Last November, Ohio State wrecked Michigan so badly that Sherrone Moore had to be fired after he had some misconduct. Had TTUN won that game, Moore might still be the head coach. Instead, Kyle Whittingham was hired to lead the Wolverines. He is a good coach, but he doesn't seem to get the rivalry.
The Buckeyes absolutely hate the Wolverines. Yet, Whittingham doesn't want to participate in that hate. He has made comments that he doesn't see room for hate in the rivalry. He doubled down on those comments recently, and he clearly isn't ready for what's about to happen.
Kyle Whittingham struggles to understand the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry
Whittingham still says that he doesn't have to hate the Buckeyes in order to beat them.
#Michigan HC Kyle Whittingham on his comments about not hating Ohio State from Big Ten media days:
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) August 10, 2026
“Do we have a better chance of winning if I hated them? I don’t understand. Whatever gives us the best chance to win, I’m all for it. I want to beat them worst than anybody.” pic.twitter.com/e4fjLPBltT
“Do we have a better chance of winning if I hated them? I don’t understand. Whatever gives us the best chance to win, I’m all for it. I want to beat them worse than anybody. I don't know how that got to be such a hot topic."
Clearly, Whittingham still doesn't understand what this rivalry has been built on for centuries. These two programs have hated each other since before the 1900s. It's a respectful hate, but you can be sure that Ryan Day hates TTUN more than any other school his team plays.
You would think that Whittingham would be well-versed in the rivalry since he is such good friends with Urban Meyer. Meyer famously hates TTUN while having an enormous amount of respect for them. That healthy hate helped him go undefeated against TTUN during his Ohio State tenure.
Instead, it seems like Whittingham is not fully diving into the rivalry. That could spell doom for him later on this year when TTUN travels to Columbus for The Game. Ohio State and its fans will be full of hate and ready to go. Whittingham might not have his team ready to do the same.
Ohio State is using Fall camp to prepare for The Game
Ohio State is already starting to prepare for The Game. The new offensive system seems to entail a lot of motion, which could confuse the new Michigan defense. Whittingham might have to have a new starting quarterback at the end of the year the way Bryce Underwood has looked, too.
Ryan Day seems to have finally gotten the monkey off his back in terms of beating Michigan with his guy. The dominant performance in Ann Arbor a year ago should give him the confidence that the team can actually beat TTUN now that they don't know what plays the Buckeyes are running.
Whittingham is already 66 years old, so he isn't going to be the long-term solution in Ann Arbor anyway. His stay in town could be much shorter than fans envisioned if he doesn't evolve his feelings on this sacred rivalry. Too many losses could make him permanently retire from the game of football.
Ohio State fans are loving this, in contrast. Any coach on the other side who doesn't fully understand the rivalry will be welcome.
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