Whittingham Facts

After yet another Kyle Whittingham bashing thread I hit google to refresh my memory about his Dad, brothers, and KW himself given that both Kyle and his father, Fred, both played and coached at BYU before coaching at U and his siblings have played at BYU. And, the next generation crop of Whittinghams has already been planted.



I was actually looking for info about Fred Whittingham having been fired by BYU, which I heard way in the past, but have not found the word fired mentioned when he left BYU and Lavell Edwards as DC to coach for The Los Angeles Rams. I will keep looking.



But, I found a plethora of interesting information about Fred Whittingham, Sr., and his descendents.



Perhaps, we can all set the hate aside for this thread, and take a look at the forgotten side of history - Whittingham.



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First and foremost, these Whittinghams technically are not Whittinghams by pure bloodline. There is a provervial asterisk on their genealogy chart - metaphorically speaking.



Fred Whittingham, Sr., was born in Boston, warded to the State, and adopted into the Whittingham family. He became and begat some great athletes, but they do not have one drop of Whittingham blood.



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Fred Whittingham did not originally have any plans whatsoever to play at BYU and he was not LDS. Fate brought him to BYU. Remember - BYU fans love these kind of stories - and this could be one of the most powerful ones ever.



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Fred played at Cal Poly. The Cal Poly team hit a snag returning from a road trip.



Their plane crashed. No train wreck. Just a plane crash. My mind flashed to Buddy Holly and then to the founders of In N Out Burgers when I read this. But there were survivors of this plane crash of note to BYU fans. Fred Whittingham and his Teammate Ted Tollner survived. Yes, that Ted Tollner.



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Fred Whittingham married an LDS girl while at BYU. Years later, he converted to the LDS Church. This baby, warded to the state, adopted at age of nine months, that survived a plane crash, then transferred to BYU as the Cal Poly football program was destroyed by that crash, was blessed by The Lord - and became a faithful member of the LDS Church. He raised a great family, after enjoying a fruitful NFL playing and coaching career and college coaching career that included stints as a coach at BYU under LaVell Edwards and twice at Utah. He died in his sixties in a Provo hospital from complications during back surgery. He lived a life of overcoming unexpected challenges until that last one took his life.



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There have since been so many Whittinghams, that it kind of all runs together in my memories. Fred, Jr. Cary. Kyle. Brady was a receiver.

I remember a lot of Whittingham running plays at BYU. One of the brothers ran like a bowling ball.



Kyle, actually played as a running back his first season - then switched to linebacker. He played in the first four Holiday Bowl Games.



He played briefly in the pros - at USFL level. His only NFL stint was to play for the LA Rams as a replacement player - scab - during the strike. His father had played for the Rams.



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Fred Whittingham hired Kyle at the University of Utah. When Fred left Utah, Kyle replaced him as DC. Years later, Kyle hired his Dad as a position coach until Ron McBridw fired Fred. Fred retired, but encouraged Kyle to stay.



Urban Meyer retained Kyle.



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When Urban Meyer left for money and fame at Florida - Kyle spent 4 days agonizing over whether to be loyal to his employer and players at the U or his alma mater - BYU.



It was a tough decision. He made the right choice. No need to hate.



Kyle fits the U. Bronco fits the Y.



Kyle has had great success and has won national awards including national coach of the year. Since Urban Meyer announced prior to the BCS Bowl game, he and Kyle were co- Head Coach for that game, so Kyle is credited with 2 BCS Bowl wins in the record books.





It all worked out.



The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways.



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Interesting

post

Actions speak louder than words. When kwhit had the opportunity to coach at BYU he chose utah. When kwhit had the opportunity to pull the BYU logo's from the urinals, he chose not to. When kwhit had the opportunity to tell his fan base to tone down the hate, he chooses to encourage it. kwhit used to be a cougar but now he is ute through and through and participates in the BYU hate like any other hater. Nothing his father did will change that fact.

The very tough decision.



Found this D News article quoting family members.



His brothers all aligned with BYU as did his Mom, initially. One brother noted that it would be much easier to follow in the footsteps of Gary Crowton than those of Urban Meyer. Another brother noted the advantage of the broad BYU recruiting and fan base. Brady told Ktle he would own Provo - smelled financial opportunity associated with that.



Kyle moved to town at age 13. His wife now - lived a few doors down. His wife voted - Utah. His kids knew nothing but Utah since Kyle had been there as an assistant for a decade.



Wife and kids were incredulous that it was even a difficult decision.



Kyle turned to his mother at the family meeting where this all was being discussed and asked:



If Dad was still alive, what would he tell me to do?



His mother recalled that previously, Fred Whittingham had remarked that the head coaching job at U would be a Gold Mine.





The entire family has converted now - all Utes.



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Cougarbib wrote:
The entire family has converted now - all Utes.



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through and through.

frdbtr wrote:
Actions speak louder than words. When kwhit had the opportunity to coach at BYU he chose utah. When kwhit had the opportunity to pull the BYU logo's from the urinals, he chose not to. When kwhit had the opportunity to tell his fan base to tone down the hate, he chooses to encourage it. kwhit used to be a cougar but now he is ute through and through and participates in the BYU hate like any other hater. Nothing his father did will change that fact.

Yes. Kyle is a Ute - through and through. It kind of works that way in life. You go to work for someone - you look forward - not back - give them your full loyalty.



Before that - it was not just what his dad did. Kyle Whittingham helped BYU win The National Championship.



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Cougarbib wrote:

Actions speak louder than words. When kwhit had the opportunity to coach at BYU he chose utah. When kwhit had the opportunity to pull the BYU logo's from the urinals, he chose not to. When kwhit had the opportunity to tell his fan base to tone down the hate, he chooses to encourage it. kwhit used to be a cougar but now he is ute through and through and participates in the BYU hate like any other hater. Nothing his father did will change that fact.

Yes. Kyle is a Ute - through and through. It kind of works that way in life. You go to work for someone - you look forward - not back - give them your full loyalty.



Before that - it was not just what his dad did. Kyle Whittingham helped BYU win The National Championship.



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Didn't his brother play on the championship team? I think Kwitt was gone. I really hope that brother is still wearing that ring (do they have rings?) around the team up there and it has some blue on it.

Cougarbib wrote:

Actions speak louder than words. When kwhit had the opportunity to coach at BYU he chose utah. When kwhit had the opportunity to pull the BYU logo's from the urinals, he chose not to. When kwhit had the opportunity to tell his fan base to tone down the hate, he chooses to encourage it. kwhit used to be a cougar but now he is ute through and through and participates in the BYU hate like any other hater. Nothing his father did will change that fact.

Yes. Kyle is a Ute - through and through. It kind of works that way in life. You go to work for someone - you look forward - not back - give them your full loyalty.



Before that - it was not just what his dad did. Kyle Whittingham helped BYU win The National Championship.



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Bib, you can show 100% loyalty to your new job and still show respect for your old job (if you want to put it that way). kwhit has had every opportunity to show respect for BYU but chooses not to. He has had every opportunity to teach his players and fans to respect BYU but chooses not to. Have you heard the story about Brandon Doman? He went to utah to see if they would be interested in giving him a scholarship because he was frustrated with BYU wanting him to switch to defense when he wanted to be a QB. McBride told him they would love to have him and would give him a scholarship but to take some time to think about it. Doman did and returned to BYU. Do you think kwhit would do that today? I think he would not only take Doman, he would advertise all over utah that he had just stolen a dyed in the wool BYU guy. By their fruits ye shall know them. It isn't what he did to become the ute coach, it is how he conducts himself everyday in that capacity that proves his true colors.

The Whittinghams are an interesting bunch. I believe that more than a few people consider him to be a good man, but he doesn't need me to like him, and I don't feel any need for me to like him either



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ABYUFAN wrote:
The Whittinghams are an interesting bunch. I believe that more than a few people consider him to be a good man, but he doesn't need me to like him, and I don't feel any need for me to like him either



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The funny thing is, I like Ron McBride. I thought he was kind of a goofball as the ute head coach but I liked him. He shows more respect to BYU than the former BYU player currently coaching the utes.

frdbtr wrote:

The Whittinghams are an interesting bunch. I believe that more than a few people consider him to be a good man, but he doesn't need me to like him, and I don't feel any need for me to like him either



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The funny thing is, I like Ron McBride. I thought he was kind of a goofball as the ute head coach but I liked him. He shows more respect to BYU than the former BYU player currently coaching the utes.

I like Ron McBride because Lavell likes him, and I trust his judgment on the matter, I hate Whittinghams because they hate Bronco, and I trust my judgment on that matter



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Stirfry wrote:

frdbtr wrote:
Actions speak louder than words. When kwhit had the opportunity to coach at BYU he chose utah. When kwhit had the opportunity to pull the BYU logo's from the urinals, he chose not to. When kwhit had the opportunity to tell his fan base to tone down the hate, he chooses to encourage it. kwhit used to be a cougar but now he is ute through and through and participates in the BYU hate like any other hater. Nothing his father did will change that fact.

Yes. Kyle is a Ute - through and through. It kind of works that way in life. You go to work for someone - you look forward - not back - give them your full loyalty.



Before that - it was not just what his dad did. Kyle Whittingham helped BYU win The National Championship.



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Didn't his brother play on the championship team? I think Kwitt was gone. I really hope that brother is still wearing that ring (do they have rings?) around the team up there and it has some blue on it.

Yes. I thought he was a grad assistant coach that year - but he started that in '85. He did help build the track record that helped BYU have the reputation it needed to capitalize on 1984. Maybe George Orwell helped, too.



Kyle did win the Defensive MVP Award in the 1981 Holiday Bowl - that may have been BYU's first bowl win. 38-36 over WSU after nearly blowing about a 31-7 lead led by Jim McMahon who won the Offensive MVP. Tom Holmoe, a Corner Back, got a pick 6 to give BYU that lead, so Kyle somehow outperformed that to win the award. He is in the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame.



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