Kyle Whittingham rolls in on a motorcycle and a cutoff shirt on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’

Kyle Whittingham knows how to make an entrance.

The longtime Utah coach came rumbling in on a motorcycle to his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” in Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon with a cutoff sweatshirt, backward hat and some flashy shades in a nod to McAfee, the former Indianapolis Colts punter who usually does the show in a tank top or some kind of sleeveless shirt.

McAfee was donning a Utah vest for the occasion.

Once Whittingham was onstage, the crowd chanted for an arm wrestle with McAfee, which Whittingham won. Fans got to see a different side of the usually even-keeled Utah coach, who’s known off the field for his love of family, riding motorcycles, biking and classic rock music (“There’s no music after 1985 that I can tell you anything about,” Whittingham said Friday).

“You’re maybe the most relatable human I’ve brought in from the coaching world,” McAfee said.

McAfee’s viewing demographic skews younger, and who knows, Whittingham’s appearance could help with recruiting. The video of Whittingham rolling in on the motorcycle was going viral, and McAfee and crew were certainly talking up Whittingham and the Utes through the duration of the three-hour program.

“Watching you ride in here, I know I’d take an (expletive) bullet for you,” “Pat McAfee Show” co-host Boston Connor said to Whittingham.

Since he was in the cutoff shirt, McAfee asked Whittingham about his long streak of working out.

“I try to downplay that, but it was end of June of 2008, I had missed a couple workouts, I felt crappy, like, ‘What am I doing? Get off your butt and get going.’ On July 1, 2008, I said, ‘I’m going to see how long I can go working out without missing,’” Whittingham said. “Since then, until now, it’s intact.”

Six days a week — Whittingham takes a rest day Sunday — the Utah coach is hitting the gym.

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Of course, when asked about the success of the program, Whittingham gave all the credit to the players.

“Recruiting. Good players,” Whittingham said. “We’ve had a ton of good players come through this program, like Steve (Smith Sr.).”

Smith, who was also onstage — and will be the guest picker on “College GameDay” on Saturday morning — said Whittingham was “a hell of a coach.”

Whittingham then said that he tried to get Smith into coaching, and Smith said that Whittingham “offered me the opportunity to interview last year at wide receivers coach.”

Smith would no doubt be a dream hire for Utah, but he’s comfortable in his NFL Network gig right now.

“I know what coach Whittingham is expecting, and he wants that commitment, and right now I don’t have the bandwidth to fully give him that commitment that he’s desiring,” Smith said.

Whittingham capped off his appearance by answering a question on how long he was going to continue coaching.

“I’m a year-to-year guy right now. As soon as I run out of passion and energy it’ll be time to step down. I’ve got more passion and energy right now than I’ve had in 19 years,” Whittingham said as chants of “We love Kyle” rang out.

Other highlights from ‘The Pat McAfee Show’

• Former Utah and NFL quarterback Alex Smith joined the show remotely in the first hour. Smith headlined the 2004 “BCS Busters” and was part of the reason “College GameDay” made a stop in Salt Lake City for the first time ever in 2004.

“I’ll never forget the first time College GameDay came out,” Smith said. He predicted a 28-24 Utah win in Saturday’s game.

“Unbelievable culture, unbelievable program and the country is going to find out this is one of the best game day experiences in the Western U.S. Unbelievable home field advantage,” Smith said, “What Whitt has been dong, they’re building a bully and I think they’re going to show everybody.”

• Utah quarterback Cam Rising unveiled a hand-painted helmet honoring Utah’s student section. When asked if he was going to come back next year and lead Utah in the Big 12 Conference, Rising answered, “Everything is on the table right now, but I’m more so focused on this season,” as Utah fans chanted, “One more year!”

• Former Ute tight end Dalton Kincaid, fresh off of scoring his first NFL touchdown with the Buffalo Bills, joined the show remotely.

“It felt good. More than anything, it felt good getting a win,” he said of the Bills’ win on Thursday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “Just excited going into tomorrow with Utah having a big game, ‘College GameDay.’ Just excited for the Utes.”