Freddie Whittingham -- 2022 FootballScoop Tight Ends Coach of the Year
FootballScoop is proud to announce that Freddie Whittingham (Utah) is the 2022 FootballScoop Tight Ends Coach of the Year presented by AstroTurf.
In 2022, Utah defended its Pac-12 championship and returned to the Rose Bowl. And the Utes accomplished those feats because, once again, their tight end room was as good as any in the nation.
After losing Brant Kuithe four games into the season, senior Dalton Kincaid stepped up to grab 70 catches for 890 yards and eight touchdowns, all of which led the team. Kincaid's 70 catches are tied for the most by any Ute since David Reed caught 81 passes since 2009 -- and Kincaid might have equaled or topped that number had he not missed two games, including the Rose Bowl.
Kincaid had multiple standout games -- seven catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns against Southern Utah, four for 66 and two scores against Arizona State, 11 for 99 against Oregon, and five for 102 and a score versus Colorado -- but his performance against USC in October single-handedly changed the course of Utah's season. The Third Team AP All-American and First Team All-Pac-12 honoree was the target of 16 passes and caught all 16, for 234 yards and a touchdown, which helped the Utes trigger a 14-point comeback to win 43-42. The 16 catches tied for the second most in Utah history, the 234 yards stands alone in second place, and the combined performance is the clear selection for the single best performance by any Ute pass-catcher ever.
An All-Pac-12 honoree from a season ago, Kuithe was primed for another big season before suffering a season-ending torn ACL in the Sept. 25 game against Arizona State. The senior hauled in a touchdown in all three games he completed, finishing his brief season with 19 grabs for 206 yards. He caught nine passes for 105 yards in the season-opener at Florida.
Junior Thomas Yassmin stepped in to supplement Kincaid as a big-play threat out of the tight end spot. Yassmin caught only 13 passes, but those 13 grabs totaled 301 yards and six touchdowns, including a 29-yard touchdown against Southern Utah, a 72-yard grab versus Arizona State, a 41-yard touchdown against Colorado, and a 60-yard touchdown to break open Utah's Pac-12 Championship win over USC.
Elsewhere, senior Logan Kendall also caught five passes for 43 yards and sophomore Munir McClain tallied two grabs for 18 yards.
Utah's tight ends also helped power a run game that averaged 217.64 yards per game (11th nationally) on 5.44 a carry (ninth) with 38 touchdowns (fifth). Utah scored 38.6 points per outing (11th) on 6.5 yards per play (23rd).
Whittingham was a three-year starting running back at BYU, a member of the Cougars' 1984 national championship team, and a First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American. He worked two decades in the academic publishing industry before joining his brother Kyle's team as director of player personnel in 2012, then moved to tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator in 2016.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Jeff Banks [Texas], Matt Drinkall [Army], Todd Hartley [Georgia], Gerad Parker [Notre Dame] and Whittingham) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel.
Todd Hartley (Georgia) won the inaugural FootballScoop Tight Ends Coach of the Year award last year.
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