No college football program in America matches the consistency and longevity that Kyle Whittingham delivers to Utah.
He's entering his 20th season as head coach and 31st consecutive campaign on the Utah staff.
Recently, however, Utah officials revealed that defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley's new contract was drafted to position Scalley as Whittingham's heir apparent.
If not, the Utes would owe Scalley millions of dollars.
Though Whittingham initially told assembled reporters at Big 12 Conference media days Tuesday in Las Vegas that he feels "like I've got a lot of energy right now," he also hinted at the potential timeline as he wrapped up his session.
As Whittingham talked about Utah's overall success in contests it had played in Las Vegas, he noted that the program scheduled its 2027 season-opener against Miami there inside Allegiant Stadium.
"We're going to open here in '27 against the Miami Hurricanes," Whittingham said. "I probably won't be sitting here [as head coach], but somebody will be, and that's going to be a great opportunity again to come to Vegas and play a game."
Prior to that, Whittingham had discussed more in-depth his admiration of Scalley and his own personal timeline.
"First of all, Morgan Scalley is an exceptional football coach," said Whittingham, who's guided Utah across four conferences at the helm: WAC, Mountain West, PAC-12 and now Big 12. "He's a proven commodity. He's a Utah guy, played high school ball in the state of Utah, played at Utah, jumped right into coaching at the University of Utah when he was done playing. He's invested in this program as much as anybody ever has been.
"He knows our culture inside and out. To me, it's very comforting for when that transition time does occur and it's time for new leadership to have a guy that's going to be able to carry on the values and the cultures that we've put in place."
Whittingham also emphasized Scalley would be empowered to mold the Utes program into his vision upon which time Scalley takes over.
So, when will that be?
"As to when that happens, that's a great question," Whittingham said. "I take it day by day. I'm as excited and enthused about the season as I've ever been. A lot of that is the excitement about going into a new conference, the new challenge, the new opportunity.
"But it's just going to be a day-by-day process. And I'm not getting any younger, but at the same time I feel I've got a lot of energy right now."