ORLANDO, Fla. – Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham said during the broadcast of Michigan’s 41-27 loss to Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 that his staff would be back in shape quickly, and he wasn’t kidding.
Whittingham said on College GameDay, less than 24 hours after word broke that Utah offensive coordinator Jason Baker would be heading to Ann Arbor to once again work under the former Utah captain in the same capacity. The move has been anticipated since shortly after Whittingham was hired on December 26, but has now been officially announced.
Utah Utes offensive coordinator Jason Baker watches before a game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Nov. 1, 2025, in Salt Lake City.
Utah’s offense ranks fifth nationally in scoring (41.4 points per game) and was even better in a 44-22 victory over Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl. The game was supposed to be Whittingham’s last with the program, but instead he said goodbye to the team and came to Florida State to start building relationships.
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The Utes rank sixth nationally with 478.6 yards per game and have the second-best rushing attack with 269.8 yards per game, 37 rushing touchdowns and lead the nation at 6.1 yards per carry. Whittingham told reporters after his introductory news conference that UM will be staffed with 11 personnel on a power-spread attack. He can do that alongside Baker, who is responsible for a large number of run options and read-pass options — something UM QB Bryce Underwood has really improved on as the 2025 season progresses.
In a KSL.com report earlier this year, Whittingham described how Baker “wreaks havoc on defenses.”
“Not just in coverage, but positionally — putting defensive ends, linebackers in positions where they can’t be right,” Whittingham said. “If they do one thing, we do this; if they do another, we do that. So that’s a big part of it.
“Jason is very good at getting the best out of his players and putting them in positions to do what they do best. Instead of asking him to do something he doesn’t like, he does a good job of finding their role and maximizing that role.”
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Baker spent one season at New Mexico State and two at Syracuse before spending a year in Salt Lake City. He has coached quarterbacks every year since 2013, including seven years at Virginia (2015-21) and three years at BYU before that (2013-15).
December 31, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Devon Dampier (4) receives the Most Valuable Player Trophy after defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Baker, 45, has a history of developing quarterbacks. Devon Dampier followed Baker from New Mexico to Utah and was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year this season – completing 212 of 334 passes (63.5%) for 2,490 yards, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions. He ranked seventh nationally in quarterback rating (84.4) while also rushing 146 times for 835 yards and 10 touchdowns.
On paper, like Michigan’s hiring of Whittingham, it seems like a good fit for Underwood and should help Michigan improve significantly on offense — which ranks 58th in total offense (396.6 yards per game) and 106th in the passing game (185.8 yards per game) in 2025.
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Tony Garcia is the Wolverines news writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: Michigan football to hire Jason Baker as offensive coordinator