Whisenhunt-led team a surprise

The former Steelers offensive coordinator took on a challenge.

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The man who performed a football exorcism in the desert is keeping his cool with his Arizona Cardinals a win away from the Super Bowl.

Then again, Ken Whisenhunt just about always keeps his cool.

The Cardinals franchise never has been here before, but Whisenhunt has. He was offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers before taking on the formidable challenge of coaching the NFL’s laughingstock of a franchise.

No one’s laughing now, except maybe in disbelief. Whisenhunt brought Steelers toughness and an organized, unflappable style. He didn’t get one vote for coach of the year this season. If the balloting had waited a few weeks, no doubt he would.

“You go how your leader goes,” quarterback Kurt Warner said. “He deserves a tremendous amount of credit, most importantly for bringing in a belief that we could accomplish something that had never been before.”

This week, Whisenhunt again is leading his team through uncharted territory. After all, Arizona’s 9-7 record marked only their second winning season since 1984. They hosted Atlanta in a wild-card game that was the Cardinals’ first home playoff contest since they beat Philadelphia to win the NFL title 61 years ago. As the Chicago Cardinals.

Now it’s Philadelphia again on Sunday for the NFC championship and a trip to the Super Bowl in Tampa. The 45-year-old coach from Augusta, Ga., is trying to keep his players from getting too carried away with the moment.

“Anytime you get to this level, whether you’re an assistant coach, whether you’re a player, whether you’re whatever, it’s a fantastic feeling,” Whisenhunt said. “But you don’t want to get so wrapped up in that that you don’t realize this is an important game for us and we have to keep our focus on that.”

Asked what the biggest areas of concern were, Whisenhunt said “dealing with distractions.”

“You also have to handle not getting too big for your britches,” he said. “When the 32-team field gets down to four teams and all that attention comes to you, a lot of times guys start feeling they’re a little better than they are, maybe losing that work ethic that got them to that point.”

Whisenhunt had to rely on that work ethic to make it as a tight end in the NFL after being drafted in the 12th round by Atlanta out of Georgia Tech in 1985. He played from 1985 to 1993 with Atlanta, Washington and the New York Jets before turning to coaching.

He had stops as an assistant for Baltimore, Cleveland and the Jets before joining Bill Cowher’s staff at Pittsburgh as tight ends coach in 2001. He moved up to offensive coordinator in 2004.

Passed over for the Steelers job, he came to Arizona and went 8-8 in his first season, then won the NFC West title in his second.