Update >> MIchigan has formally announced the hire of Whittingham.
Update >> FootballScoop can confirm the belief in the football facility is that Whittingham will be the choice to take over the Wolverines.
This morning, Kyle Whittingham has emerged as the focus of the Wolverines coaching search.
ESPN first shared that news which was disseminated to multiple outlets.
ESPN reports that Whittingham is expected to engage in significant discussions with top Michigan officials today, and a deal could come together in the near future with approval.
After 21 seasons leading the program at Utah, Whittingham went 177-88 developing the Utes into a perennial conference title contender and top 25 team known for their physical brand of play.
Earlier this month, Whittingham made the decision to step down after a 10-2 season, but was clear in his public comments that it was not a retirement. Instead, he joked that he was "entering the transfer portal," leaving the door open to coaching should the right opportunity present itself.
The Utes are playing in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on New Year's Eve.
We noted earlier this week that Whittingham had been persistently linked to the opening in Ann Arbor, and that there has been support for him in Michigan circles because of Whittingham's ability to build a maintain a program known for their physicality, a healthy winning culture, and also a background free of issues - something the Michigan program is hungry for following the tenures of Jim Harbaugh and Sherrone Moore, where there has been no shortage of headlines involving the program.
A few days ago, on Christmas Eve, we shared a prominent new name had entered the mix in Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
Multiple sources, at both the collegiate and NFL levels, shared with FootballScoop Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night that Michigan had begun vetting current Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken and intended to speak this week with Monken.
A former head coach at Southern Mississippi who helped Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs program win back-to-back national championships earlier this decade as his offensive coordinator, Monken is a Wheaton, Illinois, native and part of what arguably is the state of Illinois' first family of college football coaching. His cousin, Jeff Monken, is an award-winning, highly decorated head coach of the Army Black Knights; his brother, Ted, is a prominent high school coach in the Chicago area.
Head here to see our full run-down of the search from Christmas Eve, which included Monken as well as Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm, and Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, as well as Whittingham and others.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for all the latest.