| Tarleton State Texans | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1965-02-16)February 16, 1965 (age 60) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Kimball |
| College | Stephen F. Austin |
| NFL draft | 1987: undrafted |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
Coaching | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Career | 148–86 (college) 0–1 (bowl) 1–1 (NCAA D-I playoffs) 3–4 (NCAA D-II playoffs) 3–6 (high school) |
| Stats atPro Football Reference | |
Philip Todd Whitten (born February 16, 1965) is an Americanfootball coach and former player. He is the head football coach atTarleton State University, a position he held in 1996, from 2000 to 2004, and resumed before the 2016 season. Whitten was head football coach atSam Houston State University from 2005 to 2009.
A native ofDallas, Texas, Whitten attendedJustin F. Kimball High School. In 1982, he guided the school to a district championship. Whitten chose to attendStephen F. Austin University, where he was a three-year starter infootball andbaseball from 1984 to 1986.
Whitten earned All-Gulf Star Conference asquarterback for the Jacks. He ranks second in SFA career passing yards (6,304) and touchdown passes (60). He was drafted in baseball by thePhiladelphia Phillies in 1983 and signed afree agent contract with theNew England Patriots in 1987. He received his bachelor's degree in education from Stephen F. Austin in 1987 and his master’s in education fromTexas Tech in 1990. Whitten was inducted into the SFA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
Following his one-year stint with the Patriots, Whitten began his coaching career as agraduate assistant coach at Texas Tech, working with the quarterbacks during the1988 and1989 seasons. He then became quarterbacks coach atNew Mexico State University under head coachJim Hess. In 1994, Whitten was hired byCharlie Bailey to coach the running backs atUTEP.
In 1996, Whitten got his first head coaching job as he took over atTarleton State University. After a turn-around season that earned himLone Star Conference Coach of the Year honors, Whitten left to becomeoffensive coordinator for head coachDana Dimel at theUniversity of Wyoming. In 1999, he became offensive coordinator atSam Houston State, before leaving again for Tarleton State.
Between 2000 and 2004, Whitten coached Tarleton State to a 45–23 overall record, including a Lone Star Conference championship in 2001; and 2002, 2003 North Division championships. While at Tarleton, Whitten garnered Coach of the Year honors four times, as well as in 2001 being named d2football.com West Region Coach of the Year. In addition he set 30 school records, coached 13 All-Americans, 80 all-conference players, and led the Texans to their first ever playoff appearances in 2001 and 2003. Whitten is the winningest coach in the school's senior college era. In 2005, he accepted an offer by Sam Houston State to succeed longtime coachRon Randleman. While at Sam Houston, Whitten produced the school's first back to back 1,000 yards rusher in 2006 and 2007, finished the 2008 season ranked sixth nationally in total offense, directed the University's all-time leader in both passing and total offense (Rhett Bomar), coached eight All-Americans and 63 all-conference players. Whitten coached SHSU to a 25–28 record in five seasons.
Whitten was hired on March 15, 2010, as the offensive coordinator for Division I Lamar University. In the Cardinal's first season in twenty-one years, Whitten coached the school's first back to back 400 yard passer, and helped lead Lamar to an overall record of 5–6. In the Cardinal's second year under Whitten, school records were set in team passing yards, individual total offense in a game, individual passing yards in a game, completions in a game, and individual receiving yards in game.
In 2012, Whitten served as the head football coach atArlington Heights High School inFort Worth, Texas. He left the school after one season to become the wide receivers coach at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Whitten was named head football coach at Tarleton State for the third time, on December 3, 2015 byathletic directorLonn Reisman.[1]
In 2020, Tarleton State moved fromDivision II toDivision I FCS. On February 21, 2021, Whitten coached the Texans to its first win as a FCS member against theNew Mexico State Aggies, 43–17 who is in theFBS.
On August 29, 2025, Whitten coached the Texans to a 30–27 overtime win on the road overArmy, getting the program's second all-time win over an FBS team.