Purdue head football coach Jeff Brohm announced that Kevin Wolthausen has been hired as an assistant coach working with special teams and the defense.
Wolthausen, who spent the 2012 season as the defensive line coach at Purdue, rejoined the Boilermakers last season as quality control on special teams/defense.
Wolthausen came back to Purdue after spending the previous three seasons (2014-16) at Connecticut. He served as the Huskies’ special teams coordinator and linebackers coach in 2016 following two seasons as the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.
At UConn, Wolthausen mentored Julian Campenni to second team All-American Conference honors and Folorunso Fatukasi to honorable mention recognition in 2015. The Huskies appeared in the St. Petersburg Bowl that same season.
Prior to UConn, Wolthausen spent one season (2013) as the special teams coordinator at Florida International.
In his first stint at Purdue, Wolthausen helped guide the Boilermakers to the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl. Under Wolthausen’s guide, Kawann Short finished his senior season with 15.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks en route to earning second team All-America honors from the AP. Short was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
His initial year at Purdue came after Wolthausen joined the Boilermakers from the Las Vegas Locomotives in the United Football League, where he served as the defensive line coach. The Locomotives won UFL titles in 2009 and 2010 and lost in the championship game in 2011.
Prior to spending the 2007 season with the Atlanta Falcons, he spent four seasons at Louisville. Starting with the Cardinals as the linebacker coach, he moved on to defensive line and eventually became co-defensive coordinator in 2006.
In 2005, Wolthausen mentored defensive end Elvis Dumervil to consensus All-America honors. Dumervil, who broke the NCAA record with six sacks against Kentucky, was named the 2005 Big East Player of the Year, while also winning the Bronko Nagurski and Ted Hendricks awards. Dumervil was selected in the fourth round by the Denver Broncos in the 2006 NFL Draft.
Wolthausen began his coaching career in 1980 as student assistant at Cal State Northridge before returning to his alma mater, Humboldt State, as a part-time defensive assistant from 1980 to 1982.
He joined the University of Arizona as a graduate assistant for a pair of seasons (1983-84) before becoming full-time with the Wildcats as the outside linebackers coach in 1985 and defensive line coach in 1986.
In 1987, Wolthausen followed head coach Larry Smith from Tucson to the University of Southern California, where he helped guide the Trojans to three Rose Bowl appearances in six seasons (1987-92).
After spending two winning seasons as the defensive line coach at Oklahoma in 1993 and 1994, Wolthausen moved on to Arizona State, where he worked with same defensive unit. With Wolthausen on staff, the 1996 Sun Devils came up just shy of winning at least a share of the school’s first national title after falling to Ohio State 20-17 in the final seconds of the 1997 Rose Bowl. ASU finished the year ranked fourth nationally with an 11-1 record.
Wolthausen (born Dec. 27, 1957) played linebacker at Humboldt, earning all-league honors in 1979, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1981. He and his wife, Michel, have a son, Noah, and a daughter, Quinn.
