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Eagles Coaching Candidate Profile: Ken Whisenhunt

KEN WHISENHUNT

Summary

The former Titans head coach is currently a coaching free-agent after being fired by the Tennessee Titans during the 2015 NFL Season. The 53-year-old Whisenhunt has had many stops in his NFL career as an offensive coordinator and a head coach. And in these stops he has done a good job, for the most part. He has made it to the Super Bowl with the Arizona Cardinals, which was their first in franchise history. He also made it to the Super Bowl with the Steelers as offensive coordinator. With the Titans, he wasn't what the Titans expected, but he was given a short amount of time to fix the Titans roster that wasn't the best. In my opinion, Ken Whisenhunt makes the most sense and if I were Jeffrey Lurie, Ken Whisenhunt would be the guy I want.

Resume

1995-1996 - Vanderbilt (Special Teams/Tight Ends)

1997-1998 - Baltimore Ravens (Tight Ends)

1999 - Cleveland Browns (Tight Ends)

2000 - New York Jets (Tight Ends)

2001-2003 - Pittsburgh Steelers (Tight Ends)

2004-2006 - Pittsburgh Steelers (Offensive Coordinator)

2007-2012 - Arizona Cardinals (Head Coach)

2013 - San Diego Chargers (Offensive Coordinator)

2014-2015 - Tennessee Titans (Head Coach)

WHY HE COULD WORK

Ken Whisenhunt has had a ton of coaching experience. Whisenhunt is an offensive-minded coach. And as I mentioned above, he has gone to the Super Bowl before, once as offensive coordinator and once as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Whisenhunt was 45-51 as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Fans will be quick to point out, that is below .500, yes it is, but only six games below .500, and with the Arizona Cardinals who before Whisenhunt arrived, were nowhere near being a good football team. Whisenhunt turned the culture there to a winning culture and we see what they are now, a great team. Whisenhunt changed the Cardinals from a losing culture, to a winning culture.

Jeffrey Lurie has liked the offensive-minded guys as head coaches, Andy Reid and Chip Kelly were, and Whisenhunt is an offensive-minded coach. Almost in every year where he has control of the offense, Whisenhunt's offenses haven't been bad.

Year

Team

Yards

Points

2004 (OC)

Steelers

16th

11th

2005 (OC)

Steelers

15th

9th

2006 (OC)

Steelers

7th

12th

2007 (HC)

Cardinals

12th

7th

2008 (HC)

Cardinals

4th

3rd

2009 (HC)

Cardinals

14th

11th

2010 (HC)

Cardinals

31st

26th

2011 (HC)

Cardinals

19th

24th

2012 (HC)

Cardinals

32nd

31st

2013 (OC)

Chargers

5th

12th

2014 (HC)

Titans

29th

30th

2015 (HC)

Titans

30th

28th

In 2004, that was with a rookie QB in Ben Roethlisberger. He then got better each with the Steelers. You have to think he helped Ben Roethlisberger become the QB he is today, or at least played a part in it. He also won a Super Bowl with Big Ben in 2005 as offensive coordinator. the His best year came with Kurt Warner as the Cardinals starting QB in 2008. But here is the ranking I look at best, 2011. He had Kevin Kolb and John Skelton as QB. He went 8-8 that year with those QBs.

In 2013, with the Chargers, he helped Philip Rivers reduce his INTs from the two years before (2011 and 2012), where he threw 35 INTs in that span. With Ken Whisenhunt, Philip Rivers had his best career year in completion percentage with 69.5 percent of his passes completed.

In 2014, Zach Mettenberger didn't look bad and looked capable of being a decent QB. And in 2015, Mariota played well with Whisenhunt as head coach.

WHY HE MAY NOT BE THE GUY

He was fired by the Titans after a year and a half. He went 3-20 with the Titans in a season and a half with the team. Jeffrey Lurie may not want a guy who went 3-20 in his last 23 games. A 48-71 record doesn't look good either.

Here is a look at his drafts:
2007 NFL DRAFT:

1st round: Levi Brown, OT, Penn State

2nd round: Alan Branch, DT, Michigan

3rd round: Buster Davis, LB, Florida State

5th round: Steve Breaston, WR, Michigan

7th round: Ben Patrick, TE, Delaware

2008 NFL DRAFT:

1st Round: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee

2nd Round: Calais Campbell, DE, Miami (FL)

3rd Round: Early Doucet, WR, LSU

4th round: Kenny Iwebema, DE, Iowa

5th Round: Tim Hightower, RB, Richmond

6th Round: Chris Harrington, DE, Texas A&M

7th Round: Brandon Keith, OT, Northern Iowa

2009 NFL DRAFT:

1st Round: Chris Wells, RB, Ohio State

2nd Round: Cody Brown, DE, UConn

3rd Round: Rashad Johnson, S, Alabama

4th Round: Greg Toler, CB, St. Paul's College (VA)

5th Round: Herman Johnson, G, LSU

6th Round: Will Davis, DE, Illinois

7th Round: LaRod Stephens-Howling, RB, Pittsburgh

7th Round: Trevor Canfield, G, Cincinnati

2010 NFL Draft:

Dan Williams, Daryl Washington, Andre Roberts, O'Brien Schofield, John Skelton, Jorrick Calvin, Jim Dray

2011 NFL Draft:

Patrick Peterson, Ryan Williams, Rob Housler, Sam Acho, Anthony Sherman, Quan Sturdivant, David Carter, Demarco Sampson

Those drafts weren't really good. Only a few names stand out.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think Ken Whisenhunt could do well with the Eagles. This team is talented, there are obviously holes with the Eagles team. If Sam Bradford re-signs, Whisenhunt would have a QB, who I think Whisenhunt can succeed with. He has done well with QBs in the past. I don't think the Eagles should look at his record, yes there were bad years, but look at what he dealt with. He made the Cardinals relevant and changed their culture to a winning culture, leading them to their first Super Bowl appearance. With the Titans, Marcus Mariota was playing well with Whisenhunt and Whisenhunt wasn't given a chance to build the team.

Ken Whisenhunt has been known to have great relationships with his players. Jeffrey Lurie mentioned wanting a coach who can do well with players and be great to the players. The Titans players felt bad about his firing and praised him. Matt Leinart did criticize Ken Whisenhunt when he was fired from the Titans.

I think Ken Whisenhunt can turn the Eagles franchise around and make them a great team. He took the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl appearance, and maybe with the Eagles, he can take the Eagles to their first Super Bowl win.