Bears' Turnaround & Takeaways

Recorded: January 5th 2026 | On this episode of Bussin’ With The Boys, Will Compton and Taylor Lewan interview new head coach of Michigan football, Kyle Whittingham, and 2x Pro Bowl safety for the Chicago Bears, Kevin Byard!

The boys kick things off previewing Jarod Beeman's standup show, and a roundtable of New Year’s resolutions—including Jack McPherson, Mitch’s new diet, JP committing to a book a month, Taylor reading more, writing more, and goals around getting to bed earlier, giving back, and being more charitable. There’s plenty of classic Bussin’ banter along the way, including gout talk, fandom debates, Mr. Beast crossing into college football, and Taylor’s Uber Eats pet peeve.

From there, the show transitions into a sit-down with Kyle Whittingham, who opens up about the move from Utah to Michigan, navigating the modern NIL era, and what it takes to build culture at a new program. Whittingham clears up retirement rumors, reflects on his time at Utah with no regrets, breaks down expectations for Michigan’s offense and defense, and shares thoughts on meeting the team during bowl season, adopting Michigan’s iconic blue, staying off the internet, motorcycles, skiing with players, and an incredible 6,500-day workout streak. Taylor and Will close out the interview with a debrief on what stood out from the conversation.

Later in the episode, Kevin Byard joins the show to preview Bears vs. Packers and talk through leadership in Chicago, starting slow amid outside noise, adapting to a new team, and what makes the Green Bay rivalry different. KB dives into game planning, defensive details, NIL hypotheticals, money vs. program culture, SEC vs. Big Ten debates, Ben Johnson vs. Mike Vrabel philosophies, Caleb Williams, and when he truly bought into the Bears’ locker room.

The episode wraps with more Bussin chaos, clean takes, and a Stranger Things finale discussion to send it home.

Big Hugs.
Tiny Kisses.

TIMESTAMP CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro
2:30 Jarod Demon Special
5:22 New Years Resolutions 
33:05 Mr. Beast’s New Video Idea 
41:34 Shoutout No Free Shoutout
55:36 #TierTalk
1:03:51 Kevin’s Clean Take
1:17:59 KYLE WHITTINGHAM INTERVIEW STARTS
1:18:54 Process In Becoming Michigan's Head Coach
1:20:26 How Much Of A Pain In The Ass Is The Transfer Portal?
1:21:35 Michigan Resources vs Utah Resources 
1:22:03 Having Guys For Only One Year
1:24:38 Is He Ready For The Ohio State Rivalry?
1:26:05 STEPPING DOWN From Utah
1:28:41 Implementing His Scheme
1:32:25 Big Motorcycle Guy
1:35:52 Taylor Is FIRED UP About Coach Whittingham
1:47:45 KEVIN BYARD INTERVIEW STARTS
1:48:39 Bears Going On A Run
1:51:21 Difference Between Chicago vs Nashville
1:55:14 Being An Alternate For The Pro Bowl
1:58:18 Packers v Bears Preview
2:02:24 Would He Have Transferred From MTSU?
2:07:23 Ben Johnson Implementing His Culture
2:11:58 When Did The Team Buy In?
2:14:44 Growth Of Caleb Williams
2:20:21 Bud Light: What Would You Do Anything For?

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