Utah’s Kyle Whittingham won’t speculate on USC speculation

Kyle Whittingham is not coming to the Coliseum on Saturday for a job audition.

But USC fans — and perhaps administrators — will be watching closely when Utah’s coach brings the third-ranked Utes to town for a Pac-12 Conference game against the Trojans.

Utah’s unbeaten record, and its Pac-12 title and College Football Playoff hopes, will be on the line when it plays a USC team reeling from the firing of coach Steve Sarkisian and last week’s loss at Notre Dame.

Whittingham has recently been prominently mentioned among possible candidates to become the Trojans’ next coach.

Asked Tuesday if USC was a job he would be interested in — and whether he or his representatives have been contacted regarding the opening — Whittingham demurred.

“I never make any comments on any job speculation one way or the other,” he said. “Why speculate on speculation? It doesn’t make sense.”

Whittingham, 55, is in the USC conversation because he is a mature, defense-minded coach — the antithesis of offensive whiz kids Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin — who has turned the Utes into a major Pac-12 player in Utah’s fifth year in the conference.

The Utes are coming off a 34-18 victory over Arizona State that improved their record to 6-0 overall, 3-0 in the Pac-12.

“The fact that Utah has won as big as they’ve won, I don’t think anyone that’s watched this team grow in the last couple of years is surprised that they’re undefeated right now,” Stanford Coach David Shaw said. “They’re a mature football team with a great coaching staff.”

Washington State Coach Mike Leach characterized the Utes under Whittingham as “just a tough physical outfit” in all three phases.

“They’re very good defensively,” he said, “and of course that’s Kyle’s identity.”

USC linebacker Su’a Cravens, who is distantly related to Whittingham by marriage, offered a simple explanation for Utah’s success.

“He’s been there forever, so his recruits trust him into not taking another job,” Cravens said. “And he’s just done a great job of recruiting and running what he wants to run.”

Whittingham, who played linebacker at Brigham Young, joined Utah’s staff as defensive line coach under Ron McBride in 1994 and became defensive coordinator the next year. He worked under Urban Meyer in 2003 and 2004 before taking over as head coach in 2005.

Whittingham guided Utah to an unbeaten season in 2008, capping it with a Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama.

“Urban got it cranked up a little bit and Kyle has done a fabulous job,” Arizona Coach Rich Rodriguez said. “So I think they were good before they entered the Pac-12, and they’ve been good ever since they got in too.”

Utah finished 8-5 in 2011, 5-7 in each of the next two seasons and 9-4 in 2014, including a victory over USC at Salt Lake City.

Now the Utes are the only unbeaten team in the conference.

“We knew it was going to be a process when we joined the league,” Whittingham said. “And it was going to take some time — four, five, six years was probably a guesstimate at a timetable we would need before we were able to be up to speed.

“We’re still not a finished product.”

On Saturday, despite their record, the Utes won’t even be the favorite. USC opened with a three-point favorite in the eyes of Las Vegas bookmakers.

Whittingham said USC still has the most talent in the conference.

“The biggest concern is the sheer number of players they have that are just incredibly talented,” he said, adding, “I don’t think there’s a coach in the Pac-12 that will argue that USC doesn’t have the best talent in the conference.

“That’s just how it is year in and year out.”

Next year, perhaps Whittingham will be in a position to directly benefit from USC’s talent.

Not that he will talk about the possibility, as was demonstrated when he was asked about his interest.

“That’s always been my stance,” he said. “Any time there’s speculation or conversation about openings and that I just choose not to have any comment.

“That seems the safest route to go.”

Follow Gary Klein on Twitter @latimesklein