Philip Todd Whitten (born February 16, 1965) is an

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 ...

coach and former player. He is the head football coach at

Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a public university with its main campus in Stephenville, Texas. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 14,000 students in the fall of 2020. History John Tarleton Agricultural ...

, a position he held in 1996, from 2000 to 2004, and resumed before the 2016 season. Whitten was head football coach at

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

from 2005 to 2009.

Playing career

A native of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, Whitten attended

Justin F. Kimball High School Justin F. Kimball High School is a public secondary school in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It enrolls students in grades 9–12, and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. The school is named in honor of J ...

. In 1982, he guided the school to a district championship. Whitten chose to attend

Stephen F. Austin University } Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas. It was founded as a teachers' college in 1923 and subsequennly renamed after one of Texas's founding fathers, Stephen F. Austin. Its campus resides on part ...

, where he was a three-year starter in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

in 1984-86. Whitten earned All-Gulf Star Conference as

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the Jacks. He ranks second in SFA career passing yards (6,304) and touchdown passes (60). He was drafted in baseball by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in 1983 and signed a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

contract with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in 1987. He received his bachelor's degree in education from Stephen F. Austin in 1987 and his master’s in education from

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

in 1990. Whitten was inducted into the SFA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Coaching career

Following his one-year stint with the Patriots, Whitten began his coaching career as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

coach at Texas Tech, working with the quarterbacks during the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and 1989 seasons. He then became quarterbacks coach at

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

under head coach

Jim Hess James Ray Hess (December 1, 1936 – October 2, 2021) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas from 1974 to 1981, Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas ...

. In 1994, Whitten was hired by

Charlie Bailey Charlie Bailey may refer to: * Charlie Bailey (American football) Charlie Bailey (born July 20, 1940) is a former American football coach. He was hired as the head football coach at the University of Memphis in December 1985, where he put togethe ...

to coach the running backs at

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stu ...

. In 1996, Whitten got his first head coaching job as he took over at

. After a turn-around season that earned him

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...

Coach of the Year honors, Whitten left to become

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

for head coach

Dana Dimel Dana August Dimel (born October 9, 1962) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach at the University of Texas El Paso. Previously he was the co- offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Kansas State ...

at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

. In 1999, he became offensive coordinator at

Sam Houston State Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

, before leaving again for Tarleton State. Between 2000 and 2004, Whitten coached Tarleton State to a 45–23 overall record, including a Lone Star Conference championship in 2001; and 2002, 2003 North Division championships. While at Tarleton, Whitten garnered Coach of the Year honors four times, as well as in 2001 being named d2football.com West Region Coach of the Year. In addition he set 30 school records, coached 13 All-Americans, 80 all-conference players, and led the Texans to their first ever playoff appearances in 2001 and 2003. Whitten is the winningest coach in the school's senior college era. In 2005, he accepted an offer by Sam Houston State to succeed longtime coach

Ron Randleman Ron Randleman (born December 17, 1941) is a former American football coach. He served as head coach at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas from 1982 to 2004. Randleman retired after the 2004 season as the winningest head coach in t ...

. While at Sam Houston, Whitten produced the school's first back to back 1,000 yards rusher in 2006 and 2007, finished the 2008 season ranked sixth nationally in total offense, directed the University's all-time leader in both passing and total offense (

Rhett Bomar Rhett Matthew Bomar (born July 2, 1985) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma and Sam Houston State. He ...

), coached eight All-Americans and 63 all-conference players. Whitten coached SHSU to a 25–28 record in five seasons. Whitten was hired on March 15, 2010, as the offensive coordinator for Division I Lamar University. In the Cardinal's first season in twenty-one years, Whitten coached the school's first back to back 400 yard passer, and helped lead Lamar to an overall record of 5–6. In the Cardinal's second year under Whitten, school records were set in team passing yards, individual total offense in a game, individual passing yards in a game, completions in a game, and individual receiving yards in game. In 2012, Whitten served as the head football coach at

Arlington Heights High School Arlington Heights High School (AHHS, Heights) is a secondary school located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Fort Worth Independent School District. Its mascot is the Yellow Jack ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. He left the school after one season to become the wide receivers coach at the University of Texas at El Paso. Whitten was named head football coach at Tarleton State for the third time, on December 3, 2015 by

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

Lonn Reisman Lonn Eugene Reisman (born December 23, 1954) is the current director of athletics for Tarleton State University. He served as men's basketball coach at Tarleton State from 1988 to 2018. Early life and education Reisman was born in Cuba, New York, ...

. In 2020, Tarleton State moved from Division II to

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

. On February 21, 2020, Whitten coached the Texans to its first win as a FCS member against the

New Mexico State Aggies The New Mexico State University teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. The mascot is known as " Pistol Pete". NMSU's colors are crimson and white. Since 2005 the Aggies have competed in the ...

43-17 who is in the FBS.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Tarleton State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitten, Todd 1965 births Living people American football quarterbacks High school football coaches in Texas Lamar Cardinals football coaches National Football League replacement players New England Patriots players New Mexico State Aggies football coaches Players of American football from Dallas Sam Houston Bearkats football coaches Sportspeople from Dallas Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football players Tarleton State Texans football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Texas Tech University alumni UTEP Miners football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches