Rush head coach Hohensee leaving team

After nine seasons and one ArenaBowl Championship title, the Rush is losing the only coach it has ever known.

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 month, Rush officials announced Friday.

"The entire Rush organization is disappointed Coach Hohensee has decided to move his career in a different direction," said Ken Valdiserri, Rush president and general manager. "We wish both he and his family nothing but the utmost success in the future."

Hohensee joined the expansion team in September 2000 and led the team for each of its nine seasons in the Arena Football League, posting a 93-64 record and guiding the Rush to the playoffs every season.

"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."

In all, his teams won four Central Division titles and the ArenaBowl XX championship in 2006.

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.

A former quarterback, Hohensee has had a part in each of the AFL's 23 seasons. As a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Gladiators, he threw the first touchdown pass in league history on June 19, 1987. After a neck injury ended his playing career, 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.

A search for a new head coach already is under way.