The Michigan Wolverines have one of the most accomplished modern head coaches leading their football program now in Kyle Whittingham. Relative to his peers, U-M has one of the best coaches in the country, says ESPN.

The outlet put out its list of top-10 coaches heading into the 2026 season, where Whittingham ranked No. 9. Indiana’s Curt Cignetti is No. 1, followed by Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, LSU’s Lane Kiffin and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko. Behind Whittingham is a tie for 10th place between Miami’s Mario Cristobal and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer.

“Each person listed their top 10 choices, and points were given based on their responses (10 points for first, 9 points for second and so on). We then asked our voters to explain some of their picks,” the outlet said.

It does not relate much to the current situation, but Whittingham’s 3-0 record against Michigan all-time was cited in a fun fact ripe for sports bar trivia.

“If you can’t beat him … hire him? Since the 1978 FBS/FCS split, Whittingham is the only FBS coach to face Michigan at least three times and have an undefeated record (3-0),” ESPN said. “His teams beat Michigan in 2008, 2014 and 2015. … Whittingham’s 177 wins are the most in Utah history. Only one other Utah coach eclipsed 100 wins: Ike Armstrong, who had 141 wins from 1925 to 1949.”

Adam Rittenberg was the highest on Whittingham, voting him No. 6 in the country relative to his peers.

“I’m big on longevity, consistency and overperforming recruiting rankings and resource allocation, and Whittingham checked all of those boxes at Utah,” Rittenberg said. “Whittingham has had one losing season since 2014, seven AP top-20 finishes and eight seasons of 10 or more wins, including last fall. He has navigated conference moves and other changes with player movement and compensation. His teams have been consistently elite at the line of scrimmage and flood the NFL draft. I’m fascinated to see what he can do at a program like Michigan.”

Mark Schlabach was the only ESPN reporter to leave Michigan’s head coach out of the top 10.

“I think Whittingham is a fantastic coach and was a home run hire for Michigan,” Schlabach said. “I’d put him in the top dozen coaches in the FBS after what he accomplished at Utah. But until last season’s 10-2 campaign, his teams lost four games or more in four straight seasons, including a 5-7 dud in 2024. (If quarterback Cam Rising had been able to stay healthy, that might not have been the case.) His teams have lost in five straight bowl games. Like Adam, I’m curious to see what he does at Michigan with better players and more resources.”

Other coaches receiving votes included: Dabo Swinney, Clemson (10 points); Matt Campbell, Penn State (9); Rhett Lashlee, SMU (5); Eric Morris, Oklahoma State (4); Kalani Sitake, BYU (2); Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State (1); Willie Fritz, Houston (1); Clark Lea, Vanderbilt (1)