The case for Kyle Whittingham as Maryland's next head football coach

Over the coming weeks and months, the Maryland football program will search for a new head coach to replace the departed Randy Edsall. We know who the candidates are, but who should Maryland pick? We'll state every coach's case, whether he wants the job or not, in 500 words or fewer.

Kyle Whittingham, Utah head coach

Possibility Scale: 2/10

The resume

After playing linebacker at BYU from 1978-81, Whittingham spent one season each in the USFL and CFL. He's been coaching ever since, save for a stint as a replacement player for the Los Angeles Rams in 1987. Whittingham has been at Utah for 22 seasons, starting as the defensive line coach in 1994 and replacing his father, Fred, as defensive coordinator one year later. In 2004, after Urban Meyer left the school to become the head coach at Florida, Whittingham stepped right into the top spot.

Since then, it's been a very successful decade for the Utes. They are 91-43 under Whittingham, including a 7-1 record in bowl games. The highlight came in 2008, when Whittingham won every major coaching award for leading the Utes to a 13-0 record. Utah even received a season-ending first-place vote in the Coaches Poll (from Whittingham himself, but whatever). Utah moved to the Pac-12 in 2011, and is currently enjoying its best season since joining the conference: 6-0 right now, ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25 and No. 7 in the Coaches Poll.

The benefits

Whittingham would be a miracle hire for Maryland. He has over two decades of coaching experience under his belt, including 12 years heading a growing and now somewhat prestigious program and winning big football games. If that's not enough, I can also point out that he has a master's degree in professional leadership, he played several weeks in the NFL and three of his former assistants are now head coaches: Oregon State's Gary Andersen, Weber State's Jay Hill and Hawaii's Norm Chow. Plus, hey, he coaches at an Under Armour school already.

This, unfortunately, is why Maryland might be beneath him. Whittingham is one of Southern California's top candidates, and the Trojans are and have always been a much bigger deal than the Terps. He'll be floated in every major coaching search this offseason, but if Utah keeps winning, he'll have all the more reason to remain under contract there.

The drawbacks

In light of the Terps' offensive woes this year, many believe that the new head coach should be an offensive-minded one. Although Utah is averaging 36.8 points per game this season, Whittingham's area of expertise is on the other side of the ball. Maryland would also more than likely have to blow him away with a massive contract, and even then, the team still wouldn't be all that nationally relevant for a couple of years.

In one sentence

Suffice it to say that Whittingham probably isn't leaving Utah to come to College Park, but it'd be nice if he did.