Kyle David Whittingham is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Utah, a position he has held since 2005, and is the all-time leader in wins at Utah. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utah's defensive coordinator for ten seasons. He was named head coach of Utah after Urban Meyer left for the University of Florida in 2004. He won AFCA Coach of the Year and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2008 after leading the 2008 Utah Utes football team to an undefeated season and a win in the 2009 Sugar Bowl over the 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide football team. He and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy are the second longest tenured FBS coaches, trailing only Kirk Ferentz. He is the longest tenured head coach in the Pac-12.

The 2008 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by 4th year head football coach Kyle Whittingham, plays its home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium. Utah was one of only two teams in the top-level Division I FBS to finish the regular season undefeated, but after the Broncos were defeated by TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl and Utah won the Sugar Bowl over Alabama, the Utes finished as the nation's only undefeated team. It was the fifth undefeated and untied season in school history. During the 2008-2009 season, Utah defeated 4 teams that were ranked in the AP's final poll: #6 Alabama, #7 TCU, #18 Oregon State, and #25 BYU. Utah also began the season by defeating the Michigan Wolverines—ranked #24 at the time—in Ann Arbor. This resume propelled Utah to finish the season ranked #1 in four out of the six BCS computer models: Sagarin (Elo-Chess), Peter Wolfe, Anderson & Hester, and Massey.