Mr. Whipple Hired to Lead Hurricanes Offense

The University of Miami football team's offense has not exactly been squeezing the charmin out of opposing defenses the past couple of seasons. Head coach Randy Shannon made strides to remedy that situation as the Hurricanes have named Philadelphia assistant coach Mark Whipple as offensive coordinator. Whipple is 51 and before being an offensive assistant on the Eagles' staff he was the quarterbacks coach for Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh for three years which included their Super Bowl victory. His college coaching experience includes the UMass where he was 49-26 and led them to a Division 1-AA championship in 1998. His overall winning percentage in college is .672.

Whipple will be taking over a young but talented Miami offense. Jacory Harris is now the definite starter with Robert Marve transfering and he needs to make big strides if the Canes will contend in the coming years. Whipple will also have the tandem of Graig Cooper and Javaris James in the backfield along with young, physically imposing wideouts. Mark knows the expectations that come with the job as he stated, "Our goal is to win a national championship. It's been a goal of mine for awhile now."

With Whipple molding the offense with NFL experience including time spent under Ken Whisenhunt, and veteran defensive coordinator Bill Young on the other side of the ball, Randy Shannon should make strides with a 7-6 team that was very young last year. Miami was ranked 52nd in offense in the nation last year and 101st the year before under former coordinator Patrick Nix. With the players already in place and more top recruits on the way, Miami should contend nationally in the years ahead and if they do not, it will be Shannon who is replaced.



Mark Whipple Named Hurricanes' Offensive Coordinator [Hurricanesports.com]