering the season fully healthy for the first time since 2022.
Teo has seen the whole dynamic, operating that All-Poly camp for past 26 years. It advertises itself as the largest non-institutional camp in the country. Teo annually flies over Polynesian athletes to Salt Lake City who might not normally be seen by coaches.
The Sewell brothers -- Penei, Nephi and Noah -- all came over from American Samoa in junior high. All three are playing professionally. That's a quick turnaround in a football sense. Nephi broke his neck as a high school junior, rebounded to get a scholarship and finished as a second-team All-Pac 12 linebacker with Utah. He currently plays for the Saints.
"For him to be playing right now is miracle," Teo said.
Following the 2004 season, Kyle had a choice to make. Both the BYU and Utah jobs were open. One was his alma mater. The other was available after Urban Meyer had left the Utes for Florida. Kyle could have gone "home" to BYU but chose to stay at Utah where he had been defensive coordinator.
He enters the 2024 tied with Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy as the second-longest tenured coach in the game.
Kyle Whittingham is 64 now, the same age as his father when he passed away in 2003. His brother, Freddie, is Utah's tight ends coach. Kyle's successor has already been named – defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley.
The end, however, does not seem to be in sight for Whittingham.
"I think that Kyle really is an extension of his old man," Olsen said. "He's found a way to adapt to the modern-style player. I think a lot of your old-school coaches have left the game. Even a guy like Nick Saban is getting out because he's sick of NIL and sick of selfishness and appeasing and bending.
"Kyle has adapted," he added.
Go ahead and assume Fred Whittingham would be proud.
