University of Utah’s head coach Kyle Whittingham is literally moving buildings in order for Utah football to rise to the top of their new conference.
Tuesday afternoon, Whittingham took part in the demolition process of their old athletic center building by manning the controls of the grapple machine to bring down the first piece of the Dee Glen Smith Center. Here’s video of his demolition skills.
After his turn at the controls of grapple he spoke with KSL TV to voice his excitement:
“That was exhilarating, without a doubt,” Whittingham said with a grin after tearing down pieces of the former Dee Glen Smith Center with an excavator. “It (will be) huge for our current players, having a place for them to take care of all of their needs,” Whittingham said of the new athletic center.
The old athletic center is being torn down in order to build the new football building that will allow Utah to move a notch up in the athletic facilities arms race in the Pac-12. $30 million is being put towards this new facility that is set to open in time for the start of the 2013 season.
Utah will now have a fancy new recruiting tool that they can use to bring in more blue chippers to help their program bounce back after a poor showing in their first season in the Pac-12. The Utes finished 4-5 in conference play and limped to the finish, losing to road challenged Colorado in their final game of the season in Salt Lake City.
Whittingham is doing everything he can to return Utah to its powerhouse traditions. The new football building will help with recruiting and so will a proposed expansion of their stadium which Whittingham hopes to start within the next few years.
It seems that the coach will not let anything stand in his way of improving the Utah program, not even a building.
