Whisenhunt, Former Head Coach Candidate For Lions, Happy For Detroit's Success
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - After the 2013 season, the Detroit Lions pursued Ken Whisenhunt, then the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, so heavily for their head coaching vacancy that they felt they needed to acknowledge their interest in him at the introductory press conference of Jim Caldwell.
At the press conference, Lions team president Tom Lewand referred to Caldwell and Whisenhunt as the team's "two Plan A's" to replace former head coach Jim Schwartz.
Clearly, the Lions liked Whisenhunt quite a bit - enough they did not believe they should even pretend to hide it. Whisenhunt, however, took a job with the Tennessee Titans.
Under Whisenhunt, the Titans won two games in 2014. Under Caldwell, the Lions won 11.
Whisenhunt spoke with reporters at the NFL combine Wednesday, and he indicated no regret about not taking the job with Detroit, noting that watching the Lions' success did not bother him.
"It wasn't difficult," Whisenhunt said. "I'm a huge fan of [Lions general manager] Martin Mayhew and a lot of guys in that organization ... I was excited for them and for their organization."