Urban Meyer says he 'lost a little respect' for Michigan, calls Kyle Whittingham 'perfect fit'

Growing up in Ohio, Urban Meyer saw plenty of battles between Ohio State and Michigan. He watched Woody Hayes go head-to-head against Bo Schembechler and said those memories played into the respect he had for the Wolverines after taking over as Buckeyes head coach.

But over the last few years, Meyer said he “lost a little respect” for Michigan. He cited violations within the program and alluded to the Sherrone Moore situation as reasons why, but called Kyle Whittingham the “perfect fit” for the program.

Meyer said part of the reason he wanted to beat Michigan so badly while at Ohio State was because of the respect he had for the program. He built relationships with former coaches such as Schembechler, Lloyd Carr and Gary Moeller while also praising the school’s academics. But Meyer said that respect started to dwindle the last few years as the program dealt with different issues.

“I’ve said this many times … name another person who respects that school more than I do,” Meyer said on The Script podcast. “And I’m including, probably, some people that have gone there. That’s how much I respect that school. That’s why we worked so hard to beat them. I know their history. I was friends with Bo Schembechler, I was friends with Lloyd Carr, Gary Moeller, I know those great players. When someone says they have great players, I snap all over people and say, what are you talking about? The respect I have for that school academically, the school as a football program.

“I’ll tell you, it’s taken a little bit of a hit, though. What’s gone on the last four or five years, I lost a little the respect. I know this is going to make some headlines, but the nonsense that has gone on up there, that’s not the Wolverine team or program that – I mean, when I started hearing about all the violations and then, the most recent stuff. They hired the right guy to get him back.”

Urban Meyer: Michigan ‘got a great one’

Urban Meyer, of course, has a close relationship with Kyle Whittingham from their days at Utah. In fact, when Meyer left for Florida, Whittingham took over as the Utes’ head coach and stayed in Salt Lake City until his departure in December 2025.

But as Michigan went through its coaching search to replace Moore after his firing for cause, the Wolverines called Whittingham. He then reached out to Meyer, who joked about not wanting his former defensive coordinator to end up in Ann Arbor. But as he assessed the situation at Michigan, Meyer said Whittingham is what the program needs.

“He’s 66 years old, but he’s a 50-year-old body and mind,” Meyer said. “And then, after we talked for about 20 minutes, my comment was, ‘That’s a perfect fit. I get it. Of all the people in the United States of America that they should call, it’s you.’

“I know what he stands for, I know he’s about doing the right thing. It’s about toughness, it’s about line of scrimmage, it’s about academics. He’s about the right stuff. And they got a great one.”