Michigan is trying to leave no gap ahead of a big 2026 season. Kyle Whittingham has already brought in trusted Utah staffers, and now the program is adding former New York Giants executive Chris Pettit. The move is not just about coaching support. It also strengthens Michigan’s front office, giving Whittingham more help in recruiting, planning, and daily football operations, too.

Pettit spent years identifying foundational pieces like Dexter Lawrence and Andrew Thomas for the $10.8 billion worth New York Giants. That eye for pro-ready talent is huge for Michigan. Instead of chasing after star rankings, Pettit might be able to help Kyle Whittingham pinpoint specific athletes who actually fit well into the system.

Chris Pettit brings 18 years of NFL experience, working with the New York Giants from 2004 to 2022. Among those four years, he was their director of college scouting, and before that, he worked as a scout, learning a lot about judging player talent and how they can fit into the system properly. What adds up to this even more is his experience as a football coach at the Wisconsin Badgers.

Chris Pettit helps find and bring in players like Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, Andrew Thomas, Dexter Lawrence, Darius Slayton, and Julian Love. These players made an immediate impact on the team. At Michigan, this can really help the program. He can make recruiting more organized and smarter, helping the team pick players who fit well.

Working as an assistant general manager with Michigan, Pettit can use his players’ recognition abilities to bring the perfect players to the team. Their 2027 class has just three players so far, and Pettit’s ties can bring in more suitable players for Whittingham’s team. Plus, his developmental skills can attract more players to Michigan, too.

After leaving the Giants in 2022, Chris Pettit started something new. He helps create a company called ‘Scout Smarter,’ which uses AI to help sports teams work better, make faster decisions, and improve overall performance. This way, Michigan can also get tech-savvy. Something that even Michigan’s GM Dave Peloquin did, too, as he built a career that mixes football and business.

Before coming back to college football, he worked as a general manager at an agency called Athletes First, where he gained experience on the business side of sports. This way, the team will have a perfect duo to shape its future. The team is already going through a massive setback after Sherrone Moore’s sudden firing, damaging the school’s reputation. This way, the team can have a better standing with reputable people.

Pettit is only one of Whittingham’s bigger front-office resets at Michigan. Along with adding an NFL scouting mind, he is also bring in trusted people fro operations and day-to-day management, including Natalia Hilton and Williamson.

Kyle Whittingham makes major front-office hires

Natalia Hilton already has a strong connection with head coach Kyle Whittingham. She started at Utah in 2020 as a student equipment manager and then worked closely with him as his assistant for four years. During that time, she also took on the role of director of on-campus recruiting, bringing in new players.

Before joining Michigan, she gained more experience in professional sports by working with the NBA’s Utah Jazz and the NHL’s Utah Mammoth. All of this experience will help her bring strong organization and recruiting knowledge to Michigan. The list doesn’t just stop at that, as Whittingham also hired Williamson as chief of staff to help run the program smoothly.

She also worked under Whittingham at Utah from 2024 to 2025 in the same position, so she already understands how he likes things to be managed. This makes her a good fit for the job. Before that, she spent more than 10 years in Utah in different roles. On top of that, she worked as director of business scholars from 2015 to 2024 and also served as director of undergraduate admissions and scholarships from 2020 to 2024.

Now, with all these major additions, let’s wait and see how things turn out for Michigan in the 2026 season.