Mike Westhoff (born January 10, 1948) is a former special teams coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Previously, he coached for a number of teams, most notably for the New York Jets and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

. Westhoff is considered to be among the greatest special teams coaches in league history.

Coaching career

Miami Dolphins

Westhoff was the special teams / tight ends coach for the Dolphins from 1986 - 2000.

New York Jets

Westhoff joined the Jets staff in 2001 after spending the previous 15 seasons in a similar capacity with the

. He stepped down as the

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

for the New York Jets in December 2007 after the final game. On September 1, 2008, it was announced Westhoff would return to the Jets' sideline for the 2008 season in an undefined role. On August 8, 2010, Westhoff received a one-year contract extension. Westhoff remained with the team through 2011, which he announced would likely be his final year with the team. However, on January 26, 2012, the Jets announced that they had given Westhoff a contract extension through the 2012 season. Westhoff officially retired after the 2012 season.

New Orleans Saints

On November 15, 2017 the New Orleans Saints had hired Westhoff to join their special teams coaching staff for the remainder of the 2017 season. The next day, Saints head coach Sean Payton said that Westhoff would be responsible for supervising all the special teams units. Following the controversial loss in the

2018 NFC Championship game The 2018 NFC Championship Game was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 20, 2019, to determine the National Football Conference (NFC) champion for the 2018 NFL season. The visiting Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Sa ...

versus the Los Angeles Rams, Westoff appeared on '' Mike's On'' radio show with

Mike Francesa Michael Patrick Francesa (born March 20, 1954) is an American sports-radio talk-show host. Together with Chris Russo, he launched ''Mike and the Mad Dog'' in 1989 on WFAN in New York City, which ran until 2008 and is one of the most successful s ...

WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...

. On the program, he declared the result of that game as "the toughest loss of his long career".

Personal life

In 1988, Westhoff was diagnosed with cancer of the

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

in his left leg.Ryan, p. 134 Originally, the condition was misdiagnosed and Westhoff was nearly fatally wounded after the doctor accidentally cut one of his arteries. Once the correct diagnosis was made Westhoff underwent ten surgeries to remove the cancer and the bone replacing it with bone grafts, plates, screws and pins. A cracked bone graft in 2007, caused Westhoff to announce his departure from the Jets. In 2008, Westhoff entered the

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute� ...

to undergo a procedure to replace the missing femur with a titanium rod. After vigorous rehabilitation, Westhoff was able to walk again and returned to the Jets' sidelines in September 2008. Westhoff is a native of the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

suburb of

Bethel Park, Pennsylvania Bethel Park, officially the Municipality of Bethel Park, is a borough with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, located approximately southwest of Pittsburgh. The pop ...

. Westhoff has a son, John.

References

Bibliography

External links

New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westhoff, Mike Living people Miami Dolphins coaches New York Jets coaches People from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania 1948 births