Whipple will accept job with Steelers
University of Massachusetts football coach Mark Whipple is expected to be hired as quarterbacks coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers this morning.
"It's a great opportunity and I'm looking forward to it," said Whipple when reached by phone yesterday. "The toughest part will be saying goodbye to the players. But this was something I felt I just couldn't pass up."
Whipple was first contacted by Steelers coach Bill Cowher last week. After flying to Pittsburgh last weekend to meet other members of the organization, Whipple waited while Cowher took care of restructuring his staff.
That process began Tuesday when Cowher, searching for a new offensive coordinator to replace Mike Mularkey -- who was named as the Buffalo Bills head coach -- promoted his tight ends coach, Ken Whisenhunt, to offensive coordinator and made Bruce Arians the wide receivers coach. He also elevated offensive line coach Russ Grimm to assistant head coach.
The quarterbacks coach spot opened when Tom Clements joined Mularkey in Buffalo.
Whipple, who is only the third quarterbacks coach in Steeler history (former Patriots quarterback Babe Parelli and Clement were the others) had struggled with the conflict of staying at UMass as it attempts to move from Division 1-AA to 1-A.
But Whipple also knew the odds were against anything happening soon.
"This will be a challenge I look forward to," said Whipple. "As much I loved being a head coach, there were elements that took up a lot of your time. Now I can just focus on becoming a better all-around coach."
Whipple, who signed a standard two-year deal as an NFL assistant, said his ambition to be a Division 1-A head coach was still strong, but the opportunity to work in the NFL with as strong a tradition as the Steelers was too good to pass up.
"'I can't wait to get started," said Whipple, who still wants to say his goodbyes to his players over the next few days before completing his move to the NFL.
UMass must now move quickly to find Whipple's replacement.
Like John Calipari in basketball, it will not be easy to replace Whipple, who produced a national championship in his first season at UMass and turned the Minutemen into one of the elite programs in 1-AA.
In his six seasons at UMass, the 46-year-old Whipple compiled a 49-26 record, including a 10-3 mark this season, which ended with a 19-7 loss to Colgate in the 1-AA playoffs.
UMass could look at former Minutemen assistant coach Don Brown, who has turned Northeastern into a competitive program, or it could pick someone from Whipple's staff. But interim athletic director Thorr Bjorn may have a difficult time finding anyone to match the energy Whipple brought.
Bjorn said last night, "Right now, he's still our coach, but obviously if he leaves we'll be very aggressive in pursuing a replacement. We feel this is one of the better jobs in 1-AA, and we hope to find someone as quickly as possible, considering we still are in the middle of recruiting season."
