Six former Utah football players have accused the program of mishandling injuries during the Kyle Whittingham era, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, with claims ranging from rushed returns to misdiagnoses and, in one case, an NIL dispute layered on top of the medical concerns.
The players - edge rusher Van Fillinger, wide receiver Mycah Pittman, running back Jaylon Glover, tight end Miki Suguturaga, defensive lineman Tevita Fitu and one anonymous player - all played for the Utes between 2020 and 2024. Several said they felt pushed back onto the field before they were ready. Fillinger also said his injuries were misdiagnosed.
Fillinger’s account is the most detailed. In 2022, he injured his leg in practice and said he heard a “snap” before going down.
Even though he couldn’t walk, he says he was told it was an ankle sprain and spent the week in a walking boot. Only after an X-ray at the end of the week did Utah discover a season-ending tibia fracture.
The problems, according to Fillinger, didn’t stop there. When he came back for the 2023 season, he said the ankle in that same leg still hadn’t healed properly and was “just destroyed.” He said his doctor recommended six weeks of rest, and that his position coach, Lewis Powell, initially agreed to redshirt him.
The Tribune obtained audio from a doctor’s appointment that included Fillinger, his mother and a Utah physician. In that recording, the physician discussed a six-week recovery timeline for Fillinger.
Then, three weeks later, Utah edge rusher Logan Fano suffered a season-ending ACL tear, and Fillinger said Powell asked him about returning under then head coach Kyle Whittingham. When he asked what would happen if he refused, Fillinger said he was told he could lose his spot.
“He said that I'll be kicked off the team if I don't play,” Fillinger said.
Fillinger ended up playing 11 games that season and posted 5.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. After the year, he needed a second surgery to repair his ankle.
Pittman described a similar pressure to get back on the field in 2024 fall camp. After getting tangled with a Utah defender, he was diagnosed with an ankle sprain and got an X-ray, but not an MRI. He said the push to return quickly was obvious.
“The pressure to play was definitely there,” Pittman said. “If you aren't able to go, it is kind of frowned upon, obviously, because coaches want to win football games.”
When his ankle still hadn’t improved weeks later, doctors ordered an MRI and found a partially torn Achilles and a high ankle sprain. Pittman’s father, Michael Pittman, said Utah “did what they thought was better for the team's outcome instead of my son's long-term health.”
Glover said he saw the same divide between the medical staff and the coaches. In his view, winning football games drove the conversation.
“I feel like a lot of the time the training staff would be on one page, but the coaching staff would be on another because it was all about, 'We need him back,'” Glover told the Tribune.
Fotu’s story also includes an NIL wrinkle. After tearing his MCL as a redshirt freshman, he said doctors told him he would miss several weeks, but his position coach told him “the head man” wanted him to “push through.”
“They'd threaten to put someone else in front of me,” Fotu told the Tribune. “They'd even threaten to take away my scholarship.
It was kind of heartbreaking. I thought these guys would care about me.”
Fotu said the school later tried to keep him from entering the transfer portal after his junior season by offering NIL money. He said the money never came through, and that the broken promise created tension with the coaching staff.
Utah Athletics and University of Utah Health said in a statement to the Tribune that player health is a “top priority.”
“The University of Utah Department of Athletics follows all University and national guidelines to ensure student success and safety,” the statement said. “We routinely evaluate our processes and welcome the opportunity to make adjustments if we determine our policies are not meeting expectations.”
Whittingham parted ways with Utah after the 2025 season and is now the coach at Michigan. When asked about the allegations, Michigan pointed the Tribune back to Utah and said Whittingham had no role in medical decisions with the Utes.
“Coach Whittingham or his coaching staff did not make medical decisions [at Utah],” Michigan said in its statement. “He followed the lead of the medical team,” the Michigan spokesperson said.
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