From the archives: Whisenhunt at Vanderbilt

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by Titans Insider, Jan 14, 2014.

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  1. Titans Insider

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    Here’s a story I wrote on Jan. 31, 2009. It’s about then-Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt before Arizona played the Steelers in the Super Bowl:

    TAMPA, Fla. — It wasn’t exactly the Music City Miracle, but it was the kind of play that puts a usually unheralded special-teams coach on the map.

    And for Ken Whisenhunt, a young assistant coach at Vanderbilt in 1996, this was his signature play.

    With the Commodores trailing Alabama 9-7 just before halftime, senior punter Bill Marinangel surprised the Crimson Tide and everyone else in Bryant-Denny Stadium when he took off running on a fake punt.

    The play had been well rehearsed throughout the week after Whisenhunt, the special teams/tight ends coach, spotted something on film.

    “Ken found that the Alabama special teams, when they were rushing six, they had a habit of bumping and running, not really checking to see if the ball was punted away,” Marinangel recalled this week.

    So when Marinangel took the snap while standing at his own 6-yard line, he hesitated for a second, and then raced downfield. He didn’t stop until he got into the end zone, capping an 81-yard touchdown. It still ranks as the longest run from scrimmage in Vanderbilt history. The play can be seen online via YouTube.

    Whisenhunt was more surprised than anyone, however. Moments earlier he’d given the “safe” signal, calling off the play. He’d decided the timing wasn’t right.

    “But he wasn’t mad,” Marinangel said. “He was more happy that things turned out well.”

    Things have certainly turned out well for Whisenhunt, head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, who face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday.

    His first job in coaching was at Vanderbilt during the 1995-96 seasons under Rod Dowhower. Cardinals quarterbacks coach Jeff Rutledge and defensive line coach Ron Aiken were also on that staff.

    It ended up being Whisenhunt’s only college job. He moved to the NFL in 1997 with the Ravens and never looked back.

    “I knew that he was going to go pretty far in the coaching profession, but I didn’t know he was going to go that fast and that far that quick,” said former Vanderbilt head coach Woody Widenhofer, who was defensive coordinator at the time. “But he was a bright young man, a hard-working guy. And the players liked him and connected to him.”

    It was indeed a quick climb for Whisenhunt, who has the Cardinals in the Super Bowl in just his second season with Arizona after six years with the Steelers and shorter stints with the Jets and Browns.

    From 2004-06 the Cardinals won just 16 games under Coach Dennis Green. Last season Whisenhunt got the Cardinals to 8-8, and this season they finished the regular season 9-7, getting hot at the right time.

    “We were very fortunate in my first year that we won some games, especially at the end of the year, that helped propel us into this season,” Whisenhunt said. “This year, we went through some tough times during the season but our belief in what we were doing and how we were doing it never faltered. It paid off for us ultimately at the end of the season.”

    Those who spent time with him at Vanderbilt aren’t surprised that Whisenhunt has the Cardinals heading in a good direction. They remember him as a coach who showed great imagination and work ethic.

    He’s also remembered as a bit of a gambler, a trait that followed him to the NFL. The Cardinals scored twice on trick plays in the playoffs.

    “You never know what he’ll come up with next,” Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said. “He has quite an imagination.”

    Whisenhunt is also remembered at Vanderbilt for other reasons.

    Chris Gaines, the strength and conditioning coach at the time, said Whisenhunt was a competitor in everything — on the football field, the golf course and in pick-up basketball games.

    “He wanted to be the best at what he was doing,” Gaines said. “He was very, very competitive. … Really, he just had some special qualities that you just don’t see in everybody. When he left, he got put on the fast track, but he got put on the fast track because of what he was able to do and what he was able to bring to the table.”

    Luke Wyatt, the longtime equipment manager at Vanderbilt, said Whisenhunt has a way of connecting with people.

    When introduced to Whisenhunt, who broke into the NFL as a tight end with Atlanta in 1985, Wyatt told him he was a Falcons fan. The next day, Whisenhunt brought his old Falcons sideline jacket and gave it to Wyatt.

    “And the players who were here back then,” Wyatt said, “they would run through a brick wall for him.”

    Whisenhunt wants to be remembered as something else — head coach of a Super Bowl winner.

    Many of his old Vanderbilt acquaintances will be watching and rooting for him.

    “What you have seen throughout Coach Whisenhunt’s career is a bunch of guys who believe in him,” said Marinangel, who now lives in Illinois. “He will coach you first, and if you screw up he might yell at you a little bit. Then he’ll pull you aside and say, ‘Sorry to yell at you, but this is what you need to do.’

    “I know he earned the players’ respect in that way at Vanderbilt, and that is what you are seeing on the sideline with the Cardinals. It is all very familiar, to see how his players are reacting to him and how they are playing for him.”

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    Source: Titans Insider
     
  2. JCBRAVE

    JCBRAVE goTitans 2019 Survivor Champion

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    Wiz has some serious tricks up his sleeve, I love it!




     
  3. JCBRAVE

    JCBRAVE goTitans 2019 Survivor Champion

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    This one is reserved for Fitzpatrick to C.J. I think

     
  4. xpmar9x

    xpmar9x The Real Slim Shady

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    This is better:

     
  5. JCBRAVE

    JCBRAVE goTitans 2019 Survivor Champion

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    I was at that game, I was going crazy.

    When I saw you post this I was looking for me in it. Im was in the front row of the endzone whereA.J. Trapasso scored.

    Pause it at 1:05 and Im the one in the light blue jersey.

    thatsme.jpg
     
  6. xpmar9x

    xpmar9x The Real Slim Shady

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    That's Ryan Fitzpatrick silly. :chuck:
     
  7. Dee

    Dee Pro Bowler

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    That is pretty sweet! I was at the game to
     
  8. JCBRAVE

    JCBRAVE goTitans 2019 Survivor Champion

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    Did the Bills fans in your area smell like piss and beer too?

    I was in front of these 3 college guys, and holy crap where they funky.
     
  9. Ontario Titan

    Ontario Titan Pro Bowler

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    “And the players who were here back then,” Wyatt said, “they would run through a brick wall for him.”

    nice
     
  10. Dee

    Dee Pro Bowler

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    Yea I was next to a guy wearing a yellow cigarette stained Bruce smith jersey smelling like he spilled beer all over it lol there was a group of titans fans in front of us and he was non stop talking sh*t Like it was a playoff game
     
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