Whipple, 51, most recently was an offensive assistant coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, who were in this year's NFC championship game.
He accepted the Miami job on Monday, and the hiring process was complete Tuesday morning. His first task will focus on recruiting: Signing day is Feb. 4, meaning Whipple will have about a week to get to know the players Miami is targeting.
``Aside from being innovative at his craft, Mark is a tremendous individual who will positively impact our student-athletes on and off the field,'' Miami coach Randy Shannon said.
Whipple replaces Patrick Nix, who was fired after two seasons with the Hurricanes. Miami was 7-6 this past season, falling in the Emerald Bowl to California.
His hiring was well-received quickly in the Miami football circle.
``'The U' is going to be back,'' Arizona Cardinals running back Edgerrin James a former Miami star and the cousin of current Hurricanes running back Javarris James said shortly after the announcement in Tampa, Fla., where he was taking part in Super Bowl media day.
After Nix was fired, he said he had a different philosophy than Shannon.
So Shannon spent much of the past month searching for someone he'd be in synch with, and ultimately decided on Whipple, whose reputation in the college game albeit at the Football Championship Subdivision level is an impressive one.
Miami is returning several of its top offensive players from last season, including quarterback Jacory Harris, both starting running backs, most of the offensive line and its top six receivers.
``I feel like we're going to be a great team,'' Whipple said. ``Coach Shannon and I have been on the same page from day one. Our goal is to win a national championship. The one thing I haven't done is win one at the I-A level. It's been a goal of mine for a while now. I couldn't think of a better place to work toward that goal than the University of Miami.''
Whipple was Pittsburgh's quarterbacks coach from 2004 through 2006, helping to develop Roethlisberger, who was the youngest starting QB to win a Super Bowl four seasons ago when the Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks.
He spent 16 years as a head coach at Massachusetts, Brown his alma mater and New Haven, going 121-59 in those seasons.
Whipple's 1998 team at Massachusetts set school records in points scored (524), touchdowns (73), total yards (7,074), passing yards (4,050), completions (306) and first downs (354). He also had record-setting offenses at Brown during four seasons there, as well as at New Haven which led the nation by averaging 50.5 points and 588 yards per game in 1992.
Whipple has also coached at St. Lawrence and Union in upstate New York, as well as with the USFL's Arizona Wranglers and at New Hampshire.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/1/217210