Dave Whinham (born January 2, 1957) is a former

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

coach who was a head coach for five seasons in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

with the Columbus/Cleveland Thunderbolts and Buffalo Destroyers. He is a native of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Coaching career

Whinham coached

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for seven years, including two stints at his alma mater

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on ...

, one at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

and one at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Grand Valley State. He was a graduate assistant at Cincinnati in 1984. He joined the

Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit ...

as an assistant coach in 1988, winning

ArenaBowl II Arena Bowl '88 (or Arena Bowl II) was the Arena Football League's second championship game. The game featured the number 2 Detroit Drive (9–3) against the number 1 Chicago Bruisers (10–1–1). With 37 combined points it is the lowest-scoring A ...

in 1988 and

ArenaBowl IV Arena Bowl '90 (or Arena Bowl IV) was the Arena Football League's fourth Arena Bowl. The game featured the #2 Dallas Texans against the #1 Detroit Drive. Both teams finished their seasons at 6-2, yet the Drive led in points for (326-299) and poin ...

in 1990. He was the strength coach of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

during the 1990–91 season. Whinham was head coach of the Columbus/Cleveland Thunderbolts from 1991 to 1993, compiling a regular season record of 6–26. He was rehired by the Thunderbolts on March 12, 1992. The Thunderbolts made the playoffs in 1992, losing to the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played it ...

in the first round by a score of 12–50. He was fired by the Thunderbolts in August 1993. He was later an assistant coach for the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

from 1995 to 1997, winning

ArenaBowl IX ArenaBowl IX was the Arena Football League's ninth ArenaBowl. The game featured the #6 Orlando Predators (7-5) of the National Conference against the #1 Tampa Bay Storm (10-2), also of the National Conference. This would be the first ArenaBowl to ...

in 1995 and X in 1996. Whinham served as head coach of the Buffalo Destroyers from 1999 to 2000, accumulating a record of 1–17. He was fired on May 8, 2000, after beginning the 2000 season with zero wins and four losses. After being fired by the Destroyers, Whinham re-joined the Storm as an assistant coach. He took over as interim head coach of the Lafayette Roughnecks of the

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

after Buford Jordan was fired following a 3–8 start to the 2001 season.

Administrative career

Whinham was the general manager of the Columbus/Cleveland Thunderbolts from 1991 to 1992. He was the director of player personnel of the Tampa Bay Storm from 1995 to 1997. He served as Vice President of Operations for the Buffalo Destroyers from 1998 to 2000. He also spent time as general manager of the Destroyers. He was vice president of the Lafayette Roughnecks of the af2 in 2001. He served as vice president of the

Baton Rouge Blaze The Baton Rouge Blaze was an expansion team that joined the af2 in 2001. ''The Advocate'' held a "Name the Team" contest which was won by a local teacher, Sean Fluharty. The head coach was former LSU quarterback Alan Risher. The cheer/dance tea ...

of the af2 in 2001. Whinham became president of the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fo ...

in fall 2003 and left the team after the 2004 season. He was president of the Dallas Vigilantes from 2010 to 2011.

Personal life

In 2002, he formed The Team Sales Company, which was later renamed The Team. The Team Sales Company managed the relocation of the Destroyers to Columbus in 2003 and was involved in the launch of the Vigilantes. The Team has also produced several pieces of original television programming, including ''Going Pro'', ''Cullen's Quest'' and ''Underground Vallie''. The Team later created the FreeForAll Concert Series, where all concerts are free. Whinham led the production of ''Hang On Sloopy: The Movie'', a film project created by The Team.

References

External links

ArenaFan statsStats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whinham, Dave Living people 1957 births Af2 coaches Arena Football League executives Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Cleveland Thunderbolts coaches Columbus Destroyers coaches Detroit Red Wings coaches Massachusetts Marauders coaches Grand Valley State Lakers football coaches Grand Valley State University alumni Tampa Bay Storm coaches Wayne State Warriors football coaches Lafayette Roughnecks coaches Sports coaches from Michigan Coaches of American football from Michigan Sportspeople from Detroit