2/16/2023 football Edit

Penn State loses analyst Ken Wisenhunt to Alabama

Dylan Callaghan-Croley • Happy Valley Insider

Editor

Former NFL head coach Ken Wisenhunt is moving on from Happy Valley after spending the last two seasons as an offensive analyst for the program, he'll now be heading south to Tuscaloosa to assist Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.

Wisenhunt is now shown in the Alabama staff directory with the title of "Special assistant to the head coach". As noted by ProFootballTalk, Wisenhunt by moving to Tuscalooas will reunite with son-in-law Zach Mettenberger who he also coached professionally both with the Titans and Chargers.

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Prior to coming to Happy Valley, Wisenhunt spent 22 years in the NFL, spanning from 1997 when he entered the league as a tight ends coach with the Baltimore Ravens, all the way until 2019 when he was the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers. Part of that time was spent in Pennsylvania when he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2001 through 2006 spending time as the Steelers' tight end coach from 2001 through 2003 and offensive coordinator from 2004 through 2006. Early in his career, he also made stops with the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

He would get his first heading coaching opportunity in 2007 with the Arizona Cardinals, spending five seasons with the organization before being fired following the 2012 season. During his time with the Cardinals, he went 45-51 which included two trips to the playoffs and one trip to the Super Bowl, a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.

He would earn a second head coaching opportunity in 2014 with the Tennessee Titans but would last just 23 games, being fired seven games into the 2015 season. In those 23 games, the Titans were 3-20.

After being fired by Tennessee, he would take over as the Chargers' offensive coordinator from 2016 through 2019, his last stop before arriving at Penn State in 2021.

When he arrived at Penn State, it was his first college coaching job since 1996 when he was Vanderbilt's special teams, tight ends, and H-backs coach for two seasons.