Kevin Wolthausen begins his first season as a member of ETSU's coaching staff in 2024. Wolthausen brings a lengthy coaching resume with him to Johnson City that spans over 35 seasons of Division I experience. He will serve as ETSU's Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach in 2024.Â
Wolthausen joins the Buccaneer coaching staff after spending the last four seasons as a defensive analyst at San Diego State. In his 35 years at the Division I level, Wolthausen helped his programs achieve 19 bowl appearances.Â
Prior to his arrival in San Diego, Wolthausen spent three years at Purdue, serving the last two seasons as defensive line coach and special teams coordinator. He began his second stint with the Boilermakers as a quality control coach in 2017. Wolthausen coached three All-Big Ten performers during the 2019 campaign, including defensive end George Karlaftis, who garnered first-team Freshman All-America accolades from the Associated Press to go with second-team all-conference honors, while defensive tackle Derrick Barnes and placekicker J.D. Dellinger received honorable mention from the league.
Wolthausen, who previously was the defensive line coach at Purdue in 2012, returned to the Boilermakers after spending three years at Connecticut from 2014-16. He served as the Huskies’ special teams coordinator and linebackers coach in 2016 following two years as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator. With Wolthausan on staff, UConn played in the 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl.
Wolthausen also worked for one season as special teams coordinator at Florida International.
In his first stint at Purdue in 2012, Wolthausen helped guide the Boilermakers to an appearance in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Individually, defensive tackle Kawann Short thrived under his tutelage amassing 15.5 tackles for loss, including seven sacks, en route to earning second-team All-America honors. Short was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
Wolthausen first joined the Purdue staff after coaching the defensive line with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League. The Locomotives won UFL championships in 2009 and 2010 and lost in the title game in 2011.
Prior to spending the 2007 season with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Wolthausen coached four years at Louisville from 2003-06. Starting with the Cardinals as the linebacker coach, he moved to defensive line and became co-defensive coordinator in 2006.
During Wolthausen’s tenure at Louisville, the Cardinals played in four bowl games and won a pair of conference championships in 2004 (C-USA) and 2006 (Big East).Â
Under Wolthausen’s guidance, defensive end Elvis Dumervill earned consensus All-America honors in 2005, collecting Big East Defensive Player of the Year plaudits that season while taking home both the Bronko Nagurski and Ted Hendricks Awards.
Before relocating to the Bluegrass State, Wolthausen coached the Arena Football League with the Arizona Rattlers in 2002, working with the fullbacks and linebackers.
Wolthausen launched 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 for two seasons from 1981-82.
Wolthausen was hired as a graduate assistant at Arizona for the 1983 and 1984 seasons before becoming full-time with the Wildcats as outside linebackers coach in 1985 and defensive line coach in 1986.
In 1987, Wolthausen followed head coach Larry Smith from Arizona to USC, where he helped guide the Trojans to three Rose Bowl appearances in six seasons (1987-92).
After two seasons as defensive line coach at Oklahoma in 1993 and 1994, Wolthausen served in the same capacity at Arizona State from 1995-2000. 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.
