Michael Whitehead is in his third season as an assistant coach with the Shippensburg University football team in 2022.
After serving as a defensive line coach in his first two seasons with the Raiders, Whitehead now serves as the team’s running backs coach.
In 2021, Whitehead coached the defensive linemen, specifically the defensive ends, and was an instructor to a defensive unit that led the conference in third-down defense and ranked third in rushing defense and total defense.
Whitehead arrived at Shippensburg after spending seven years as the head coach at his alma mater, Cumberland Valley High School. As the head coach of the Eagles, Whitehead compiled a 60-29 record, and his teams qualified for the district playoffs in six of his seven seasons. The Eagles played in four district championship games and won one district championship.
He is a well-respected coach with 28 years of experience at the high school level – 24 of those seasons at Cumberland Valley. Prior to his time as the head coach, Whitehead was an assistant coach for the Eagles for 17 seasons, including eight seasons (2004-12) as the defensive coordinator.
From 1992-95, Whitehead was an assistant coach at Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, a squad that won the PIAA State Championship in 1995.
Whitehead was also a baseball coach at Cumberland Valley for 21 years, including 16 seasons (1998-2013) as the head coach of the Eagles. His teams won more than 200 games and qualified for the district playoffs in 13 of his 16 seasons, including one district championship.
As a collegian, Whitehead was a two-sport athlete at Washington & Jefferson College, playing football and baseball. He earned three All-Conference classifications as a third baseman on the baseball team.
After receiving his bachelor of arts in accounting from Washington & Jefferson in 1992, Whitehead went on to earn a teaching certification in mathematics from Penn State Harrisburg in 1995. He has been a mathematics teacher at Cumberland Valley High School for the last 25 years.
Whitehead is married to his wife, Jen, and the couple are the proud parents of a daughter, Taylor, and a son, Braden.
