This spring Wesleyan welcomed back its prodigal son, Mike Whalen ’83, as head coach of football and Assistant Director of Athletics. Whalen, who spent the last six sea- sons as head coach of Wes’s archrival Williams, comes to Wesleyan with an impressive record, having racked up 38 wins and just 10 losses during his tenure at Williams.
“Coach Whalen…comes to us from Williams College with an im- pressive record of accomplishment,” wrote Director of Athletics John Biddiscombe. “He has one of the most winning records in Division III football in the nation, and I look forward to the contribution he will make to Wesleyan.
Whalen replaced fellow alum- nus Frank Hauser ’79, who had been head coach since 1992 and amassed a cumulative record of 68-76, includ- ing 18-38 from 2003-09, during which time Wesleyan finished at or below .500 each season. Hauser was fired following the 2009 season.
The arrival of coach Whalen bodes good things for Wesleyan’s struggling football program, which has failed to have a winning season since 2002.
Coach Whalen is instituting new systems on both sides of the ball, and is seeking to change the overall culture of the football program.
“In order for us to become a more competitive football program this year, it is very important that we have an outstanding pre-season,” Whalen said. “Everyone starts at square one and we will find out who are our best 22 football players before we open on September 25th. Before our players left for the summer they were work- ing very hard and there was a lot of excitement about the 2010 season. I am curious to see if our players were able to sustain that level of intensity while at home over the summer.”
The excitement of the play- ers is echoed around campus and many students are optimistic about the direction the program is head- ing in. So get ready to cheer for the Cardinals, freshman, and be sure to know the fight song before the teams’ first home game against Hamilton on October 2.
Leave a Reply