Michigan Athletics has been involved in one scandal after another. Kyle Whittingham joined the program fully aware of the situation. However, what has changed now is that Warde Manuel, the AD who hired Whittingham, is stepping down. The new head coach now finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. But according to Urban Meyer, there is a way out.

The former Ohio State head coach sat with FOX Sports’ Rob Stone on his July 22 Triple Option podcast and discussed the problems Whittingham is going to face. Meyer acknowledged the pressure and intense scrutiny that will come with the new AD, but he still thinks that if Kyle Whittingham produces results in time, all of Michigan’s problems would be history to its fans.

“Remember, Coach Whittingham comes out of the chute 7-and-0 or 8-and-0, and people are going to forget,” Meyer said. “You lose, they’ll keep coming back to this. If you win, you won’t hear again. You won’t hear about this again, I would imagine.”

For Michigan, Sherrone Moore’s firing after his inappropriate relationship was the catalyst for significant change within the athletic department. The program hired a Chicago-based law firm to investigate the athletic department’s operations. A few days ago, the law firm presented its findings to the board of trustees. After that, the program announced that Manuel would leave at the end of the calendar year.

The search for a new AD is now on in Michigan, and they will undoubtedly bring a whole new blueprint to clean UM’s image. We have already seen, through historical precedents like Maryland’s Ralph Friedgen and Auburn’s Bryan Harsin, that existing head coaches may get leeway from their new ADs. The same may be true of Kyle Whittingham.

In college football, especially, winning is paramount and almost erases all past mistakes. Jim Harbaugh, for instance, had several scandals during his time at Michigan. However, his 2023 national championship win surpasses everything, at least for the UM fans. Even back in 2010, controversy broke out about Cam Newton’s father accepting thousands of dollars in pay-for-play arrangements in the pre-NIL era. However, Auburn fans had a different response to those allegations.

Auburn fans’ reactions were especially notable as they rallied around Newton. Finally, Newton almost single-handedly carried Auburn to a national title, immortalizing himself in Auburn lore for eternity. A similar case occurred with Urban Meyer himself, who was suspended for three games in the 2018 season.

Questions about Meyer’s handling of Zach Smith’s domestic abuse allegations led Ohio State to suspend Meyer. Although it did create some backlash among OSU fans, Meyer now remains one of their greatest coaches of all time. Even in the 2018 season, OSU went on to win the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl, which kept much of the criticism around his suspension at bay.

Of course, it’s too much to ask of a first-year head coach to produce 10+ win seasons straightaway. That, too, after a highly controversial scandal and further attrition. But given the delicate situation after Manuel’s departure, that’s exactly what the new HC needs to do.