Ken Whisenhunt

Ken Whisenhunt

Personal information
Date of birth	February 28, 1962 (1962-02-28)
Place of birth	Augusta, Georgia
Career information
Position(s)	Head coach, Tight end
College	Georgia Tech
NFL Draft	1985 / Round 12 / Pick 313
Head coaching record
Regular season	39-39-0
Postseason	4-2
Career record	43-41-0
Championships won	2008 NFC Championship
Stats
Playing stats	Pro Football Reference
Playing stats	NFL.com
Playing stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching stats	Pro Football Reference
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-	Vanderbilt (ST/TE) Baltimore Ravens (TE) Cleveland Browns (ST) New York Jets (TE) Pittsburgh Steelers (TE) Pittsburgh Steelers (OC) Arizona Cardinals (HC)

Kenneth Moore "Ken" Whisenhunt (born February 28, 1962) is the current head coach of the Arizona Cardinals NFL football team, leading them to the first Super Bowl in franchise history during the 2008 season. Previously, he was 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.

Playing career

After attending the Academy of Richmond County in Augusta, Georgia for high school, Whisenhunt played college football at Georgia Tech (1980–84) where he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering. During his senior season, he was an honorable mention All-American. He finished first team all-ACC during his final two college seasons. His career as a player included 4 years (1985–88) as a tight end with the Atlanta Falcons, who drafted him in the twelfth round, 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.

Coaching career

Early career

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.

Pittsburgh Steelers

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 plays, Whisenhunt became more of a cautious innovator, whose well-timed trick plays contrasted the conservative Pittsburgh run game.

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 (Antwaan Randle El to Hines Ward, the only TD pass thrown by a WR in Super Bowl history) that allowed Pittsburgh to pull away.

Arizona Cardinals

On January 14, 2007 the Arizona Cardinals hired Whisenhunt as their new head coach, with a contract to receive an average of $2.5 million annually. Whisenhunt had also interviewed for the head coaching position with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins. He was previously interviewed to be the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in February 2006, but he pulled out of talks before an offer could be made. The Cardinals showed improvement in Whisenhunt's first season, finishing 8-8 after finishing 5-11 the previous two seasons and losing 10 or more games in seven of the previous eight campaigns. It was their first non-losing season since 1998, though they still failed to make the playoffs.

Going into his second season in 2008, Whisenhunt made the decision to go with veteran quarterback Kurt Warner as his starter. In previous seasons, Warner had split time with the team's younger quarterback Matt Leinart, although Warner started the final 11 games of the 2007 season after Leinart suffered a season-ending injury. This decision has paid off as Warner has put up great numbers in leading the Cardinals to a 9-7 regular season record in the 2008 season and the NFC West Division championship, the Cardinals' first division title since 1975, when the team played in St. Louis, and the club's first playoff berth since 1998. After defeating the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers in the first two rounds of the NFC playoffs, the Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship on January 18, 2009 and advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history to face the Pittsburgh Steelers, where Whisenhunt formerly occupied the post of offensive coordinator. Whisenhunt's Cardinals lost the game 27-23.

The following season, Whisenhunt led the Cardinals to a 10-6 record and another NFC West Division championship. The Cardinals then advanced past the first round of the playoffs by beating the Green Bay Packers 51-45 in overtime before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints 45-14 in the next round.

Following the retirement of Warner and a number of other losses at other positions, the Cardinals were not expected to fare well during the 2010 season. Leinart had been expected to regain his starting quarterback job, but Whisenhunt made the decision to install free agent pickup Derek Anderson as the starter, move rookie Max Hall to backup, and release Leinart from the team. The Cardinals finished 5-11 and last in the NFC West. In 2011, despite ongoing quarterback issues, Whisenhunt and the team management put together a solid young roster that finished with an 8-8 record.

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
ARZ	2007	8	8	0	.500	2nd in NFC West	-	-	-	-
ARZ	2008	9	7	0	.560	1st in NFC West	3	1	.750	Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.
ARZ	2009	10	6	0	.625	1st in NFC West	1	1	.500	Lost to New Orleans Saints in NFC Divisional Game.
ARZ	2010	5	11	0	.313	4th in NFC West	-	-	-	-
ARZ	2011	8	8	0	.500	2nd in NFC West	-	-	-	-
Total		40	40	0	.500		4	2	.667

Coaching tree

NFL head coaches under whom Ken Whisenhunt has served:

• Ted Marchibroda, Baltimore Ravens (1997–1998)
• Chris Palmer, Cleveland Browns (1999)
• Al Groh, New York Jets (2000)
• Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh Steelers (2001–2006)

Assistant coaches under Ken Whisenhunt who became NFL head coaches:

• Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs (2009)

Personal

Ken and his wife, Alice, have two children: a son Kenneth Jr., and daughter Mary Ashley.

Whisenhunt earned the rank of Eagle Scout as a boy.

External links

• Official page on Arizona Cardinals site

Sporting positions
Preceded by Mike Mularkey	Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Coordinator 2004-2006	Succeeded by Bruce Arians