Ad Disclosure
Kyle Whittingham doubles down on OSU comment: ‘Do we have a better chance of winning if I hated them?’
By Ethan Stone
Published:
A few weeks ago, new Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham refused to say he hates Ohio State.
From his perspective, the former Utah head coach doesn’t see why the “hatred factor,” as he put it, is a necessary component of a rivalry matchup. “I just think a rivalry can be intense and emotional without the hatred factor,” Whittingham said. “I don’t think there’s any place for that personally.”
On Monday, Whittingham doubled down on that statement. He insisted that he knows about the game’s importance, but he doesn’t seem particularly interested in the optics that come with hating the Buckeyes. In other words, hating Ohio State doesn’t give you points if you can’t beat them — and it’s all about winning the game.
“Do we have a better chance of winning if I hated them? I don’t understand,” Whittingham said. “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.”
Michigan has won 4 of the last 5 matchups against the Buckeyes, but Ohio State got the better of the Wolverines in 2025. Whittingham, especially after making comments like this, is going to have a lot of eyes on him come November 28.
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.