After stating he does not have hatred for Ohio State, new Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham had more to say about the rivalry game.
Speaking to reporters Aug. 11, Whittingham responded to the criticism when he said he didn’t hate the Buckeyes, nor Ohio State football coach Ryan Day.
“Do we have a better chance to win if I hated them?” Whittingham said. “…Whatever gives us the best chance to win, I’m all for it. I want to beat them worse than anybody around, and so I don’t know how that got to be such a hot topic.”
During Big Ten Media Days on July 30, Whittingham stated that a rivalry “can be intense and emotional without the hatred factor,” and said he thinks Day is a good person.
In the Michigan press conference, Whittingham clarified that he did not want to subdue the significance of the rivalry with Ohio State.
“We’re not trying to downplay that at all,” he said. “It is a huge game. Gigantic. And it’s something that we all have in the back of our minds 24/7. And so I probably should’ve worded that differently, but that game is of the utmost importance.”
Michigan announced the hiring of Whittingham on Dec. 26. He replaces Sherrone Moore, who was fired after two seasons due to an affair with a female staff member.
Both Day and Whittingham are a part of former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer’s coaching tree. Before Whittingham spent 21 years as Utah’s coach, he was Meyer’s defensive coordinator with the Utes, and Day experienced a similar internal promotion, having succeeded Meyer at Ohio State at the end of 2018.
Day and Whittingham faced off during the 2021-22 college football season, when the Buckeyes beat Utah 48-45 in the Rose Bowl. The two head coaches will face off on opposite sides of the rivalry for the first time on Nov. 28.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kyle Whittingham clarifies Ohio State rivalry as ‘utmost importance’
Reporting by Dan Aulbach, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dan Aulbach, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
