STEPHENVILLE – A familiar face makes his return to Stephenville as the winningest coach of Tarleton State University's NCAA era, Todd Whitten, returns to the Texan sidelines.
 
In a news conference tomorrow morning, December 4, at 9:30 a.m. Athletic Director Lonn Reisman will announce the selection of Whitten as head football coach. Reisman and Whitten will be joined by Tarleton President F. Dominic Dottavio at the announcement in the lobby of Wisdom Gym.
 
This marks the 28^th head coaching change in the history of Tarleton football, as Whitten is one of 24 different men to lead the Texans. He now joins legendary coach W.J. Wisdom as one of two coaches with three different tenures as Tarleton's head football coach.
 
"I feel like I'm coming home," said Whitten. "I'm very excited to be back at Tarleton. This is a very special place and it's an incredible job. I'm very thankful to be chosen."
 
Whitten, a 27-year veteran at the collegiate coaching level, has been a head coach for 11 years, including six years at Tarleton (1996, 2000-04) and the following five seasons at Division I Sam Houston State.
 
He currently boasts an NCAA coaching record of 70-51 for a winning percentage of .579. His record at Tarleton is 45-23 (.662), which gives him the second-most total wins in school history behind Wisdom (71) and the fourth-highest winning percentage (.662). He also has a career record of 26-8 (.765) on the home turf of Memorial Stadium in Stephenville.
 
"I am very confident in Todd Whitten's ability to win football games and reestablish our program into a contender – not just in the Lone Star Conference, but on the national level," said Reisman. "In his career, Whitten has shown the ability to rebuild programs and make them very competitive.
 
"He brings a wealth of experience as a head coach at the Division I and Division II levels," continued Reisman. "He is an innovator, he is creative, and he has one of the most tremendous offensive minds in the country. I have all the confidence in the world that Todd will bring enthusiasm and energy to our football program."
 
During his first two stints at Tarleton, Whitten was no stranger to awards and championships.
 
Before taking over the program in 1996 for one season, Tarleton had a record of 4-16-1 since joining the NCAA in 1994. Whitten turned things around following a 1-10 season in 1995 by leading the Texans to a 5-5 record in his first season, which was enough to garner him the LSC Coach of the Year award for that season.
 
After spending the next three seasons as a Division I offensive coordinator, Whitten came back to the Purple and White as the 25^th head coach in school history for the 2000 season – and once again, he was asked to turn things around after the Texans went 12-21 in the three seasons between Whitten's tenures.
 
The veteran coach made his presence known by delivering Tarleton its first winning season as an NCAA institution in 2000.  He followed suit with a Lone Star Conference championship and the school's first trip to the NCAA postseason in 2001. That season, he was also named the LSC South Division Coach of the Year, the West Region Coach of the Year and led Tarleton to a playoff win against Chadron State.
 
The good times continued to roll over the next three seasons under Whitten as Tarleton boasted a record of 24-10 from 2002-04 with back-to-back LSC North Division championships and Coach of the Year honors in 2002 and 2003 and another NCAA playoff appearance in the latter season. He went 7-4 in his final season at Tarleton and ended his second stint as Texan football coach on a four-game winning streak.
 
In his total time at Tarleton, Whitten has amassed four LSC Coach of the Year honors, one Region Coach of the Year award, three LSC Championships in consecutive seasons, two trips to the NCAA playoffs in addition to coaching 13 NCAA Division II All-Americans and 80 all-LSC selections.
 
Since leaving Tarleton after the 2004 season, Whitten has spent time at Sam Houston State, Lamar University, Arlington Heights High School, and for the past three seasons was the wide receivers coach for the University of Texas at El Paso. During his time as head coach at Sam Houston State, he coached eight NCAA Division I All-Americans, 63 all-conference selections, and boasted back-to-back 1,000-yard rushers for the first time in school history.
 
A native of Dallas, Whitten graduated from Dallas Kimball High School in 1983 before heading to Stephen F. Austin State University, where he competed as a dual-sport athlete in baseball and football. He was inducted to the Stephen F. Austin Hall of Fame in 2001. Following his college career, he signed a free agent contract to play quarterback for the New England Patriots where he spent the 1987 season before returning to school for his master's degree at Texas Tech. He then began his coaching career with the Red Raiders in 1988 as a graduate assistant coach.
 
Whitten and his wife, Dana, have four children – Brady, Blaze, Maddie, and Tate, who is a wide receiver on the Tarleton football team.