Kyle Whittingham was one of several names mentioned by ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Saturday morning in connection with the vacant Texas A&M coaching position.

The Aggies fired Jimbo Fisher earlier this month. A number of big names have been bandied about for the job in the two weeks since, including Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Washington’s Kalen DeBoer.

According to Thamel, Texas A&M has targeted the final weekend of the regular season to have their coaching search wrapped up. He reported that Kentucky’s Mark Stoops is a name “expected to emerge” this weekend.

“Other names on the Texas A&M radar: Duke coach Mike Elko, Kyle Whittingham of Utah, Jedd Fisch at Arizona, and Jeff Traylor at UTSA,” Thamel reported.

Texas A&M’s athletic director notably said at the beginning of the search that everyone was a candidate for the job. Eating Fisher’s $70 million-plus buyout would seem to signal that Texas A&M is playing with monopoly money and could make a case to just about anyone.

But it’s hard to imagine Whittingham anywhere else. The Utah head coach has been with the program since 1994 and has helmed the ship since 2005.

Whittingham has called this season the toughest of his career from an injury standpoint. Yet there has been no indication he’s unhappy in Salt Lake City.

He also has no ties whatsoever to the Aggies. He was born in California and played his amateur ball in Utah. He played his professional ball in Los Angeles, Denver, and New Orleans. His coaching career has been spent in Utah and Idaho.

A&M could very well just be spinning the tires on one of the most respected coaches in the profession.