Very impressive info on Whisenhunt...
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_413017.html
Whisenhunt's wizardry commands attention
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By Joe Starkey
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, January 13, 2006
Twelve years ago, Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt was ready for a new challenge.
Freshly retired from a nine-year career as an NFL player, Whisenhunt figured it was time to see if he could actually use that Georgia Tech civil engineering degree.
"I'm sure there are a lot of people driving on roads and bridges who are glad I didn't," he said.
Actually, if his road and bridge designs were half as innovative as his playbook, Whisenhunt might be president of the American Society of Civil Engineers by now. The entire league was talking about the gadget play the Steelers used against Cincinnati last Sunday, the one that saw receiver Antwaan Randle El take the snap, sprint right and throw across the field to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who fired a 43-yard touchdown pass to Cedrick Wilson.
Plays like that -- games like that -- make Whisenhunt glad he eschewed the bridge-building business in favor of trying his hand at coaching. He's also an excellent golfer, but the notion of a multiple-decade retirement on the links didn't do much for him, either.
As it turned out, he spent fewer than two years out of football.
"Nothing replaced the competitiveness, what you feel after a game like the Cincinnati game," Whisenhunt said. "I started to miss that on Saturdays and Sundays. After so many years of playing, you had that void. I didn't know I was going to enjoy coaching until I got into it."
Whisenhunt, 43, began his coaching career at Vanderbilt University working with the special teams, tight ends and H-backs under coach Rod Dowhower, who, along with Bill Cowher, Joe Gibbs and Dan Henning, are among those who've heavily influenced Whisenhunt.
Dowhower was familiar with Whisenhunt because the latter played H-back -- the hybrid lineman-receiver position Heath Miller plays for the Steelers -- for the Atlanta Falcons and the Washington Redskins when Dowhower was an assistant coach with those teams.
Whisenhunt's intellect and toughness stood out. The two were sometimes mutually exclusive, as evidenced by the fact that he played a stretch of his career with a steel rod in his leg.
No matter. He came to compete.
"He was the whammer on the 'nose-wham' play," Dowhower said Thursday by phone from Cave Creek, Ariz., where he is retired. "It was the signature play of the Redskins and the Falcons. You put the H-back in motion, and he was the guy who blocked the 300-pound nose guard. (Whisenhunt) did it over and over and over again. I imagine he would tell you he's maybe a little shorter than when he started out."
Playing H-back gave Whisenhunt a feel for several different aspects of the game.
"He had to know all the assignments," Dowhower said. "I always thought he could coach about anything. He just has a feel for the game, and he's an excellent teacher. At Vanderbilt, he did a great job with our special teams. We didn't have much of a team, but that was the strength of it."
Whisenhunt went on to coach with the Ravens, Browns and Jets before Cowher hired him as tight ends coach in 2001, after Mike Mularkey was promoted from that position to offensive coordinator. Three seasons later, Whisenhunt replaced Mularkey and has flourished in his new post, even surfacing as a candidate to coach the St. Louis Rams. He interviewed for the position (by phone) on Wednesday.
Players appreciate Whisenhunt's cool-headed approach.
"Every now and then, he gets riled up, but you can't really tell," said guard Kendall Simmons. "It's a little chirp here and there just to try to get us going. Normally, he lets (offensive line coach) Russ (Grimm) do all the hollering."
In his first two years, Whisenhunt has produced two of the five highest-scoring offenses in Cowher's 14-year tenure. Against Indianapolis, he promises a more aggressive approach than the one the Steelers used Nov. 28 at the RCA Dome, when they were blown out, 26-7.
The Steelers have averaged 29.5 points since then.
"We're going to take our shots," Whisenhunt said. "We're going to put it up. I trust our receivers to make plays."
The Producers
Ken Whisenhunt has directed two of the five highest-scoring offenses under 14th-year coach Bill Cowher. The top five:
Year Points Coordinator
1995 407 Ron Erhardt
2002 390 Mike Mularkey
2005 389 Ken Whisenhunt
2004 372 Ken Whisenhunt
1997 372 Chan Gailey
