Spencer Whipple is entering his first season with the Jacksonville Jaguars as quarterbacks coach and seventh season coaching in the NFL.
Whipple comes to Jacksonville after six seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, most recently as pass game specialist (2023-24). He served as co-pass game coordinator in 2022 after working as assistant wide receivers coach for two seasons (2020-21) following one year (2019) as offensive quality control coach with the Cardinals.
Whipple aided the development of rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr., whose eight touchdown catches tied the rookie franchise record and tied-second among NFL rookies in 2024. Harrison Jr.'s 52 receptions and 885 receiving yards were each second-most by a rookie in team history and fifth among all rookies in 2024. TE Trey McBride was named to his first Pro Bowl after catching 111 passes for 1,146 yards. His 111 receptions were second-most in single-season franchise history and the fourth-best total in NFL history by a tight end, and his 1,146 receiving yards were second-most by a tight end in franchise history. QB Kyler Murray's 2024 season ranked in the top 10 in franchise history in multiple categories including completion percentage (second; 68.8), completions (third; 362), passer rating (sixth; 93.5) and passing yards (seventh; 3,851).
Whipple worked with All-Pro WR DeAndre Hopkins in each of his three seasons (2020-22) with the team. In his first season with Arizona in 2020, Hopkins was selected to his fifth-career Pro Bowl and received Second-Team All-Pro honors after a franchise-record 115 receptions (second in the NFL) for 1,407 yards (third in the NFL) and six touchdowns. He also tied for second in the league with seven 100-yard receiving games in 2020. In 2022 in only nine games played due to injury, Hopkins led the team in receiving yards (717) and was second in receptions (64) after finishing with eight touchdowns in only 10 games in 2021.
In 2021, Arizona's offense had 4,276 passing yards and 2,076 rushing yards, marking just the second time in franchise history (1984) that the Cardinals had 4,000-plus passing yards and 2,000-plus rushing yards in a season. The Cardinals had 6,352 net yards, the second-highest total in franchise history (2015) and finished with the 10th ranked passing offense in the league (251.5 yards per game). During the team's Week 6 victory at Cleveland in 2021, Whipple called plays in collaboration with the offensive coaching staff due to Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury missing the game because of COVID-19.
Arizona's 6,153 net yards in 2020 were third-most in team history while their 410 points were fifth-most in franchise history.
Prior to joining the Cardinals in 2019, Whipple spent seven years coaching at the collegiate level. He coached for five seasons (2014-18) at the University of Massachusetts where he served as the passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2018. Whipple joined the UMass staff in 2014 as tight ends coach before working three seasons (2015-17) as passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach.
In 2018, UMass WR Andy Isabella was a Biletnikoff Award finalist after leading the FBS in the regular season with 1,698 receiving yards. He finished second in the nation with 102 receptions and fifth in the country with 13 touchdown receptions. Isabella was a consensus First-Team All-American and finished with the most receiving yards in school history (3,526). In 2017, Minutemen wide receivers had the third-most total receptions (272) and receiving yards (3,570) in school history.
Whipple also tutored WR Tajae Sharpe, who was drafted by the Titans in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. In 2015, Sharpe set a single-season reception record (111) to go along with a school career record for total receptions (277). He was a two-time First-Team All-MAC selection at UMass.
Prior to working at UMass, Whipple served as a defensive graduate assistant and video assistant at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012-13. He played collegiately for three seasons (2009-11) at the University of Miami (FL) as the team's holder and backup quarterback. During his senior season in 2011, Whipple received the Mariutto Family Scholar-Athlete award. He began his college career as a walk-on at the University of Pittsburgh (2007) and spent one season at UMass (2008).
His father, Mark, is a longtime college and NFL football coach who most recently served as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at the University of Nebraska in 2022 after working in the same position for three seasons (2019-21) at the University of Pittsburgh. He previously served two stints as head coach at UMass and also worked in the NFL as an offensive assistant coach with Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Cleveland.
Whipple earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Miami in 2012.
