Michigan's Kyle Whittingham could be a one-year hire, industry sources tell CBS

Kyle Whittingham signed a five-year contract at Michigan last December. Seven games into his first season, people around the sport are already asking whether he gets a second one. CBS Sports' John Talty, Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer report that multiple industry sources think the Wolverines could go back into the head-coaching market after just one year, according to a HEAVY summary of that reporting.

No decision has been made. The report does not say Michigan intends to fire the 66-year-old, who came over from more than two decades at Utah after Sherrone Moore was dismissed, or that it has started looking for a replacement. CBS called Whittingham a bridge hire. The open question is how short that bridge turns out to be. One unnamed source put it this way to CBS: "I think they know this isn't the long term."

The timing depends on the athletic department. Warde Manuel, who hired Whittingham, steps down at the end of the year, and the university has formally opened a national search for his successor, led by president-elect C. Cybele Raver with current president Domenico Grasso, according to the University Record. Michigan has hired the firm ZRG Turnkey to help. Industry sources told CBS they expect the school to name its new AD before making any football decision. That would put the call in the hands of someone who did not hire Whittingham.

The results haven't done him any favors. Michigan is 4-3 and 1-3 in Big Ten play, with three losses in its last four games. All three losses were close: 20-19 to Iowa, 20-14 at Minnesota and 13-6 to No. 6 Indiana on Saturday. Michigan did not score a touchdown in that game, which HEAVY reported went to overtime. The Wolverines average 20.3 points per game, and their wins include one-score finishes against Western Michigan (13-12) and Penn State (21-18) as well as a 17-10 upset of No. 11 Oklahoma in September. CBS floated a 6-6 finish as the kind of record that could force the issue. After Rutgers and Michigan State, the schedule still has Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State.

What it means for Saturday at Rutgers

Michigan plays at Rutgers on Saturday, October 31 (BTN), and the market expects a lopsided result. On the game board, Michigan is favored at -641 on the moneyline at Novig. Polymarket has the best Michigan price at -584, and Rutgers is +567 at Novig. Novig sets the spread at Michigan -15.5 at -104. Across the 11 venues the line runs from 14.5 at Hard Rock Bet, priced at -110, to 16.5 on the Rutgers side at theScore Bet. Novig has the total at 44.5, and theScore Bet's under sits at 46.5. Sportsbook hold on the spread ranges from 3.4% to 7.0%.

That number is a lot to ask of this offense. Michigan's biggest margin of the season came against UTEP, 52-17. Its other three wins were by seven points or fewer, and the Wolverines haven't topped 21 points since that game. Whittingham said after the Indiana loss that his staff has to fix the run game and the red-zone offense. Rutgers is the first chance to show those fixes are working, and it comes while Michigan is still deciding how long he stays.