Will these head coaches with major Utah connections play a defining role in the 2026 college football season?

Former University of Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham speaks after being introduced as the new Michigan head football coach during a press conference at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025.

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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

There’s a lot of focus on head coaches at the two most prominent college football programs in the state of Utah going into 2026, and for good reason.

After Kalani Sitake led BYU to a 12-2 mark, an appearance in the Big 12 championship game and a No. 11 final ranking, the longtime Cougars coach spurned an offer to take over at Penn State .

At the University of Utah, Kyle Whittingham is out and his predecessor, Morgan Scalley, is taking over a program that reached its highest highs over the past two decades under Whittingham.

On a national level, Utah connections are likely to have a significant impact on the 2026 season — and that is noted in a recent ranking of the 25 most intriguing head coaches of the 2026 season by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde .

Not only do Sitake and Scalley find their way onto this list, but so do Whittingham and former BYU quarterback Steve Sarkisian , who’s headed into his sixth year as Texas’ head coach.

Behind the top two on Forde’s list, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti at No. 1 and LSU’s Lane Kiffin at No. 2, sits the former Ute staple, Whittingham.

He is at No. 3 on the list after moving to the Big Ten this offseason following 21 years in Salt Lake City as head coach.

He took over after the controversy that saw Sherrone Moore ousted as Michigan’s head coach, and Forde said the Wolverines’ coaching change might be a “blessing” for the school, given Whittingham’s successful résumé.

“There is an adult in charge now in Whittingham, who became available when Utah squeezed him out to facilitate its longstanding succession plan to elevate assistant Morgan Scalley. A guy with 177 career victories and eight 10-win seasons in the relative obscurity of the Mountain time zone falls into Michigan’s lap, anxious to prove himself at age 66 at a blueblood program,” Forde wrote.

“Whittingham inherits a quarterback most foresee as a future NFL first-round pick in Bryce Underwood and brings over some key player and staff pieces from Salt Lake City. He’ll need them against a rugged schedule that features four 2025 playoff opponents.”

Utah head coach Morgan Scalley talks with reporters at Big 12 football media days at The Star, the practice home of the Dallas Cowboys, in Frisco, Texas, on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

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Brandon Judd, Deseret News

Whittingham’s longtime assistant, Scalley, checks in at No. 19 on the list.

While Whittingham took several people with him — both assistants and players — to Michigan, the cupboard is far from bare for Scalley, who was the head-coach-in-waiting at Utah and had taken on more oversight in recent years.

He got his first taste of being the head coach in the Utes’ bowl games last season, when Utah beat Nebraska 44-22 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

“Replacing 21-year head coach hero Whittingham was never going to be easy, but the circumstances have ratcheted up the stakes. Whittingham was shown the door to make room for his successor-in-waiting, then landed the deluxe Michigan job pretty much out of nowhere. Now the comparison game will have real-time results,” Forde wrote.

Several circumstances appear to be in favor of Scalley putting together a strong first season as head coach, among them the return of his star quarterback.

“Fortunately for Scalley — a Salt Lake City native, former Ute player and Ute assistant — he has some strong building blocks in quarterback Devon Dampier (more than 8,000 yards total offense in three years) and running back Wayshawn Parker (more than 1,700 rushing yards in two years),” Forde wrote. “The schedule is entirely manageable (no Texas Tech) and should build toward a Holy War showdown with BYU on Nov. 7.”

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, center, celebrates with his team after their win over Vanderbilt in a game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.

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Eric Gay

Sarkisian comes in at No. 20 on Forde’s list one year after his Longhorns finished the 2025 season with a 10-3 record and a top-15 finish, but missed out on the College Football Playoff after two straight appearances.

That included reaching the CFP semifinals in the 2024 season.

“Sark has returned the Longhorns to permanent contender status, with three straight seasons of double-digit wins for the first time since 2007–09. Like Mack Brown before him, he now has to take the next steps — win a conference championship and ultimately a national championship,” Forde wrote.

It’s an important season in Austin, with Arch Manning back as one of the premier quarterbacks in college football and a strong transfer portal class raises expectations for the Texas program — and Sarkisian himself.

“Texas may well be the single biggest winner in the transfer portal, adding major playmakers on both sides of the ball in addition to retaining standouts on defense and the offensive line,” Forde wrote. “Sark has hitched his wagon to Arch Manning, which every coach wanted to do when he was coming out of high school. Manning’s first year as a starter was rough early and better late ; if his improvement continues this season it may vault the program to championship status.”

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake fields reporters' questions during opening day of fall camp Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Provo.

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Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

Like Sarkisian, Sitake has his program trending upward, as BYU has gone 23-4 over the past two seasons and finished in the top 15 of the national rankings both years.

That’s in part why Sitake lands at No. 22 on Forde’s list — and with an experienced roster full of returning starters and playmakers on both sides of the ball, expectations are high again.

The hope amongst Cougar fans is that BYU can finally break through and reach the College Football Playoff this season after coming agoni...

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