Utah didn't have a lot of money and he stepped down the day after Utah announced the deal with the private equity firm. Anyone who's worked for private equity knows the pain that can come with that.
Also Utah in the Big 12 is not as attractive as Utah in the Pac 12.
It took 2 weeks to hire him. Whittingham stepped down 2 days after Michigan fired Moore. Most of that time was also the recruiting dead period.
That's not a long time when I'm sure Michigan had a few others in mind which would have also likely affected where Whittingham ended up.
I'll agree with you on the legal advice. I also really doubt Flores could still be an insufferable prick and remain on KOC's coaching staff. I'm sure he's learned a lot since then.
Flores wasn't a bad head coach either. He was 24-25 overall and 10-6 in year 2. Despite starting 1-7 in year 3 and...
When Whittingham stepped down from Utah he said he wasn't retiring and joked around about 'entering the transfer portal'. Michigan also knew about Moore's issues well before firing him.
You can connect the dots pretty quickly from there.
I was also disappointed to not see Brockington yesterday. Even though he's not tall, he'll measure well at everything else and be on someone's training camp roster to start next season.