He used to be a Cougar, now he's a Utah man

Take Lavell Edwards, mix in some Ron McBride and sprinkle in a little Urban Meyer and what have you got?

Perhaps a 600-pound football coach, although a pretty darn good one at that.

You might also get Kyle Whittingham, the first-year University of Utah football coach.

Whittingham, who took over the reins at Utah in December, has learned his craft under three of the best football coaches ever to come out of the state. Now he's taking all that knowledge and experience and looking to make his own mark as he embarks on the daunting task of keeping the Ute football program at its current high level.

The 45-year-old Whittingham fulfilled a long-time dream when he was named Utah's coach on Dec. 8. The announcement came after a two-day tug-of-war with his alma mater BYU, which also desperately wanted him to be its coach.

Four months later as he hits the three-quarter mark of his first spring practice as head man, Whittingham says he's pleased with the progress his team has made so far and feels at ease in his new position.

"Every day is a learning experience," he said. "But I've been around long enough that nothing has transpired that I didn't anticipate."

That's undoubtedly because of the training he has received over the past 25 years.

He played four years under Edwards and served as a graduate assistant to the legendary coach for two years. He coached under McBride for nine years, eight as the defensive coordinator before spending the last two years under Meyer in the same role.

"Those three have had the most influence on how I operate on a day-to-day basis as a head coach," Whittingham said.

From Edwards he said he learned stability, the even-keeled, no-peaks-and-valleys approach to coaching.

"He was a great person and an excellent example," Whittingham said. "He had the ability to hire and surround himself with good people. Then he would delegate and let them do their job."

From McBride, he learned the art of dealing with people.

"He knew how to recruit, how to get in a home and how to interact with his players," Whittingham said. "There's not a coach in America that cares more about his players than coach McBride."

Then there's Meyer, whom Whittingham coached under for two years before Meyer split for Florida.