Kyle Whittingham pushed back hard Tuesday on claims that Utah players were pressured to play hurt, using his appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show” to say he has never tried to overrule medical decisions.
The comments came after a Salt Lake Tribune report last week in which six former Utah players “raised questions about how the program handled their injuries.”
“Never in my career have I ever tried to sway, influence - whatever the word is - our medical staff, wherever I’ve been. We listen to the medical staff, if they say a player is available, we go with that, and if they say he’s not available, we go with that,” Whittingham said.
He added: “I’m not sure where this came from, just how it ever materialized, but never in my career have we ever crossed the line of trying to override a medical decision by our medical staff.”
Whittingham was also asked about his exit from Utah and whether he could have remained there if he had wanted to.
“I believe that probably would have been in the cards, I think, if push came to shove. I had two years left on my contract, but I’ve always been the type of guy, don’t wear out your welcome,” Whittingham said. “It felt like that was starting to happen and overstaying your welcome is something that I had made a conscious decision not to do several years ago.”
He continued: “You just don’t want to stay somewhere too long. Maybe I did stay too long as it was, I don’t know, but I’m grateful for the situation I’m in now and couldn’t be happier with what’s going on here at Michigan.”
When Patrick asked if the split was mutual, Whittingham answered: “That’s probably on some people’s part back there, yeah, I’d say, depending on who you talk to.”
Michigan opens the season against Western Michigan on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MDT on NBC.
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