Utah Utes football: Whit talks up U. on ESPN

Utah's bye week created quite an opportunity for Kyle Whittingham. It allowed the head coach of the 12th-ranked Utes (8-0) to accept an offer from ESPN to spend a day making the rounds on the network's television and radio shows in Bristol, Conn.

"I think it was a positive," Whittingham said. "ESPN, that's an impressive place. It was a good trip, very well organized."

Whittingham is one of several coaches across the nation — including Georgia's Mark Richt, Missouri's Gary Pinkel, Ohio State's Jim Tressel, Tennessee's Phil Fulmer and Wake Forest's Jim Grobe — to visit the network during a bye week.

"More than anything else, I'm here to represent the program and just let people find out about who we are — not really a hard sell on anything but the program," Whittingham said while taking a few minutes to participate in the Mountain West's weekly teleconference. "It's a great opportunity for us as a program to get some national attention, and really that's the long and short of it. I'm not on a campaign to drum up BCS votes or anything of that nature."

It was more of a recruiting trip, he explained.

"It's a good way to get our name out there," Whittingham said.

Whittingham's first appearance on the network was a 4 1/2-minute segment on ESPN2's "First Take" program. Host Michael Kim asked him about a variety of topics, leading off with comparisons to Utah's 2004 team.

"I think there's a lot of similarities," Whittingham said while noting that, like the original BCS busters, this year's Utes are playing good defense and putting points on the board. "We've got a great quarterback and so a lot of common ground with that football team."

Whittingham then spoke about quarterback Brian Johnson and how beneficial it was to have him spend time as Alex Smith's understudy.

Kim then asked about Whittingham's decision to stay at Utah when most of Urban Meyer's staff opted to leave for Florida.

"I had the opportunity to become a head coach," said Whittingham, who acknowledged he was approached about becoming the Gators' defensive coordinator. "I had a chance to take over. I had been there for 10 years, and I had a lot invested in the program. It made a lot of sense to stay."