Mike Westhoff was a staple on the Jets sideline for over a decade in the early 2000s. Now, he’s the co-recipient of the Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman Award from the Pro Football Writers of America. The Dr. Z Award, named after the late Sports Illustrated writer Paul Zimmerman, is given to an assistant coach in the NFL for his lifetime achievement in the sport.
Westhoff, who turned 71 this winter, is a 31-year assistant in the NFL who spent 12 years as the Jets special teams coordinator. He joined the Jets in 2001 after 15 years coaching the Miami Dolphins’ special teams. He served under three coaching regimes with the Jets – Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan.
Throughout his career, Westhoff has found creative ways to use athletic players on special teams. Westhoff turned Jets’ 2006 fourth-round pick Brad Smith – who played quarterback in college – into a threat on special teams for five years in New York. Smith returned kickoffs and ran fake punts as the personal protector. He did the same with Leon Washington, who made the Pro Bowl in 2009 as a kick returner three years after the Jets selected him 17 picks after Smith.
Westhoff unretired in 2017 to become the Saints’ special teams coach in 2017 because, as he puts it, he wanted to win a Super Bowl. Westhoff helped turn the Saints into a top-10 special teams unit since joining the team, and he even turned former college quarterback Taysom Hill into an all-purpose special teamer.
After the Jets fired GM Mike Maccagnan in May, Westhoff was critical of Adam Gase and said the Jets took back the dunce cap from the Giants after the media circus surrounding the team and the reported power struggle between Gase and Maccagnan.
“I’m really curious as to what he’s earned,” Westhoff said of Gase, according to NJ.com. “Look at his record in Miami.”
Gunther Cunningham, who coached in various assistant positions on defense for 33 of his 35 years in the league, won the award with Westhoff. He also served as the head coach of the Chiefs from 1999-2000. Cunningham died on May 19, 2019, at the age of 72 after a fight with cancer.
Westhoff has also battled cancer in his left leg since being diagnosed in 1988. Since then, he’s undergone 10 surgeries, including bone grafts, plates, screws and pins. Westhoff briefly left the Jets in 2007 because of a cracked bone but returned to the team in 2008 after doctors inserted a titanium rod into his leg to replace the bone.
After his illustrious career in the league, Westhoff told the Saints he won’t be returning to the sidelines in 2019 despite suffering “the toughest loss of his long career” in the NFC Championship this past season.
