As 2014 wound to a close, the chances of Kyle Whittingham returning as Utah's coach this season seemed iffy.

There were reports circulating of a serious rift between Whittingham and his athletic director, Chris Hill, and Whittingham was particularly troubled that he was losing assistant coaches to other schools for better deals.

The two sides obviously patched things up enough for Whittingham to agree to a new deal (a one-year extension and $200,000 yearly raise) at the school where he's been coaching in some capacity since 1994.

And nobody has done a better coaching job than Whittingham in the first month of the season. He has the Utes 4-0 heading into October. His team has two of the season's best wins (hosting Michigan and at Oregon), and he's done it after losing both coordinators in the offseason.

Whittingham downplayed the Utes' climb in the rankings following their 62-20 demolition of Oregon last Saturday. Utah is 10th this week in the AP poll after starting the season unranked. The Utes are off this weekend, then will have back-to-back home games against Cal and Arizona State, followed by a road trip to USC.

The only rankings that matter are the final ones the College Football Playoff selection committee will release on Dec. 6. But as the calendar flips to October, we at least have a large enough body of evidence to make a few assessments.

For starters, Whittingham and his Utes look like the real thing.

"It certainly means more now than it did two or three weeks ago, but we still don't pay a whole lot of attention to (the rankings)," Whittingham said. "We have our own goals and things we want to accomplish. We just have to take those on our own timeline and not worry about the external stuff."

Travis Wilson and the Utes ran away from Oregon, putting an exclamation point on a perfect September. Steve Dykes/Getty Images

Whittingham mentioned on his radio show that the Utes were somewhat vanilla in their first three games, which included a 24-17 win over Michigan in the opener -- a win that looks more impressive every week. Winning at Oregon was big in its own right, but it's the way Utah won that makes it so significant: The Utes outclassed the Ducks in every phase of the game.

One of the biggest criticisms of Whittingham over the years has been that he's struggled to get it right offensively, and with all the turnover at offensive coordinator, it's easy to see why. But with quarterback Travis Wilson playing the way he did against the Ducks (227 passing yards, 100 rushing yards and five total touchdowns) and star running back Devontae Booker's ability to churn out yards after contact, the Utes look a lot closer to finding an identity offensively.

Defense has never been a problem under Whittingham, who was Urban Meyer's defensive coordinator at Utah before becoming head coach when Meyer took the Florida job. On that side of the ball, the Utes are physical, opportunistic, fast and good enough to hold up against anybody. Talk to other teams in the Pac-12, and they will tell you how taxing it is to go up against that Utah defense.

And on special teams, there's a reason that prior to last week's game, Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said Utah's special teams were "worth the price of admission." The Utes' kicking game is one of the best in the country.

It's not like Utah hasn't tasted success before under Whittingham. The Utes beat both UCLA and USC last season and finished 9-4. But they also suffered through back-to-back losing seasons prior to last year and were just 1-7 in their last eight road games against AP top-15 opponents before routing the Ducks in Eugene.

Nobody was really talking much about Utah in the preseason when analysts were breaking down the Pac-12's rugged South Division. Maybe we should have been. This looks to be Whittingham's most complete Utah team since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.

The only thing more complete is the coaching job he's done.

While Whittingham gets top marks for the first month of the season, he's not the only person in the country who's done a bang-up coaching job.

Here are four more who just missed the cut:

Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss: This is two years in a row now that Freeze has the Rebels in the top three in the country. Go back and check the history books on the last time Ole Miss was relevant nationally. Try the John Vaught era in the early 1960s. Freeze and his staff have recruited like gangbusters, and the Rebels have scored more than 40 points in three of their four games, including the 43-37 win at Alabama. He relates well to his players, presses the right buttons and puts them in a position to make plays. He's also done it this first month without one of his best players, offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, who's a projected top-5 pick in the NFL draft and being held out while the NCAA investigates his eligibility.

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame: The Irish could really shake things up nationally by going into Clemson and winning this weekend, but they've already proven to be one of the more resilient teams in the country. All the credit in the world goes to Kelly for getting this team to play through the mounting injuries and rally together. The meat of the schedule is still to come, but Notre Dame has been good enough to get to this point unbeaten. Sure, there have been some warts along the way, but there's a steadiness and resolve about this team that can be traced back to Kelly.

Jim McElwain, Florida: Give McElwain a chance to get his players in there and a chance to develop those players, and the Gators are going to be scary good again. He's already shown this season that he can find ways to win games despite severe limitations on offense. The defense is good enough to keep this team in every game it plays, but McElwain has brought a belief and hard-line approach to this program that has translated to a 4-0 start.

Matt Rhule, Temple: What in the name of John Chaney is going on at Temple? Rhule has the Owls 3-0, including wins over Penn State and Cincinnati. Even with the scare against UMass two weeks ago, there's a real chance the Owls could be unbeaten when Notre Dame rolls into town on Oct. 31. The Football Power Index has Temple favored in its next four games.