Hour 2 – Kyle Whittingham, NIL Madness

Summary

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The Dan Patrick Show – Hour 2: Kyle Whittingham, NIL Madness

Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Dan Patrick
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts/Dan Patrick Podcast Network

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Episode Overview

In Hour 2 of The Dan Patrick Show, Dan and the crew dive into the constantly shifting landscape of college football, focusing on issues with the transfer portal, Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) compensation, and rampant rumors about packaged coach-quarterback deals. The hour’s centerpiece is an interview with newly appointed Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham, who speaks candidly about his move from Utah, Michigan’s recent turmoil, NIL madness, and his outlook on the state of college athletics. The regulars (Seaton, Todd, Marvin, and Paulie) weigh in on hot NFL coaching rumors and the unsustainable economics of the sport. The tone is witty, skeptical, and sharp as always.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NFL Coaching Carousel & Package Deal Mania (01:07–09:15)

• The crew revisits Mike Tannenbaum’s prior musings about possible college coach and quarterback "package deals" to the NFL – specifically the fantasy of a duo like Kurt Signetti and Fernando Mendoza going to the Raiders.

• Dan and Seaton highlight how sports media falls in love with improbable "package deal" rumors every offseason, though they almost never materialize.

  "Sports media is about a calendar and what are the topics that happen this time every single year. And package deal is one that happens every single time this year."
  — Seaton, 06:33

• The segment pokes fun at how speculation becomes pseudo-news and how fan bases get swept up with these stories despite no actual reporting behind them.

• The contrast between college and NFL money and the increased difficulty of jumping from one to the other is discussed (coaches now get 7–9 year, $100 million contracts in college vs. the chaos of the NFL).

2. NIL & College Football Economics: Chaos and Unsustainability (05:50–10:53)

• Dan reiterates data from sources suggesting $40M+ is now typical annual NIL spending for elite college football programs.

  "I gave you this information yesterday from my source who said you kind of have to. That's your ballpark figure."
  — Dan Patrick, 03:46

• They reference the example of Texas Tech reportedly paying $5M for a quarterback transferring from Cincinnati, emphasizing how wild the landscape has become.

• Blanket approval for college athletes getting paid but skepticism about how sustainable this system is, especially as spending balloons on recruiting and retaining talent.

3. Fan Calls & Sports History (09:58–13:18)

• Listeners weigh in with curiosities about coaching changes, playoff bye week statistics, and the infamous 1994 Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding incident.

• Dan reflects humorously on past interviews and the broader cultural impact of certain sports scandals:

  "Sometimes I can give myself credit for having a good idea. And then other times where I'm doing an interview...well, it's a bad idea. While I'm doing the interview, I know it's a bad idea."
  — Dan Patrick, 12:07

4. Interview: Michigan Head Coach Kyle Whittingham (20:57–30:45)

Whittingham’s Move from Utah to Michigan

• Whittingham was set to take an advisory role at Utah after a 32-year tenure, but took the call when Michigan's job opened.
  • "21 years as the head coach...I figured I'd done pretty much all I could do there...Just so happens about two or three days later had some contact with Michigan and they were on that list."
    — Kyle Whittingham, 21:30

State of Michigan Football and Culture

• He does not see a need for a rebuild, but feels a "reboot of trust" and end to drama is necessary:
  • "It needs a reboot of trust and get rid of the drama and just get back to playing Michigan football without all the distractions."
    — Whittingham, 23:02
• Emphasizes the university culture is strong and that the recent mess didn’t come from players.

NIL Chaos and the Transfer Portal

• Whittingham sees the current NIL-driven system as "not sustainable" and predicts D1 football will soon resemble a minor league NFL, complete with salary caps and CBA.
  • "It is not sustainable. There's no question about that. Something has got to give. I think within two to four, five years...you're going to see a major overhaul..."
    — Whittingham, 26:18
• He advocates for a commissioner to oversee college football, believing such change is inevitable as "super conferences" become the norm.
• On Quarterback market rates:
  • "One university in the state of Texas is paying $5 million for a starting quarterback for this year."
    — Whittingham, 27:46

Rivalries and Adaptation

• Confesses Utah’s three wins over Michigan in the past helped his candidacy.
• Jokes about learning to "hate Ohio State" and gives playful answers about rivalries.

Bryce Underwood Staying?

• On QB Bryce Underwood's status (whose decision was still pending when the interview took place):
  • "We think we're in a good place with Bryce. He's a terrific young man. I've sat down with him and, and really the heart and soul of this football team. And I think we're making good progress towards that end."
    — Whittingham, 28:17
• Dan later reveals that after the interview, Underwood declared he was staying at Michigan.

Personal Reflections

• Enjoys banter about sending his old Utah gear to Dan; expresses surprise at switching from red to blue; appreciates the intensity of Michigan–Ohio State compared with Utah–BYU.

Memorable Exchange

• Dan: "Could you take Ryan Day when you were younger? ...Could you take Ryan Day right now in the octagon?"
• Whittingham: "There's one way to find out, I guess. I don't know. I like Ryan. I think I got a lot of respect for him..."
  (30:08)

5. Aftermath & Reflections on NIL/Transfers (30:47–37:38)

• The panel speculates why Whittingham hedged on Underwood’s status, suggests it might have been contract negotiations, and underscores the ever-present uncertainty with high-value transfers.
• Dan and Seaton discuss whether the glut of money will keep some players in college longer (better development), but note the three-year minimum for football.
  • "You have a built-in system that protects college football from the standpoint of these names may bounce around, but they stay."
    — Dan Patrick, 35:26
• They contrast the systems with college basketball’s one-and-done reality.

6. Fun with NFL Coaching Moves & Listener Calls (39:31–42:32)

• They play "Guess the Firing" after the Dallas Cowboys move on from their defensive coordinator, poking fun at Tuesday being a "midweek" day for such news.
• Brief discussion on Geno Smith’s surprise at Pete Carroll’s firing; debate on where certain QBs and teams go from here.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On NIL Madness:

"It is not sustainable. There's no question about that. Something has got to give. And I think...you're going to see a major overhaul of Division 1 football."
— Kyle Whittingham (26:18)

On the Package Deal Speculation Craze:

"We, God, we love that story. We can't resist even. It's never going to happen. We do it every single year."
— Seaton (06:22)

On Transfer Portal Uncertainty:

"You don't know anything yet. I mean, shoot, it's the wild, wild west here, Dan."
— Kyle Whittingham, re: Bryce Underwood (28:17)

On College Football Culture Change:

"I think it's going to become more of a minor league NFL model. I think you're going to see a salary cap, collective bargaining, players as employees. I think all that's coming..."
— Kyle Whittingham (26:46)

On Legacy vs. NFL Temptation:

"Do you even want to be that guy who had this great thing...at Indiana and you go 6 and 11 or 7, 10 as the Raiders coach?"
— Todd (07:57)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• NFL Coaching & Package Deals: 01:07–09:15
• NIL Economics Discussion: 03:46, 05:50–10:53
• Kyle Whittingham Interview: 20:57–30:45
  • Whittingham on Michigan's Rebuild: 23:02
  • NIL Unsustainability: 26:18
  • Bryce Underwood's Status: 28:17
• Whittingham vs. Ryan Day (octagon banter): 30:08
• Reflections Post-Interview: 30:47
• NFL/Geno Smith & Listener Calls: 40:44–42:32

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains Dan Patrick's signature blend of skeptical analysis, sharp humor, and industry insight. The crew is quick to challenge rumors, poke fun at media habits, and dig into the financial realities behind the headlines. Whittingham’s interview feels direct, practical, and refreshingly honest about the chaos in big-time college sports.

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Summary Takeaways

• NIL and transfer portal chaos is reshaping college sports, making the system unsustainable and driving eventual calls for a commissioner, salary caps, and unionization.
• Classic package-deal "coach and quarterback" rumors are sports media catnip, but rarely real.
• Kyle Whittingham is candid and clear-eyed about Michigan’s benefits, baggage, and the near-term future of college football.
• The show’s wit and media-savvy skepticism sharpen the coverage, making it accessible and engaging even for listeners unfamiliar with the latest NCAA headlines.

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Transcript

[Dan Patrick]

This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.

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[Dan Patrick]

You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio Hour 2 on this Tuesday we'll talk to the new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham. He'll join us in 20 minutes from now. He got good news yesterday. Bryce Underwood is quarterback apparently staying. What a weird situation where you go hey, do you know if your quarterback is staying now? I don't know. And then all of a sudden you get word that yes, he is staying. I guess there was thought that he could go to LSU and isn't everybody? But we'll talk to Kyle. He'll join us. We had a conversation with him yesterday after the show. Reggie Miller will stop by as well. Your phone call is always welcome. 877-3-DP show email address [e-mail] Twitter handle @DP Show Good morning. If you're watching on Peacock and our radio affiliates around the country including iHeartradio, Fox Sports Radio Stat of the day is always brought to you by Panini America. The official trading cards of the program. We'll get to your phone calls. Operator Tyler is sitting by. He'll take your calls. Seaton, would you give us an update on the poll question from the first hour and what we're looking at hour two of this award nominated program?

[Seaton]

Yeah, we're actually doing the poll question a little differently today. So if you go to danpatrick.com you can see there's a thing in the picture right there that has the a link in it. Click on that link and we'll have you rank the current NFL Head coaching openings. So you click that link and then you can basically slide one up to the top for the best, slide one down to the bottom for the worst. It's also on our Instagram page.

[Dan Patrick]

Click those. Okay.

[Seaton]

Results pending.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay. We had Mike Tannenbaum on. He was a former front office executive for two franchises. And it's not a report, but he did bring up the possibility of what about Kurt Signetti and Fernando Mendoza, Package deal to the Raiders. And I thought I'd be shocked. But, you know, you start to think about it, if you're the Raiders, why not? Why not? If you're Tom Brady, swing away, Go for it. See if you got somebody. You have to believe that Kurt Signetti is that guy. Because as Mike Tannenbaum also said in the same breath, college coaches don't do well when they go into the NFL. Well, you're asking a guy who's certainly set in his ways, who's in his, what, mid-60s and, you know, with a magical season here. I don't know if it's one of those, hey, if he wins the national title type situations, would he. Would he be interested in something like that? You know, it's like Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame. The Giants reportedly were interested in him. Now, do I see him as an NFL head coach at some point? Yeah, probably so. But it's hard to pass up the money that's being spent in college football right now. And you're getting deals that are seven, eight, nine years. You're getting $100 million deals. And yes, is it a chaotic time with NIO and transfer portals and collectives? You know, the fact that you're spending upwards of $40 million with some of these programs. And I gave you this information yesterday from my source who said you kind of have to. That's your ballpark figure. Now, I thought it was like 20 million. That was, you know, the money that you were going to get for each school. Then there's nil, the collectives. And see, none of this makes any sense to me or a difference. Because as I've said for years, I kept thinking that if I'm T. Boon Pickens when he was alive at Oklahoma State. And I just say, I'm a billionaire. What kind of money do you want? How about I give you 40 million, 30 million, do whatever you want, get me the best team. Well, that's what's going on now. All it takes is one guy, Texas Tech, one guy goes, you know what? We're going to have a damn good football team here. And they're spending $5 million reportedly on a quarterback to transfer from Cincinnati to Texas Tech. Oh, it's wild. And that's why these so called blue bloods aren't blue bloods anymore, even in basketball. And this may come as a shock, but players got paid to go to some of these schools. Yeah. Believe it or not. Marvin.

[Kyle Whittingham]

What?

[Dan Patrick]

There's the thought. Yes. Now, you don't have to pay somebody under the table, but you still can. It's still going on. It's like, nope, that's the amount of money that you get. What about that money over there? That's where you get the 40 and the $50 million. And if the players are going to get this, good for them. They have every right to this.

[Seaton]

Yes, there are certain topics that we in sports media just can't resist. They're just too delicious. Even though they are never. The chances of them happening is probably 99.9%. It's never going to happen. And one of our favorites in this business the last like 5 to 10 years is package deal.

[Dan Patrick]

Coach and quarterback both go together. They both make the jump together.

[Seaton]

Huh. Can't you see?

[Dan Patrick]

Lincoln Rally, Caleb Williams. What could go wrong? What could go wrong? It's perfect. It's perfect.

[Seaton]

We, God, we love that story. We can't resist even. It's never going to happen. We do it every single year. There's a package deal that, God, we love it.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, but sports media is about hypotheticals.

[Seaton]

Sports media is about a calendar and what are the topics that happen this time every single year. And package deal is one that happens every single time this year.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes, Marvin.

[Marvin]

Even the ones that don't make sense. Nick Saban, Arch Manning.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, I know in Cleveland people ran with that. And I go, first of all, Arch isn't coming out. Who wouldn't want that? Second of all, Saban is not crazy enough that he would want to go back into coach. I got some unfinished business with the Cleveland Browns. But you know, it was thrown out there by somebody reputable and people ran with it. Yes, Paulie.

[Paulie]

Well, it's going to happen today. Someone's going to take the Mike Tannenbaum topic and turn it into is this a possibility as opposed to just Mike Tannenbaum saying, this is what I'd do if I ran the Raiders.

[Dan Patrick]

It will be a topic bar because. And Paulie's right, sometimes when something comes up on the show and then we say, oh, well, let's talk about that possibility. And it's not a report. Mike Tannenbaum was saying, hey, what about. That's all he's saying. He didn't say, you know, what I heard from or. There's a chance he didn't say that. But that doesn't. That won't stop people from running with this. If you're running the Raiders, you're a Raiders fan or you're hosting a show and you want to throw something out there, you're going to get people's attention with this. But it is not a report. It was just Mike saying, why not? Yes, Todd.

[Todd]

And do you even want to be that guy who had this great thing at Indiana and maybe a national championship, maybe building on that, maybe multiple championships? You're the guy forever in Indiana and you go 6 and 11 or 7, 10. As the Raiders coach, I don't know what his ego is that we'd like to try his hand at being a successful NFL coach. Is that worth it to him and his legacy to not stay where he just built something great?

[Dan Patrick]

What do you think?

[Todd]

I think he should stay at Indiana and certainly not going to the Raiders.

[Marvin]

They're not.

[Todd]

They got to chase their Broncos and Chargers and even the Chiefs aren't going to stay down very long.

[Dan Patrick]

All right.

[Todd]

It's a long haul to me to take over the Raiders job. I don't care how great a coach you are in college.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes.

[Seaton]

I don't know what owner GM combo in the world is going to sign up for.

[Dan Patrick]

Hire.

[Seaton]

This head coach that we don't know can coach at this level. And even better, let's have him bring his current quarterback up to this level, too, because we don't know if he could play at this level either. Let's just put them both together and give it three years, see what happens.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, but look at all the dumb things the Raiders have done before in the last 25 years.

[Seaton]

It's fair, but that might be the dumbest.

[Marvin]

A lot of stupidity last 25 years.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Seaton]

The worst thing the Raiders did in the last 10 to 15 years was. God, who was the coach that they had just fired? Somebody. They had an interim head coach that everybody loved.

[Dan Patrick]

Rich Bisphache. Yes. Yeah, right. Give him the job.

[Seaton]

Give him the job, damn it.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, they did that before. You know, somebody. This is always the danger of an interim head coach when you go on a run and then all of a sudden we. Yeah, you got to give him the job. I mean, come on, Antonio Pierce. You got to give him the job. And then all of a sudden you give him the job and they go, why did we give him the job? Drod Mayo, man, you got to give him the job. He's been waiting. Not good. Yeah, Paulie.

[Paulie]

Well, with the Raiders, Rich Versace not getting the job in 2021 was so criticized that they gave Antonio Pierce the job two years later as a compensation for not doing it.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, totally. Dylan in Orlando. Hi, Dylan, what's on your mind today? Hey Dan, how you doing? The phone connection's not very good there. Dylan again, Michael in Fort Wayne. Hi, Mike, what's on your mind today? Hey Dan, thanks for taking my call.

[Chris]

And listen, the Winter Olympics are coming.

[Dan Patrick]

Up real soon and I think we all want to know, as a former.

[Chris]

Olympian, who do you like to take from the golden cross country skiing this year?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, I'm apparently a former baseball player, now an Olympian. Thank you, Michael. Yeah, I gotta check my Wikipedia page because it might be a little bit more full than it needs to be. Chris in Syracuse. Hi Chris. What's on your mind today?

[Chris]

Hey, thanks, Dan. Hey, a couple items to throw at you. And this day in sports history. You know, in the last two years, teams with a buy in college football playoffs are one and seven. It seems like having to buy in the three point plus week layoff that comes with it, is it really an advantage? And I can't wait till they go with a 16 team playoff. There'll be no reason to have buys just go straight to a nice four round playoff. And as Paulie said, gosh, it was probably 15, 16 years ago, college football would own the month of December. And Andy Reid says he'll be back next year. But Mahomes is out to start the year. You're not in a good salary cap position and a couple assistants have left. In fact, one's related to the Michigan head coach and he's heading to Ann Arbor and la and Denver on the rise. And the Biggie Casey's facing pretty much a rebuild. And at this stage, Andy Reid's career, why would he want to sign up for a rebuild? I mean, he's won Super Bowls and yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Andy Reid is not coaching next fall. And this day in sports history, 32 years ago, Nancy Kerrigan was clown clubbed on her knee. Which led directly to you, Dan, being falsely accused of making a skeptical of Tanya Harding's career.

[Dan Patrick]

I know I did. Thank you. Thank you, Chris. What a wild story that was. Nancy Kerrigan, Tanya Harding, my girl. And then we had her on. And man, you know, sometimes I can give myself credit for having a good idea. And then other times where I'm doing an interview. And I go, well, it's a bad idea. While I'm doing the interview. I know it's a bad idea. But it did live on. It lives on. And show infamy of Tanya Harding. God love her. I hope she's happy on a triple Shao Cal or whatever they do in figure skating right now.

[Paulie]

Yes, Paulie, that was the 1994 Winter Olympics. You talk about a story that crossed over everywhere worldwide.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then they have. I mean, the fact that they had a movie. I Tanya, like Margot Robbie.

[Paulie]

It's a big time actress.

[Dan Patrick]

Yes. And she pulled it off too. But you know, I'm thinking, all right, a movie about Tanya Harding. And then all of a sudden I'm watching. I'd help. That Margot Robbie was Tanya Harding. Yeah. Paulie.

[Paulie]

Margot Rodney could hit me in the shin with a club anytime.

[Dan Patrick]

I know.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Fine with that.

[Paulie]

Aspire to that.

[Dan Patrick]

Tee Bucks in Texas. Hey, Tee Bucks.

[Tee Bucks]

Hey, how are you, dt?

[Dan Patrick]

Good.

[Tee Bucks]

I got a quick like thought. Mike T. Brought it up. And the whole thing with Andrew Barry still being there is the DM of the the Browns. First off, I have no idea how he kept it, but if there's a coach out there, say like a Clint Kubiak or someone that's hot, why wouldn't they bring them in and get rid of Andrew Berry if that's what they want a la Liam Cohen? And then one other quick thing about Kevin Stefanski being a great coach or a good coach. I've never seen a coach two weeks in a row towards the end of the season not only challenge a play in the first minute of the game, but lose both of them.

[Dan Patrick]

He's going to get a job. I mean, you can say what you want about Stefanski. He's held in high regard. He is. And the fact that the guy you don't want is going to interview probably with three of these teams, it says a lot about maybe the organization and about Kevin Stefanski. Now, did he do a good job with Shador Sanders and Dylan Gabriel? If you're saying, hey, he's supposed to be developing these quarterbacks, no, he didn't. But neither should have been playing this year. And there'll be. There'll be a story that comes out eventually about this whole quarterbacking situation, how they got to this point because they had too many quarterbacks. And then all of a sudden you have two quarterbacks and then do you really have one quarterback? Here is the Browns general manager Andrew Barry. Coming into the season. We were realistic that, you know, we were a team and a roster in transition. And ultimately this decision is born from the fact that we ultimately felt like we did not see enough progress in areas that were controllable independent of certain game outcomes. Okay, you also put a fifth round draft pick in there. If I take the name away from Shador Sanders, he's, you know, Jim Smith. People aren't infatuated with the Browns. People aren't overrating the Browns. People aren't looking at Kevin Stefanski and saying, you're the problem here. It was a fifth round draft pick who had some success but wasn't refined to be starting in the NFL. There's a reason why he dropped. Now you can have revisionist history and people say, well, I had him in a second round draft pick or you know, second round, third round at word. Okay, he still dropped. I, I think there's more to the story of drafting him and putting him in that position. Now am I glad that he got a chance to give us a sample size? Yes. But he, he was really non threatening. He had a couple of moments, but he should have a couple of moments. He's a starting quarterback at Colorado and Jackson State and played really well, but the NFL is just different. That's when you go to the line of scrimmage, what do I got? Like that, it feels like that's the position. Now go to the line of scrimmage and you go, all right, what do we got? I got two plays. What am I going to call? Can you do that? And it's, it's something that has to be learned. That's why when you, you talk to quarterbacks and they'll say, you know, my second, third year, I started to, the game slowed down. Well, it slowed down because you knew what you were doing. You slowed it down in your mind instead of, oh my God, wait, is that guy coming off? What's my coverage? Wait, are they under two? That you can't have that kind of frenetic feel when you go to the line of scrimmage. And Dylan Gabriel was non threatening as well, wonderful college quarterback, but you got to be able to throw, you got to throw in the flats. Can you throw out, you know, to the, the numbers? Can you process all of this? And that's why it was unfair to really expect that much. And maybe they bring in another quarterback. Maybe, you know, Shador and Dylan get a chance to be backup quarterbacks. You know, maybe they'll be starting quarterbacks. Jacoby Brissette's been bouncing around for a long time. Tyler Huntley you can have a job. I just don't know if I would be pinning all my hopes if I'm the Browns on Shador Sanders. Yeah, Paul, you can make the case.

[Paulie]

At the Browns they had the 12th ranked defense in the league and the best defensive player this year. Their, the offense was ranked 31st. If they would have been aggressive and had gone after someone like Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones and had a B level quarterback, they won five games with basically no quarterback play. They could have won nine and, but they can't do that at quarterback because all their money is tied up in a healthy scratch.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, yeah. And you know you got Andrew Barry talking about, you know that the team now they should have traded Miles Garrett and he's great, but he, he doesn't play in playoff games. That's why when people say, oh, greatest defensive player of all time, Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor, they played in big games, they played in Super Bowls. That's what I wish we would get with Miles Garrett where he get to play on him. He should be playing this week. That's the unfortunate part of this. Michael Strahan played in big games. T.J. watt playing in big games. Aaron Donald in big games. You can have maybe one of the greatest defensive players of all time and he's not going to play in really many meaningful games. It's like having Mike Trout and you're only playing in a couple of playoff games. Yes, Marvin.

[Marvin]

Unfortunately he's going to be the defensive version of Joe Thomas first, First Battle hall of Famer.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Marvin]

No playoff success.

[Dan Patrick]

We'll take a break. Kyle Whittingham, the Michigan head coach, will join us next here on the Dan Patrick Show. Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing us live.

[Marvin]

Weeknights from 7 to 10pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.

[Dan Patrick]

That's right. You can now watch the Odd couple live on YouTube every day.

[Marvin]

All you got to do search Odd.

[Dan Patrick]

Couple FSR on YouTube again. YouTube. Just search Odd Couple FSR search.

[Marvin]

Check us out on YouTube and subscribe.

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[Dan Patrick]

He's the new head coach at Michigan. Kyle Whittingham, former Utah head coach, two time Pack 12 coach of the year and went 10 and two at Utah this year and then was going to go into an advisory role and be paid to stay on at Utah. At least that was the report. Then all of a sudden, Michigan, that job opened up and Kyle Whittingham was there to take the phone call. We spoke to him yesterday and I started out by asking him, is he having a midlife crisis?

[Kyle Whittingham]

Yeah, well, good question. But, you know, had a really good run at Utah. It was a great experience, 32 years in all, 21 years of the head coach. I figured I'd done pretty much all I could do there. And I'm still not that old, 66, I guess that's, you know, not, not, not that old. But I thought when I stepped down, first of all, I didn't want to be that guy that overstayed his welcome. You know, I don't, I don't, you know, I've seen that happen too many times where guys stay too long, get run out of town. So didn't want to be that guy, but just felt like, okay, it's been a good run. Let's, let's leave on a positive note. And when I did step down, I had an inclination in my mind that if there was about, you know, you count on one hand the amount of schools that if they would have called, I would have been receptive. And just so happens about two or three days later had some contact with Michigan and they were on that list and one thing led to another about A week or 10 days later, it was, it was a done deal.

[Dan Patrick]

You contact them or they contact you.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Well, it was my agent and I'm not sure how the initial thing went. Of course there's a search committee guy, the head of the Search committee. I. I don't know who was contacted who first, but that's how. That's how it went.

[Dan Patrick]

What kind of questions do you have going into a situation? We all know how great the job is, but, man feels like there's a little bit of a mess to clean up, you know, for the next year or so.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Yeah, you know, it's. The place doesn't need a rebuild. It needs a. A reboot of trust and get rid of the drama and. And just get back to playing Michigan football without all the distractions. You know, the one thing is, it didn't come from the players. You know, the players were. Were not involved. It wasn't some player, you know, issue. It was. It was, you know, just the. The peripheral. And so guys here have a great attitude. I met with every single one of them at the Bull site last week. Just quality young men, care about academics, excited to be at Michigan, but they've dealt with a lot over the last few years, and so that's where they're at.

[Dan Patrick]

What did you need to hear?

[Kyle Whittingham]

I needed to hear that they were having a good experience here, exclusive of the.

[Dan Patrick]

Of the distractions, the athletic director and the, you know, the higher ups. What did you need to hear from them?

[Kyle Whittingham]

Well, I need to hear that Michigan was what I thought it was, you know, top five program, which I don't think there's any doubt about that. It's a special place. They're committed to winning here. You know, we do have some challenges with entrance requirements. There is. There is a little bit of a hurdle there. But, you know, you talk about athletes, resources, tradition. It's all here at Michigan.

[Dan Patrick]

You haven't been out of Utah or Idaho.

[Kyle Whittingham]

I don't think you're right. Not as a coach. You're right.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. So what do you need to learn about, you know, being in Michigan, in the Big Ten and hating Ohio State? Now you got to deal with Indiana and.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Yeah, well, we transfer or moving leagues is. No, no, nothing new to me or where I was at. You know, we went from the WAC to the Mountain west to the PAC 12 to the Big 12, and I was there through it all, and so know exactly how to. How to, you know, navigate that. You know, we've had a pretty good track record against Big Ten schools while I was at Utah. In fact, against Michigan, we're three. And.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh.

[Kyle Whittingham]

So that didn't hurt my cause during the. During the. The process. The hiring process. But. But football is football, Dan, and it's X's and O's. They don't change. Certainly the, you know, the level of competition is increased, but it's relative. I mean, we're good players here.

[Todd]

So.

[Kyle Whittingham]

So it's. I think it's a good situation.

[Dan Patrick]

Do you hate Ohio State?

[Kyle Whittingham]

Don't I have to? Yeah, I think I have to. But.

[Dan Patrick]

But earlier a seminar that there. And I know Urban. Urban was helping you wasn't.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Absolutely. I've been close with Urban ever since. We worked together back in 02 and 03 and I was his defensive coordinator. I was on the staff. Staff got let go. Urban got the job. I was the only holdover and really developed a great relationship with him and have maintained it ever since. And yeah, he absolutely helped me along the way here.

[Dan Patrick]

Kyle Whittingham, Michigan head football coach, joining us. I'm trying to figure out this transfer portal.

[Kyle Whittingham]

So am I.

[Dan Patrick]

But I'm also trying to figure out the collective and nil.

[Kyle Whittingham]

We all are.

[Dan Patrick]

I mean, somebody just told me over the weekend that some of these programs are getting to $40 million budgets.

[Kyle Whittingham]

40 million plus. Absolutely.

[Dan Patrick]

I mean, it doesn't feel sustainable, Kyle.

[Kyle Whittingham]

It's not. It is not sustainable. There's no question about that. Something has got to give. And I think it's, you know, within a two to two to four, five year window here, you're going to see a major overhaul of Division 1 football. I think it's going to become more of a minor league NFL model. I think you're going to see a salary cap, collective bargaining, players as employees. I think all that's coming because you're exactly right. We can't maintain this pace. It's impossible.

[Dan Patrick]

Can we have a commissioner?

[Kyle Whittingham]

Yes, I would love one. I think that's. I think that's in the cards as well.

[Dan Patrick]

But is everybody going to listen? Is the SEC going to listen or the Big Ten? I mean, they have to.

[Kyle Whittingham]

They have to. And I think if we get, you know, ultimately aligned with the super conferences and, you know, get things, commission, you know, have a commissioner that runs it all and put some teeth into it, I think that's the only way to survive. And so. And you're already seeing private equity starting now.

[Dan Patrick]

So, you know.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[Dan Patrick]

Where are we going with the playoffs? It's probably going to 16 next year. But where are we going?

[Kyle Whittingham]

Well, to 16. First of all, and I kind of agree with coach Dan Lanning at Oregon, it would be nice to have the season wrapped up by January 1st first, especially the way the portal window is right now. I mean, it's chaos and So I think there needs to be revamping not only of the. Of the system itself, but at least immediately. The calendar. The calendar needs to be tweaked.

[Dan Patrick]

What kind of money are we talking about? What's a top end quarterback costing now in the portal?

[Kyle Whittingham]

Well, I heard today that one university in the state of Texas is paying $5 million for a starting quarterback for this year. And so I think that might be the. The. That that's the most I've heard of. And I get old basketball players, some basketball players are making more than that from what you hear. But starting quarterback now, apparently the price is $5 million.

[Dan Patrick]

Is Bryce Underwood staying?

[Kyle Whittingham]

We hope so. I think he's had a. He's got a. Got a good vibe.

[Dan Patrick]

So you don't know.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Well, you don't know anything yet. I mean, shoot, it's. It's the wild, wild west here, Dan. And so we think. We think we're in a good place with Bryce. He's a terrific young man. I've sat down with him and, and really the heart and soul of this football team. And I think we're making good progress towards that end.

[Dan Patrick]

We are curious if we could have your old Utah gear.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Yeah, I can have it shipped out to you.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay.

[Kyle Whittingham]

It's all Excel. You got one size to choose from, but boy, that's.

[Dan Patrick]

That's a big color change for you.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Yes, it is. You're right. Yeah. Red to blue. And blue was our. Was our rival, you know, Is it Utah?

[Dan Patrick]

For years.

[Kyle Whittingham]

And so now I got to get used to saying, go blue. But.

[Dan Patrick]

Okay, but did you hate BYU as much as you're gonna hate Ohio State? Okay, strong word.

[Kyle Whittingham]

But how about an intense, very intense rivalry? And it was very. In the state of Utah, I mean, it's the biggest single sporting event.

[Dan Patrick]

That was an unbelievable rivalry, though. Very underrated. But, you know, having two daughters who lived in Salt Lake and it's like, oh, you did? Yeah.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Are they there now?

[Dan Patrick]

No, they both. They both left. They both came back home. Yeah, they loved it. They loved Salt Lake. But they said that that rivalry, you don't understand it until you go to it. Exactly. You know, so. Because I grew up Ohio State, Michigan. Right. And I always think that there's no better rivalry. But there, There are ones. When you go to them, you understand the importance. It's just not national magnitude like Ohio State, Michigan are.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Doesn't have the national bandwidth that. That we have in this rivalry. But it is every bit as intense and every bit as, you know, the animosity in the. In the state. You know, you're either red or blue in that state and pretty well split. I mean, it's almost an even division there.

[Dan Patrick]

Could you take Ryan Day when you were younger?

[Kyle Whittingham]

When I was younger.

[Dan Patrick]

Could you take him now? So he's 46?

[Kyle Whittingham]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

Could you take Ryan Day right now in the octagon?

[Kyle Whittingham]

In an octagon? Well, there's one way to find out, I guess. I don't know. I like Ryan. I think I got a lot of respect for him. We played him in the Rose Bowl a couple years back. Well, I guess it's been three or four years now, so. Excellent football coach.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. I don't have to say nice things anymore, man. It's best that you don't.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Okay. I know I probably put my foot in my mouth right there.

[Dan Patrick]

Congrats. Good luck. Appreciate you joining us.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Appreciate you, Dan. Thank you.

[Dan Patrick]

We taped that yesterday. Five hours later, Bryce Underwood tweeted that he was staying at Michigan. But you could hear it in his voice when he said, is your quarterback going to be staying? He's like, I hope so. He didn't know? Yes.

[Seaton]

Do you think he didn't know?

[Dan Patrick]

Well, if he knew, then why wouldn't he say?

[Seaton]

Well, I mean, maybe he wanted the player to announce it. I mean, that's kind of the way things work now. You know, the player announces they're leaving, the player announces they're staying. I wonder if he really had no idea.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Paulie.

[Paulie]

I would speculate that these days there was probably a renegotiation of his contract at Michigan, and it was not signed yet. And that when we spoke to him, it was. There was not ink on the page yet.

[Dan Patrick]

I believe that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I. It feels like everybody is in the transfer portal or the potential for every player to be in the transfer portal because, you know, you want to. You want to at least find out what the market is for you or have somebody find that out for you. And, you know, as. As Kyle was saying, Cincinnati's quarterback is getting $5 million to go to Texas Tech. Now, that's. That's changed as far as the price, because as I told you, I think before the holiday break, I was told that the going rate for a quarterback transferring was 3 to 4 million dollars. And now all of a sudden, you get Cincinnati's quarterback. I don't know his name. Let me see. Have you seen his name? I should have that. But I know that he was obviously a very good quarterback, and he's going to Texas tech and getting $5 million. So yes, Marvin Brandon Sorsby. Okay. All right. Yeah, $5 million. And you know, as I told you, the source said there was a high school tight end and there were two major college programs that were paying him and he was still in high school. But it's basically, hey, we're going to give you the money. We're giving you the money before you even, you know, get to college. We're going to give you the money in high school. And he decorated player and he was getting paid while, I mean, that's where they're starting. I mean, the same thing. Look at the shoe industry. It's. We're not waiting for you to get to the NBA. We're not waiting for you to get to college. We're not waiting for you to get to high school. We're going aau. We're going as early as possible to get you in our shoes, to get you in the program, get your free gear. This is the same thing. It, it's like you're grooming to get them to go to your school. What's it going to take and when do you start? This is what's going on right now. They and, and even as coach said, this isn't sustainable that you have programs are going to be spending 40 to 50 million dollars a year now. Some can, but you know, you're, and you can't say, well Congress, you guys fix this. Because we can. And really that's almost the mindset. It feels like, hey, nothing we could do. Maybe Congress can help us. I think Congress has other things they're probably working on, but you know, we can check the docket. Yes, morbid.

[Marvin]

You're going to see a lot more mid season changes like you did this season because they're paying all this money. They're like, we're not seeing results. So you got to go.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. I mean we see this in the NFL where you get, you get two years, it feels like two years as a coach, two years as a quarterback before we, you know, rubber stamp you as your franchise quarterback or you're our coach or you're a bust or you should be just a coordinator, not a head. I mean that's, it's getting quicker and quicker because the money is getting bigger and bigger. And you want to know right away, is that, is that our guy? If not, we got to move on. Yes.

[Seaton]

So like I, I know that the money in college football and how much players are being paid is a controversial issue, but like take someone like Brandon Swordsby, you're just Talking about he is going to make more money than Shador Sanders is going to make. I kind of like the idea that the money that these kids are going to make keeps them in college football longer so they actually develop more and that then maybe the players that are supposed to make it to the NFL do go to the NFL and the ones that aren't still have a good chunk of change, but they probably aren't going to eventually get there. The developed ones will be more apparent.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, but you have to stay three years in college football. So you have a built in system that protects college football from the standpoint of these names may bounce around, but they stay. College basketball doesn't have that. So you don't have any familiarity with college basketball. At least with football you go, oh, that guy used to be. And you're right, you might stay for your senior year instead of coming out after your junior year in college football, but you're already locked in for three years where college basketball, I'm one and done. I mean all of these guys we looked at, we go, that guy's one and done. All the marquee players, one and done. Even the money that you could make. And Cooper Flag reportedly was making around $2.6 million at Duke. He was the highest paid player, 2.6. Now what would he be worth if he came back? What, $5 million? Maybe more than that. He wants to get into that second contract in the NBA when he's going to get 60 or 70 million dollars a year. Yes.

[Seaton]

But maybe even still just staying for that extra year of development. There's not the. I get the rush to the second contract. I definitely get that. However, there is something, I think there's something to be said about another year of development rather than being pushed too early. You know, I know if you, you're leaving college football with a couple million dollars in your pocket, there really isn't that same rush to get there.

[Dan Patrick]

It's like Ty Simpson at Alabama, you know, Greg or what some of the. Who is it? McCarran said, Hey, I would tell him to stay and you know, you need another year. He might be in the transfer portal. He got hurt in that game against Indiana. Maybe a cracked rib, but it looked like he might have been getting benched as well. And is he going to transfer? Does he, does he want to go into the NFL? And I think McCarron said he would probably be a fifth or sixth round quarterback but that he shouldn't stay. And not everybody has guidance though. Now we think that, oh man, you Know somebody. There's a lot of people with a lot of agendas who, hey, I'd go pro. Because people helping you with that decision might be getting money from you with that decision. Yeah. Pauling.

[Paulie]

Another great example is Carson Beck. He was a hot property a year and a half ago. Then he really cooled off as a draft prospect and parlayed a big payday from Miami.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, Quinn, yours as well. I mean, it's. It's working out for Quinn, but Texas didn't want him to stay another year. I think he wanted to stay another year. Like. No, I think we're good, Arch. It's. It's Arch's turn. All right, more phone calls coming up. We'll take a break. We're back after this. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our [e-mail] and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live. Texas Tech is added again. They're spending money. You know, they signed multiple players in the Portal for over $7 million in 2025. Now they just spent $5 million on their quarterback. Reportedly he is Brendan Sorsby, who was at Cincinnati. Got these guys who are making more money than starting quarterbacks in the NFL and making more. Well, not making more than Cam Ward. Is he making more than Tyler Shuck with the New Orleans Saints? Probably so. You know, Tyler Shuck had a pretty good year. Nobody noticed, but he had a pretty good year for the Saints, made them competitive, had some pretty good numbers there and, you know, like, kind of threw him in and he survived. So. And I think a lot of people thought he might be the most quarterback ready because of his age and experience. Number of games when he played in college. Jackson Dart, I thought was a first round draft pick and proved to be at the end of the first round. But Tyler Schuck was probably ready to go maybe sooner than any of the other quarterbacks. All right. Oh, Paulie wants to play the guess that firing game. Oh, okay.

[Paulie]

Now, we usually play this on a Monday after the football season. A rare guess at firing on a Tuesday.

[Seaton]

That's messed up.

[Dan Patrick]

That.

[Todd]

Why?

[Dan Patrick]

Come on. Why?

[Seaton]

What are you doing that on Tuesday for? This is what we spent like the whole first hour. You can. This is supposed to be. I think I made it Tuesday.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah.

[Seaton]

Not. Wow, sucks to be you Tuesday.

[Paulie]

Okay, see, you're right on. Because the hint is in your complaint. What would it. Which team would maybe do it on a Tuesday so they could garner more attention than other Teams.

[Dan Patrick]

Wait, you want to stand down for this team? Does being Cowboys.

[Paulie]

The Dallas Cowboys have fired defensive coordinator Matt Eberfluss. They are now on to their fourth defensive coordinator in four seasons.

[Dan Patrick]

Oh, okay.

[Paulie]

The Cowboys could have easily done this yesterday. They teased it last week.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, who are they bringing in?

[Paulie]

Like, anybody but Matt Eber.

[Dan Patrick]

No, but I saw where they were bringing in somebody. There's already been a name attached to this. Yes. Todd, do you do the.

[Todd]

You fire the head coaches Monday, then the coordinators are more of a midweek. Tuesday, Wednesday.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Yeah. They're not. They're not Monday worthy.

[Kyle Whittingham]

Not.

[Todd]

You got to wait a couple.

[Dan Patrick]

Sorry. Yeah. Tuesday. Ashton in Vegas. Hey, Ashton, what's on your mind today?

[Tee Bucks]

Yeah, just first time, long time. Thank you for taking my call. Curious to see if you guys have heard anything, but come across my social media a couple of times where Geno Smith is reportedly surprised and frustrated that they let Pete Carroll go. And it's like, well, if you want it in the state, maybe throw to your own team.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. What do you have, 17 interceptions, I think, this year? I. I guess there's a little bit of surprise with that. I mean, the surprise was they hired him at his age with that team and it's. And it's. It was going to take a few years. I don't. I now. I had higher expectations for them, but they were lofty expectations because I was thinking, you know what, they got a running back, quarterback, tight end, and they got a, you know, impact edge rusher. Okay. Challenging division. Yes. But maybe you can win eight or nine games. Yes. Pauline.

[Paulie]

Going back to the signing of Geno Smith by the Raiders, a lot of people liked it at the time. It was a friendly contract. Financially. He just went 10 and 7 as a Seattle quarterback with 21 touchdowns. It was considered a nice move.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. I didn't have a problem with Geno Smith because it looked like he had, you know, kind of had that renaissance that we see with a lot of these quarterbacks. Yes.

[Seaton]

How many of those were RCIs?

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah. Well, I don't know.

[Seaton]

I don't know. This is a classic instance of why we need that stat.

[Dan Patrick]

Receiver caused interception.

[Paulie]

They're every weekend and they go on your. Your docket.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, not every weekend with the Jets.

[Paulie]

Right.

[Marvin]

No, weekends.

[Dan Patrick]

They didn't have one where the receiver went the wrong way and the quarterback threw and somebody got an interception. Unbelievable. Yes. Marvin.

[Marvin]

The sad part is Sauce Gardner probably wouldn't help that either because he wasn't intercepting the ball like that either.

[Dan Patrick]

No, no. Man, you forget about that move that the Colts made, and you're thinking, man, they're all in. And then all of a sudden, they're all out.

[Marvin]

Yes, Mark, Jonathan Taylor was an MVP candidate. He was eight minutes.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, because I was making him an MVP candidate. But, you know, I, I did preface that by saying they won't give it to a running back. But at the time, through, what, eight games, he was a big deal. But you wonder about that. You know, they got to get a quarterback. Danny Dimes not going to be ready to start the season. Anthony Richardson, his future. Riley Leonard, maybe one hour left to go. Reggie Aloysius Miller Jr III. More of your phone calls as well, Dan. And the Dan Edge, Dan Patrick show. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.