"They’ll be like a minor league NFL”: Utah HC Kyle Whittingham suggests super conference could soon split off, triggering massive changes in NCAA

Utah Utes coach Kyle Whittingham has an interesting theory about the future of college football.

Whittingham has been the coach of Utah since 2005 and has seen teams leave conferences and join others. Recently, though, more and more teams are changing conferences, with UCLA and USC joining the BIG 10 and Colorado moving to the Big-12.

In light of the same, Whittingham reckons college football could be unrecognizable soon as he expects super conferences.

“It’s going to be unrecognizable from what it is now,” Whittingham said. "Eventually, he believes those super conferences will split off from the NCAA entirely and govern themselves.

"What that means in practice is that they’ll have their own commissioner, they’ll have presidents. … They’ll be like a minor league NFL... They’ll get the NIL reigned in because until they’re employees, there’s no way you can regulate NIL unless Congress does it

Not only does Whittingham expect college football to break away from the NCAA, he doesn't think the players will even have to attend class. Instead, they will just be a minor-league or development league of the NFL.

“You’ll be affiliated to wherever, but you won’t have to go to class and be eligible. You’re a minor league football player, and you can go to school, but you don’t have to," Whittingham said.

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Will Utah leave Pac-12?

If the coach is right, perhaps college football would be split between two or three conferences. What that would mean for some teams is uncertain, but for now, Utah has been vocal about staying loyal to the Pac-12.

ESPN’s Ian Fitzsimmons recently reported that Utah has not answered Big 12's calls, as they remain focused on the Pac-12.

"I had one very high-ranking Big 12 official tell me when I brought up Utah as a two-time defending Pac-12 champs. They're OK in hoops, but they sell out (their football stadium) in a top 35 media market. When it comes to TV dollars, why aren't they going after the Utes?

"I was told that Utah isn't exactly returning the phone calls. That shocked me. ... I was told that Utah doesn't want to appear to be following their rival in BYU. We all know that college athletics can be damn petty, but I mean, look, we're talking about your future. Pick up the phone."

Utah is the reigning two-time Pac-12 champion and kicks off its season on Aug. 31 against Florida.