Kyle Whittingham did not say anything unconventional. He said something dozens of other coaches, athletic directors, and administrators would have said. Whittingham is not a revolutionary figure in college football. He is not a rebel or a troublemaker. Anything but.
Why is it, then, that Whittingham — when asked if he knew Lincoln Riley well in a session with local media on Monday — went on a tangent and gave a curious answer which dealt with NIL money and the perception that USC is just throwing dollars at players, enticing them to come to Los Angeles to play football? Why would Whittingham do that? No one asked him to talk about those topics. Whittingham freely brought them up.
Why?
If you realize what has happened to Whittingham and his Utah football team this season, and if you realize the specific challenge Utah faces this week against USC and Lincoln Riley, his seemingly disconnected comments begin to make a lot more sense.
Trojans Wire discussed this with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football:
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