NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans have wrapped up their coaching search by hiring San Diego and former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt as their new head coach and 17th in club history.

Titans president and CEO Tommy Smith called the hiring a big day in announcing the hiring Monday.

“Ken is a well-respected coach in this league and I am looking forward to seeing his vision become reality for this team,” Smith said in a statement. “He has a history of building successful offenses and took Arizona to a Super Bowl as a head coach. We all share a common goal for this team and that is to build a consistent winner.”

Whisenhunt, 51, will be introduced at a news conference Tuesday.

The Titans flew to San Diego on Friday and interviewed Whisenhunt, who started his coaching career in Nashville at Vanderbilt. He was the fourth person interviewed by the Titans, who fired Mike Munchak on Jan. 4.

But the Titans had competition for Whisenhunt, who also interviewed with Detroit and Cleveland last week. The Tennessean reported the Titans interviewed Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer for a second time Monday in Houston before hiring Whisenhunt.

Smith thanked general manager Ruston Webster for overseeing only the second coaching search by this franchise since moving to Tennessee in 1997. Webster said Whisenhunt’s intelligence, track record with quality offenses and success as a head coach stand out to him most.

“I really enjoyed our meeting on Friday night in San Diego, and we share similar philosophies about the game,” Webster said.

“I am excited about Ken joining us and the future of the Titans.”

Whisenhunt spent six years coaching Arizona and took the Cardinals to their lone Super Bowl in 2009. He was fired Dec. 31, 2012, with a record of 45-51 in the regular season and 4-2 in the playoffs.

He interviewed with Cleveland twice last year before being hired as offensive coordinator in San Diego where he helped Philip Rivers and the Chargers to the playoffs.

Chargers rookie head coach Mike McCoy said earlier Monday before the Titans hired Whisenhunt that he didn’t want to lose his coordinator but realized he might lose him after only a year.