Before Kyle Whittingham decided to join the Wolverines, he sought advice from a vocal Michigan enemy. There was no way sentiments would not take over. The hatred for the team got the better of former Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer, who advised him to stay off Ann Arbor. But that was before he took back his words.

“I think it’s well documented,” Meyer said on THE SCRIPT podcast. “I talked to Kyle a bit, and certainly, he texts quite a bit. He calls me, and he says, ‘Wait, did you hear this?’ and I started laughing. I thought it was something… I don’t know. And he says, ‘I got a phone call from the Wolverines’.

“And I was like, ‘Whoa! Wait a minute. And my first reaction was, ‘don’t go there, pal,'” he added.

Meyer played a role in the 128-year rivalry between the Wolverines and the Buckeyes for seven years. The rivalry, which is ranked by Encyclopedia Britannica as one of the ten greatest sports rivalries in history, is not one you partake in and recover from. You choose a side, and it becomes part of your identity, and Meyer took that very personally. Thankfully, he has the bragging rights, with a perfect 7-0 record against them between 2012 and 2018.

It’s understandable why Meyer doesn’t want Whittingham in Michigan. He knows how good his former aide is. Whittingham was Meyer’s defensive coordinator at Utah between 2003 and 2004, when the Utes went 10-2 in 2003 before following it up with an undefeated season the next year, capped by a Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh.

That said, Meyer does respect the school he wants to see fail. “I’ve said this many times, and I know Cardale knows this, because I’ve said this to our players. Name another person who respects that school more than I do. And I’m including probably some people who have gone there… That’s why we work so hard to beat them. I know their history, he added.

Perhaps it was this respect, mixed with some convincing words from Whittingham, that eventually led to Meyer’s endorsement. It was the kind of decision where logic had to defeat emotion. Even Meyer could not deny that the pair were a perfect match. Whittingham needed a program that would back him enough to prove his true qualities, and the Wolverines needed a coach who could make good use of the resources at his disposal.

“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, they should call, it’s you. I know what he stands for. I know it’s about doing the right thing. It’s about toughness. It’s about academics. And they got a great one,” Meyer said.

Urban Meyer loses respect for Wolverines due to recent happenings

Even when the Wolverines have had the better of the rivalry in recent years, Meyer asserted that Michigan has been declining overall. Michigan has defeated the Buckeyes four times in its last five meetings. However, Meyer insisted that something has gone wrong with the program lately, especially after the Wolverines’ 27-9 loss to Ohio State in November 2025.

“I’ll tell you, it’s taken a little bit of a hit though,” Meyer said. “What’s gone on in the last four or five years, I lost a little respect. I know this is going to make some headlines. 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.”

Meyer was referring more to the off-field occurrences surrounding the program. Michigan has dealt with plenty of problems over the last few years, from the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal and NCAA scrutiny to Jim Harbaugh’s departure to the NFL and the instability that followed under Sherrone Moore.

The most hyped prospect in the country last year, Bryce Underwood, also underdelivered, with his numbers, 2,428 yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions, nowhere near what those who followed him in high school expected. But he, too, sees optimism now that Whittingham is a Wolverine.

“We went through a lot, but I think we’re going to be more player-led this season. I feel like we are more of a team now,” he said.

Above all, Meyer gave the assurance that Michigan had found its solution in Whittingham, calling him “a 66-year-old, but he’s in a 50-year-old body and mind.”