A group of six former Utah players has accused the program, and in some cases former coach Kyle Whittingham directly, of mishandling injuries during their time with the Utes.
Those allegations were laid out in a lengthy Salt Lake Tribune report published Friday by Jason Batacao. The players named in the piece are defensive end Van Fillinger, defensive tackle Tevita Fotu, running back Jaylon Glover, wide receiver Mycah Pittman, defensive end and tight end Miki Suguturaga, and one player who asked to remain anonymous.
Utah responded with a statement saying, “The University of Utah Department of Athletics follows all University and national guidelines to ensure student success and safety,” and added, “We routinely evaluate our processes and welcome the opportunity to make adjustments if we determine our policies are not meeting expectations.”
Michigan, where Whittingham now coaches, told Batacao that Whittingham “did not make medical decisions,” while new Utah coach Morgan Scalley “referred the Tribune to the athletic department’s statements.”
Fillinger emerged as the most prominent voice in the report. He was a second team All-Big 12 selection in 2024, and he said Utah had agreed to redshirt him in 2023 while he recovered from a broken tibia, only for that plan to change.
“[Defensive line coach Lewis Powell] said that I’ll be kicked off the team if I don’t play,” Fillinger said, claiming Powell told him that instruction came from Whittingham.
The players also criticized the way Utah’s medical staff handled injuries. Mycah Pittman described the program as “very old school. You’d have to be seriously injured before you miss a couple games.”
Fotu made a separate allegation, saying the Utes shorted him on NIL money in ’24. Utah said it was unaware of that claim and said it would look into it.
Whittingham’s track record at Utah is hard to ignore. The Utes have been regular winners this decade, finishing in the top 15 of the AP poll in three of the past five years. Whittingham is 177-88 overall and the winningest coach in school history.
His move to Michigan came after the Wolverines fired Sherrone Moore in December over an inappropriate relationship with a staffer and a later arrest on multiple charges including home invasion and stalking. Michigan hired Whittingham with the goal of moving on from the run of scandals that had shadowed the program in recent years.
Whether these new accusations linger remains to be seen, but they have already put Whittingham under a brighter spotlight before Michigan’s Sept. 5 opener against Western Michigan. In college football, being seen as a distraction can become its own problem, and this is exactly the kind of noise programs try to avoid.
Michigan has dealt with this kind of scrutiny before. In 2014, then-athletic director Dave Brandon said quarterback Shane Morris stayed in a game after showing concussion symptoms, a revelation that helped hasten Brandon’s resignation.
More broadly, the issue of playing through injuries has drawn sharper attention since the 2010s, especially as concerns about head injuries have grown. These allegations are likely to keep that conversation going.
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