Here's how much it would cost Michigan to fire Kyle Whittingham

A disastrous Michigan football season has the fans raising their metaphorical pitch forks. It hit a new low this weekend, when the Wolverines were punked 15-6 in their own house by a Michigan State team that hadn't won a football game in nearly two months and was down half of its original starting roster. With an offense stuck in reverse and a special teams unit that is seemingly incapable of making kicks, much less big plays, the bulk of the problems seems to lie on the coaching staff. The Free Press wrote earlier this fall about offensive coordinator Jason Beck's buyout , but it's legitimate to wonder if he may not be the only coach on the hot seat. Head coach Kyle Whittingham seems in over his head in Ann Arbor, and the question becomes: Does a new athletic director allow him another season to try and implement his culture and scheme, or will they simply cut bait and start anew? MICHIGAN GRADES: MSU debacle a failure on all accounts Whittingham, who turns 67 on Nov. 21, signed a five-year deal last offseason worth $41 million, according to his contract obtained by the Free Press. Per that contract, if U-M relieves him of duties at any point during that window, he is owed an "amount equivalent to 75% of the Head Coach's Base Salary in monthly installments for the remainder of the scheduled Term of this Agreement." He's set to be paid $33.0 million over the next four years, which would mean a buyout would cost $24.75 million. The deal says he's required to seek immediate employment, but it's more likely this would be a retirement given his age and where he's at in his career; it's unclear how that would affect the buyout, if at all. The $25 million is a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of U-M spending, but it would be the department's latest eight-figure amount that goes toward something off the field. Michigan is still finishing payments of more than $30 million in NCAA fines for sign stealing, recently paid more than $12 million to a law firm for an internal review of its athletic department culture, and is soon to pay more than $7 million to buy out athletic director Warde Manuel, scheduled for next month. U-M has hired president C. Cybele Raver to oversee the university and hired search firm ZRG Turnkey to assist with finding its next athletic director. U-M will not only hire an AD but a Chief Revenue Officer for the department, who will handle the financial decisions. The two are required to work hand-in-hand moving forward, a person with knowledge of the search told the Detroit Free Press. The money is not a good enough reason to keep Whittingham around, but timing could be difficult unless an AD is hired and onboarded sometime in the next 45 days. U-M was on the back end of the cycle when it hired Whittingham late last December, and while he was able to get his staff in place and a transfer portal class on board, that hasn't yielded results. The coaching carousel will pick up in earnest the week after Thanksgiving, which is 21 days from Sunday, Nov. 8. The season is beyond saving, but Whittingham believes narratives of losing the locker room are overblown. WINDSOR: This Michigan football mess can't happen again under Kyle Whittingham “Must-win games, inexplicable situations, embattled coach — all that stuff is just dramatic,” Whittingham said. “I don't believe we're going to lose the locker room. We've got some good leaders on the team. … It's been a big challenge, and I’m very confident we can get things fixed. I can't say that we're going to have it overnight, but I promise you, eventually we'll get this thing right.” If he can't find a win in the final three weeks − at Oregon (6-3), vs UCLA (9-0) or at Ohio State (6-3), perhaps the toughest three games on the schedule − the ability to "get this thing right" may be well out of his hands. Tony Garcia  is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at  @RealTonyGarcia .