The first half of Kyle Whittingham’s first game as a full-time college football coach hardly could have gone better, from his perspective on the Idaho State sideline. One of his Bengals linebackers returned an interception of a Scott Mitchell pass for a touchdown and ISU trailed Utah only 13-10 at halftime.
The third quarter? Another story entirely, just like the rest of that winless 1988 season in Whittingham’s introduction to the profession in ISU’s downtrodden program at age 28.
Three decades later, approaching Utah’s all-time wins record and having earned more than $30 million in 15 years as the school’s head coach, Whittingham can look back at six losing seasons on the ISU staff as “an excellent experience.