Mike Hohensee has resigned his position as head coach and director of football operations of the Chicago Rush and will leave the team at the end of August, the Rush announced today.
“I want to thank the Chicago fans for their support, and for making the past nine years the most memorable of my career,” said Hohensee “I also want to thank all of the players, assistant coaches and support staff that have worked so passionately over the years to make our hopes and dreams a reality. Together we created a winner!
“The entire Rush organization is disappointed Coach Hohensee has decided to move his career in a different direction,” said Rush president/GM Ken Valdiserri. “His contributions to this organization have been voluminous, highlighted by the ArenaBowl championship in 2006.We wish both he and his family nothing but the utmost success in the future, and we are sure wherever he lands it will be with the first class nature with which he has conducted himself throughout his tenure with the Rush.”
The only head coach in team history, Hohensee joined the expansion Chicago Rush in September 2000 and led the team for each of its nine seasons in the Arena Football League. During that time, Hohensee posted a 93-64 record and guided the Rush to the playoffs every season, winning four Central Division titles and the ArenaBowl XX championship.After the AFL suspended operations for the 2009 season, Hohensee returned with the Rush in 2010, leading the team through an injury-plagued season to a 10-6 record and a playoff appearance.One of a select group of individuals who have been a part of the AFL for each of its 23 seasons, Hohensee, then the QB of the Pittsburgh Gladiators, threw the first touchdown pass in league history when he connected with Russell Hairston on June 19, 1987.After a neck injury ended his playing career prematurely, Hohensee moved into coaching, where he served as a head coach with the Washington Commandos, Albany Firebirds and New England Sea Wolves before joining the Rush. In his 16 seasons on the sidelines, Hohensee compiled a 140-112 overall record, making him the third-winningest coach in AFL history.A search for a new head coach will begin immediately. He also was 2-0 as starting quarterback for the 1987 replacement Chicago Bears(“Spare Bears”)during the Players strike with wins at Philadelphia and at Soldier Field against the Vikings.