Kevin Wolthausen’s Coaching History
Photo credit – UConnHuskies.com
Wednesday at the Burton Family Football Complex was my first introduction to Kevin Wolthausen, the Huskies defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator. After a short conversation, it was hard not to be impressed with every aspect of his coaching history, which we dove into, that day.
Wolthausen has some experience in the NFL and also Arena ball, but it’s in college where he’s made a name for himself.
“I’m from southern California, so I’m a long way from home,” Wolthausen said, joking about the winter weather we’ve experienced over the last month or so. “So most of my career started out west, I played out west at a small school, Humboldt State in California and that’s where I coached for three years. When I was done playing, I was immediately a position coach the next year, you know it’s a small staff.”
From there, he moved on to Arizona as a graduate assistant, before becoming the youngest coach in the Pac-10, just a year and a half later, under head coach Larry Smith, whom he followed to USC.
“I was at SC for six years,” he said. “That was my backyard, so I figured I’d stay there forever.”
But after three straight Rose Bowls, followed by a second-place finish, SC struggled in year’s five and six and as is known all too well in this profession, time is something you don’t have. Smith was let go after two sub-par years and Wolthausen was forced to move on.
“From there, I went to Oklahoma for two years, then back west to Arizona State, for six. We had a great era with Jake Plummer and Pat Tillman, made the Rose Bowl.”
Wolthausen then made a change in 2002, allowing him to meet Bob Diaco.
“I kind of felt maybe I was getting a little too regionalized, so I went to Eastern Michigan. That’s where I met Bob [Diaco], where we worked together for two years.”
Wolthausen was not done moving, as he headed to Louisville under Bobby Petrino, where he was part of a staff that won 41 games, including a couple over UConn. Following an Orange Bowl win, Wolthausen followed Petrino to Atlanta, his first and only appearance in the NFL, with the Falcons, which was short lived.
“I chose not to follow [Coach Petrino] after he quickly left, but I was able to hook up with Jim Fassel in the UFL in Las Vegas. Then I went to Purdue, Purdue to Florida International, Florida International to here.”
I’ll have much more from Kevin and the rest of the UConn football coaching staff later this week, including Wolthausen’s thoughts on his defensive line and the unique characteristics of the two recruiting classes this staff has assembled, since they’ve come to Storrs.
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