Mike Whalen (born November 4, 1960) is an American college athletics administrator and former

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and collegiate wrestling coach. He is the athletic director at Wesleyan University in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

, a position he has held since 2013. Whalen served as the head football coach at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts from 2004 to 2009 and at Wesleyan from 2010 to 2014, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 64–24. He was also the head wrestling coach at Williams from 1996 to 2004. Whalen played football and wrestled at Wesleyan.

Athlete

A native of Enfield, Connecticut, Whalen attended

Enrico Fermi High School Enrico Fermi High School (defunct) was a high school located in Enfield, Connecticut, and closed when it consolidated with Enfield High School in 2016. Overview Enrico Fermi High School was established in 1971. It previously served the Enfield ...

. As a senior, he was the State Class "LL" Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and placed 3rd at the State Open Championships. For football Whalen was All-CCIL on both offense and defense and an All-State honorable mention. He took a postgraduate year at Loomis Chaffee, where he was the New England Prep Champion and 3rd in the National Prep Wrestling Championships while being named 1st team All-Prep and All-State in football. Whalen would go on to attend Wesleyan University in

. He was a four-year starter as an offensive lineman for the Wesleyan Cardinals football team before receiving his degree in 1983. He was also the captain of the wrestling team at Wesleyan, earning All-New England and All-American honors three times. He was the first New England wrestler to win four consecutive New England championships.

Early coaching career

Whalen began his coaching career at

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

as a graduate assistant in football and wrestling. After receiving a master's degree from Springfield in physical education, Whalen was hired as an assistant football coach at the University of Pennsylvania and was on the coaching staff of the undefeated 1986 Penn Quakers team. He next worked as an assistant coach at Lafayette College and

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

, holding the position of associate head coach at Colgate.

Williams

He was an assistant football coach at Williams College from 1996 to 2003, including three years as the team's offensive coordinator. While working as an assistant football coach, Whalen also served as the school's head wrestling coach from 1996 to 2004. In February 2004, he was hired as head football coach of the

Williams Ephs The Williams Ephs ( ) are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The school sponsors 32 varsity sports, most of which compete in the Division III New England Small College Athletic Con ...

, succeeding

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

inductee, Dick Farley. Whalen served six years as Williams' head coach (2004–2009) during which he compiled a record of 38–10 (.792 winning percentage). In 2006, he led Williams to an undefeated, untied 8–0 record and the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship. He also led Williams to four consecutive Little Three championships from 2005 through 2008.

Wesleyan

While at Williams College, Whalen had an undefeated 6–0 record against his alma mater, Wesleyan. In March 2010, Wesleyan hired Whalen as its head football coach and assistant athletic director. At the time, Whalen told reporters, "This would have never, ever, ever happened if I didn't go here. That was a big, big draw for me, to come home, to come back to Wesleyan and see if we can put this thing back on track." In his first year at Wesleyan, Whalen finished the year 4–4, losing close games to Middlebury, 24–21, and Trinity, 27–20, while also losing to Little Three rivals Williams and

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

Wesleyan profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whalen, Mike 1960 births Living people American football offensive linemen Colgate Raiders football coaches Lafayette Leopards football coaches Penn Quakers football coaches Springfield Pride football coaches Springfield Pride wrestling coaches Wesleyan Cardinals athletic directors Wesleyan Cardinals football coaches Wesleyan Cardinals football players Wesleyan Cardinals wrestlers Williams Ephs football coaches Williams Ephs wrestling coaches Loomis Chaffee School alumni People from Enfield, Connecticut Sportspeople from Hartford County, Connecticut Coaches of American football from Connecticut Players of American football from Hartford County, Connecticut