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Ken Whisenhunt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ken Whisenhunt | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | February 26, 1962 (age 45) |
| Place of birth |  Augusta, Georgia |
| Position(s) | Head coach, Tight end |
| College | Georgia Tech |
| NFL Draft | 1985 / Round 12 / Pick 313 |
| Team(s) as a player | |
| 1985-1988 1989-1990 1991-1993 |
Atlanta Falcons Washington Redskins New York Jets |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1995-1996 1997-1998 1999 2000 2001-2003 2004-2006 2007-present |
Vanderbilt University (special teams & tight ends coach) Baltimore Ravens (tight ends coach) Cleveland Browns (special teams coach) New York Jets (tight ends coach) Pittsburgh Steelers (tight ends coach) Pittsburgh Steelers (offensive coordinator) Arizona Cardinals (head coach) |
Kenneth "Ken" Whisenhunt (born February 28, 1962 in Augusta, Georgia) is the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals NFL football team.
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Whisenhunt played college football at Georgia Tech (1980-84),[1] where he majored in Civil Engineering. During his senior season, he was an honorable mention All-American. He also finished first team all-ACC during his final two college seasons.
Whisenhunt's career as a player included 4 years (1985-88) as a tight end with the Atlanta Falcons and then spells with the Washington Redskins and New York Jets. He retired from the league in 1993 after nine seasons in which he was mostly known as a blocking back.
He began his coaching career at Vanderbilt University, where he coached special teams, tight ends and H-backs for the Commodores from 1995-96. In 1997, he returned to the NFL as the tight ends coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Whisenhunt was a transient in his early years in the league, moving to the staff of the Cleveland Browns in 1999 and to the New York Jets the following season.
In 2001, Whisenhunt was hired by the Steelers to coach their tight ends. He was able to develop players such as Mark Bruener and Jay Riemersma, both considered past their prime, into excellent blocking backs. He took over the role of offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh for the 2004 season after Mike Mularkey became the head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Whisenhunt had instant success in his role. While Mularkey was known for creating flashy trick players, Whisenhunt became more of a cautious innovator, whose well time trick players worked well as a contrast to the conservative Pittsburgh run game.
On January 14, 2007 the Arizona Cardinals hired Whisenhunt as their new head coach, and his contract is expected to be around $2.5 million annually. He is known for his well engineered offensive plays, including the success he had with the Pittsburgh Steelers in his 3 years as their offensive coordinator under Bill Cowher and winning Super Bowl XL during the 2005 season. Whisenhunt had also interviewed for the head coaching position with the Steelers, Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins. He was previously interviewed to be the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in February of 2006, but reportedly turned down the offer. There is some speculation that he refused Oakland's offer because he expect to the be hired by the Steelers as their head coach, following the much anticipated retirement of Bill Cowher
Whisenhunt's most famous moment is the trick play he called in Super Bowl XL. With Pittsburgh leading 14-10 over the Seattle Seahawks, Whisenhunt called a wide receiver reverse pass that allowed Pittsburgh to pull away.
| Preceded by Mike Mularkey |
Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Coordinator 2004-2006 |
Succeeded by Bruce Arians |
| Preceded by Dennis Green |
Arizona Cardinals Head Coach 2007- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals Head Coaches |
|---|
| Driscoll • Horween • Barry • Chamberlin • Gillies • Scanlon • Nevers • Andrews • Chevigny • Schissler • Creighton • Nevers • Conzelman • Handler • Conzelman • Lambeau • Handler • Kuharich • Stydahar • Richards • Ivy • Lemm • Winner • Hollway • Coryell • Wilkinson • Wilson • Hanifan • Stallings • Kuhlmann • Bugel • Ryan • Tobin • McGinnis • Green • Whisenhunt |
| Current Head Coaches of the National Football League | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| American Football Conference | |||
| East | North | South | West |
| Jauron (Buffalo) | Billick (Baltimore) | Kubiak (Houston) | Shanahan (Denver) |
| Cameron (Miami) | Lewis (Cincinnati) | Dungy (Indianapolis) | Edwards (Kansas City) |
| Belichick (New England) | Crennel (Cleveland) | Del Rio (Jacksonville) | Kiffin (Oakland) |
| Mangini (NY Jets) | Tomlin (Pittsburgh) | Fisher (Tennessee) | Turner (San Diego) |
| National Football Conference | |||
| East | North | South | West |
| Phillips (Dallas) | Smith (Chicago) | Petrino (Atlanta) | Whisenhunt (Arizona) |
| Coughlin (NY Giants) | Marinelli (Detroit) | Fox (Carolina) | Linehan (St. Louis) |
| Reid (Philadelphia) | McCarthy (Green Bay) | Payton (New Orleans) | Nolan (San Francisco) |
| Gibbs (Washington) | Childress (Minnesota) | Gruden (Tampa Bay) | Holmgren (Seattle) |