Steve Sarkisian on Kyle Whittingham: discipline, toughness fit Michigan

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Head coaching hires don't happen in a vacuum, and college football is a smaller fraternity than many people might think.

Michigan football officially hired former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham over the weekend and thus introduced him on Sunday in Orlando (instead of Ann Arbor), just to get the ball rolling. And while there aren't many real connections between the Wolverines and Utes (save for Whittingham having a 3-0 record over Michigan), the same can't quite be said for the maize and blue's next opposing head coach, Texas' Steve Sarkisian.

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Sarkisian and Whittingham are both BYU alums, albeit from different eras. When Sarkisian was the quarterback for the Cougars, Whittingham had already moved onto Utah, where he was the defensive coordinator. Later, the two were conference foes, with Sarkisian having spent time as the head coach for both Washington and USC.

Though Sarkisian is set to face interim Michigan football head coach Biff Poggi, he shared his thoughts on Whittingham in a Cheez-It Citrus Bowl press conference on Tuesday.

"Obviously, some history there with his time at BYU and my time at BYU," Sarkisian said. "And then him going to Utah with Coach McBride early on in his career, and then staying on through Urban, and then ultimately taking over, and then an opportunity to coach against him as a head coach when I was at the University of Washington and at USC.

"And so a ton of respect for his program that they had at Utah. The discipline, the toughness that his teams always play with, their unique ability to adapt with the times offensively, but yet defensively, some of their core values and the way that they play, the physical brand of football, the tight coverage.

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"So I would expect nothing less from Michigan. A ton of respect for Coach Whittingham."

So long as things hold as expected, the two will face each other as the respective head coaches of Michigan football and Texas in Austin on September 11, 2027.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Steve Sarkisian praises new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham