I don’t live in Utah. I don’t have my own social media accounts (other than CougarFan if this counts). I don’t ever read the SL Tribune because I have better things to do than spend time searching out people who want to trash my religion. So I don’t really understand why KWhit has such a strong reputation as being a BYU hater. KWhit’s disdain for his alma mater was even in the news out here this week leading up to the Ducks’ game, when Utah isn’t even playing BYU. However, every time I see him or hear him, I just see a guy who hates BYU. So bitter and negative. Somehow his otherwise admirable drive and ambition seem to have turned him into a jerk. My opinion only (I got the same vibe from Chip Kelly when he coached the Ducks here in Oregon).
Conversely, it’s been a joy to hear and read all the things Sark is saying this week. He can’t say enough how much he loved his experience at BYU, and he is CLEARLY proud of any success BYU has, and will even be that way if somehow BYU pulls off a miracle and wins tomorrow. KWhit won’t even SAY BYU, like it would soften his hate or something. Much respect to Sark for being such a loyal alumni. UT may beat us by 40 tomorrow, and he won’t gloat. I’ve heard that he even steers good HS players our way if they aren’t UT material.
I’m proud of our former All American caliber QB and love that program anyway, but have even more respect for Sark and his program after all his comments this week.
LANGUAGE ALERT
And just after writing the post above, a guy sends me a link to this tweet…this is the kind of stuff KWhit has to own–he never shuts this stuff down, so it it his to own. He’s such a jerk.
I don’t know what exactly that Whittingham has said about BYU that has you got upset about it.
I do live in Utah and I have never ever seen KWhitt be disrespectful towards BYU in either word or action. Is he competitive? heck yea.
But he has mentioned that fans has taken this rivalry to an unhealthy point and wished fans would simply cool it.
The only time I have seen Whitt upset with BYU while he was a coach, was when Bronco was coaching BYU. Apparently the feelings were mutual. Bronco seemed to rub a lot of people the wrong way.
Kalani and Whitt are very close and talk a lot when the season is over.
But I have heard him on the radio, and the jerks on the mic was trying to get KWhitt to bash BYU, he declined to go down that road,
I also know Whitt had issues with some of the BYU fans when they harassed his wife in the stands, outside of that, not sure what he has said that even comes close to what you are saying,
The very worst are right there in SLC. This kind of stuff has been going on for a long time and I don’t really see it changing anytime soon. The decent Utah fans acknowledge it and don’t like it but refuse to do or say anything about it. That is the problem.
I have experienced it myself, I have seen it numerous times at a variety of different venues. It is unfortunate and sad but it probably isn’t going to change.
Well, I could say the same thing about members of the church not standing up and saying something in church when a speaker or teacher says something that is A) not the gospel or B) bigoted towards another group or race. Both of which I have personally seen in wards in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
For instance, in an Elder Quroum meeting the discussion I watched a group of Elder demean and disrespect people who suffer with depression (talking about clinical depression here). What made it worse was that there was a man in the quorum whose wife had committed suicide.
Not one brother spoke up to stop this misguided discussion. No, they all offered professional advice of which they have no background in to “help the depressed people”. Well until I spoke up, telling them in my ever “blunt” manner, “Until you have sucked on the barrel of gun deciding to pull the trigger or not, none of you know what the Hell you are talking about. I have personal knowledge of what I say.”
What was interesting is that the man whose wife committed suicide, came up to me afterward and thanked me for standing up.
People of all types and backgrounds have one thing in common, they like to judge a group of people based on the actions of the minority of that group.
Jim, the majority of the fans from Utah have spoken up, in fact Utah now has a conduct code for all Ute fans at athletic events. After what happened on Friday, The U President released a statement that behavior was not welcome at Utah. They wanted a family friendly environment and wants all fans to adhere to the code of conduct for all athletic events.
The code of conduct for Utah fans was brought about by the Alumni who were disgusted with the Utah Student fans conduct at games, especially when they play BYU.
You know “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps”, “Just get moving”, “Forget about it. it not a real thing”. My favorite “People who are depressed are weak and needs to rely on the Lord to move forward”.
Unfortunately, universities hand out degrees for many who are not prepared to treat mental and emotional disorders. Especially psychiatrists and medical doctors.
Why is there so much depression these days? My opinion (may not be correct) society moves at such a fast pace with limited human connections because of technology. Also, our diets have a lot of crap that affect our mental and physical health. And, as a society, our belief in God has diminished leaving many without a foundation to fall back on when things go bad. That includes the nuclear family with husband and wife in the home working together.
There’s obviously more and to find the right help is often difficult. The Church has developed programs to help both in group situations and getting professional help as my daughter did after her divorce.
My wife and I have talked about why the issues with mental health.
One thing we came up with is that parents today do not teach their kids how to deal with failure. If they fail, then it is the teacher’s fault or the coach’s fault or someone else’s fault.
You know it all goes back to the “Participation awards” mentality.
There is that as well. It’s part of the woke problem. Consequences of choice as well and how to make changes for the good. Working with kids to work through loss like you said.
That works when there are goals to reach. Many kids don’t have any and when they get knocked down they give up because they don’t have guidance. And any slip through the cracks.
Not that I’m “Inquiring minds want to know” (or please don’t let me be aging into it). I’d just read he’s an active member of the church a few times this week so it surprised me.
Who knows though? Maybe he’d just finished his workout, and is such a poor planner and slob, he didn’t even have time shower off - or even change - before jumping on his hog to ride down and appear on national TV - after UtahFan was done blowing off their administration’s instructions and living down their potty-mouth reputation - thereby ensuring they never develop a broad fan base - because no parents or grandparents ever want children around them - and the short open-air ride dried all his sweat, so he looked just fine for the cameras during the “my players and fans would never talk like that!” part of the program.
Yeah, I’ll bet that was it!
Seriously, I hope he’s good, and it’s just a personality thing.
Or too many concussions thing. They do say he was a pretty hard-nosed player.
Witt and his extended family have their roots down deep in the Utah program now. Several relatives work for the athletic dept. Witt was a good LB for BYU and deserves credit for his coaching and defense. His family members weren’t the same quality of athlete as he was. If Witt didn’t have a head coaching job in a P5 school his family wouldn’t be employed in fb! It appears that Witt has a little humility issue that will keep him from becoming a great coach. But he is a good coach and he will keep Utah in the top 1/3 of the B12. Eventually he will not be able to compete with his offense because people who are offensive coaches don’t like to work for him so it is a catch 22! He is buying into the greatness he thinks is him so I kind of smiled when Oregon laid the Utes out. But yes, he is kind of a red neck and now he is one with money! So it will be a long road for him to square what he knows is important vs the fame and attitude that he wants to portray.
A number of years ago a friend told me that the Whittinghams all became Utes because the dad Fred, who was an assistant at BYU, had a falling out with LaVell Edwards. I don’t know if that is true or what the details are. Fred took a job with Ron McBride at the U and Kyle followed him there.
I know BYU offered Kyle the job after Crowton was fired but the story is he prayed about it and Fred wanted him to take the U offer and he did. I am sure the U offered him more than BYU would have offered and that must have been a big factor as well.
Whit is good defensive mind and emits a hard nosed attitude. It transfers to his team as they become hard-nosed and together as a group. Utah has far exceeded what I expected over the years. However, college football is a fickle game and the Big 12 is not the PAC 12 and I’m not sure that Kyle’s tenure at Utah will last more than a couple of years. Utah was a doormat for BYU for a period of time and then things changed and eventually they will probably change again. I’m not a big Utah fan and I have been to both Universities and BYU best represents the way I try and focus my energies, but I will give credit to Whittingham and how the staff has built their program. One last thing-fans are fans-9 out of 10 are decent acting fans-the other 10 percent leave the 90 percent in the shadows. I try not to give them the time of day
Glad I live in Oregon. Here I never hear anything bad about BYU, and here NOBODY cares AT ALL about UofU unless they play the Ducks, in which case the Duck fans hate them and their brags about playing in (although losing) 2 Rose Bowls. Like I said, in the SC game I actually rooted for Utah. I like their players. And I agree with you that KWhit is a hard nosed winner and a great defensive coach, but I just think he fuels the wrong fires in the wrong way–the real BYU (and church) hate from Utah fans seems to have gone to another level since he has been the coach. What does he do? He sits on the Game Day set while HUNDREDS of UofU fans chanted “F BYU” (his own alma mater) over and over, and Whit not saying a word, that was just shameful of him.
Yeh I have to agree with you. It takes a great sport and makes it something else that I find repulsive. My cousins all attended the U of U and commented that when they left the game with the U of Oregon in Eugene, which the Ducks won, a couple of Oregon fans started to heckle them, when another group of fans, told them to knock it off and quit giving the school a bad name. Most fans are pretty good-others give their school a bad reputation
is a fickle game and the Big 12 is not the PAC 12 and I’m not sure that Kyle’s tenure at Utah will last more than a couple of years. Utah was a doormat for BYU for a period of time and then things changed and eventually they will probably change again. I’m not a big Utah fan and I have been to both Universities and BYU best represents the way I try and focus my energies, but I will give credit to Whittingham and how the staff has built their program. One last thing-fans are fans-9 out of 10 are decent acting fans-the other 10 percent leave the 90 percent in the shadows. I try not to give them the time of day