Kyle Whittingham has been at Utah since 2005 and continues to be one of the best head coaches in college football. The 64-year-old has won more than 67% of his games, won at least 8 games in nine of 12 non-COVID seasons, and claimed back-to-back Pac-12 titles in 2021 and 2022.
Although Whittingham is a great coach with an ability to develop unpolished, not-as-highly ranked athletes into stars, he can only go as far as his roster lets him. And that requires an abundance of wealth, today more than ever.
Not personal wealth. NIL wealth.
A college football program cannot succeed in the modern era without a successful NIL collective. There is a direct correlation between finances and talent acquisition. Schools with a greater monetary backing are able to offer more money to top talent. Top talent is more likely to commit if it is being well compensated.
That doesn’t even include retention. It costs just as much money to keep top talent on the team after they commit, if not more. Roster maintenance is expensive.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day asked Columbus-area donors for approximately $13 million. His current team reportedly carries a price tag of about $10 million.
According to Kevin Reynolds of The Salt Lake Tribune, Whittingham said privately that Utah needs approximately $7 million per year “to fund a championship-level roster.” He added that “NIL is a non-negotiable to winning,” which is not a secret.
What’s even crazier is that at least $500,000 of that $7 million total goes right to the quarterback. Seventh-year signal-caller Cam Rising has the potential to earn up to $1.5 million this season.
Donors (or boosters or whatever you want to call them) have to start by finding the money for a quarterback. From there, they can take their remaining budget and allocate those funds across the remainder of the roster.
It’s an expensive new reality!