Thomas Michael Hennigan (born October 24, 1951) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He played professionally as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

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) for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

from 1973 to 1975

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

from 1976 to 1978. Hennigan served as and the head head football coach at the

Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

from 1996 to 2005, compiling a record of 52–57.

College career

Born in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

, Hennigan was raised in

Washington, Iowa Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,352 at the time of the 2020 census. History Washington was founded in 1 ...

. Following graduation from Washington High School, Hennigan attended and played college football at

Parsons College Parsons College was a private liberal arts college located in Fairfield, Iowa. The school was named for its wealthy benefactor, Lewis B. Parsons Sr., and was founded in 1875 with one building and 34 students. Over the years new buildings were cons ...

Fairfield, Iowa Fairfield is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, Iowa. It has a population of 9,416 people, according to the 2020 census. The median family income is $46,138, with 10% of families below the poverty line. The city is typical o ...

until the college discontinued their football program in 1970, whereupon he transferred to

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

. While at Tech, he was an all-Conference selection in 1972 when he helped lead the Golden Eagles to the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

championship. The next season, as a senior, Hennigan was once again all-conference and a

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term ''All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Football ...

honorable mention as he amassed 110 tackles. The team finished the season with a record of 10–1 and an appearance in the

Grantland Rice Bowl The Grantland Rice Bowl was an annual college football bowl game from 1964 through 1977, in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's College Division, for smaller universities and colleges, and later NCAA Division II, Division II. The ...

. Hennigan was selected to play in the

All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985. In 1986, the National Football Foundatio ...

at season's end.

Professional playing career

Drafted by the

early in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL draft, Hennigan played three seasons at linebacker for the Lions. After the 1975 season, in which he played only four games for Detroit, Hennigan joined the

. He played three more NFL seasons for the Jets before a knee injury ended his playing career.

Coaching career

Hennigan got his coaching start in 1980, working with spring drills at his alma mater before moving on to

East Tennessee State East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a Public university, public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an instit ...

for two seasons as linebackers coach. He next served as defensive coordinator at

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

in 1982 and 1983. After his defense helped Western Carolina reach the

NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was k ...

title game in 1983, Hennigan departed for one-year stints as linebackers coach at

Memphis State University } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

in 1984, and defensive ends at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

in 1985. Hennigan returned to Tennessee Tech in 1986, beginning a twenty-year career on the coaching staff. He served as the schools defensive coordinator from 1986 through the 1995 season, after which he was named the head coach for the Golden Eagles. Over the following ten seasons Hennigan's teams compiled an overall record of 52 wins and 57 losses, with their best seasons being 2000 and 2001 when Tennessee Tech won eight games and seven games respectively and each year being ranked in the Division I-AA polls. Citing personal reasons and health concerns, Hennigan resigned as Tennessee Tech head coach in July, 2006. However, a week later he rescinded the resignation, instead taking a medical leave of absence. In November, 2006 Hennigan informed the university that he would not be returning from the medical leave.

Personal life

Mike Hennigan earned a bachelor's degree in Health and Physical Education from Tennessee Tech in 1973. He and wife Leslie are the parents of four children. Hennigan was named to the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1986. Youngest son Taylor also played his college football for Tennessee Tech.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hennigan, Mike 1951 births Living people American football linebackers Detroit Lions players East Tennessee State Buccaneers football coaches Memphis Tigers football coaches New York Jets players Parsons Wildcats football players Temple Owls football coaches Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football coaches Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football players Western Carolina Catamounts football coaches Players of American football from Davenport, Iowa People from Washington County, Iowa