Former Oakland Raiders, Illinois and California head coach Mike White passed away on Sunday at the age of 89. While he was retired and out of the limelight for most of his later years, White accomplished quite a bit from the 1970s-1990s. He’s truly an underrated figure, as the impact he had on the NFL Draft and the proliferation of the modern passing game have been largely forgotten.
White led the Raiders to an 8-8 record in 1995, and then a 7–9 mark in 1996. In a move that only Ebenezer Scrooge could commend, he was sacked by the Raiders on Christmas Eve, being informed by senior executive Bruce Allen, although owner Al Davis ultimately made the decision.
While going 15-17 epitomizes mediocrity, White’s Raiders were in a much better place than where the team stands these days. And White got the last laugh, winning a Super Bowl as an offensive assistant with the St. Louis Rams in 1999.
However, it was in Berkley, CA, his hometown, where he first cut his teeth. He both played and began his assistant coaching career at Cal. Eventually he became the head coach of the Golden Bears, where he led the team to a top 15 finish in the polls in 1975.
However, as they like to say in Champaign, IL “the ’80s belonged to the Illini,” largely due to White finding the greatest success of his career.
White replaced Gary Moeller, a coach who oversaw a short era of losing and pragmatic, ground-and-pound football. White promised to switch up the style of play and make the program fun to watch. In his very first game against Northwestern, he instructed quarterback Dave Wilson, on the first offensive play from scrimmage, to simply launch a pass as far downfield as he could.
The ball hit the turf as an incompleted pass, but the Illini fans on hand enthusiastically provided a standing ovation anyway. The West Coast Offense had arrived, and it was set to revolutionize both the Big Ten and the Midwest. Later that season, on November 8, he threw for 621 yards against Ohio State, an NCAA record that lasted for eight years.
Wilson parlayed that succes into becoming the first overall pick in the 1981 NFL Supplemental Draft. 46 players have been selected in the supplemental draft since its beginnings in 1977. It was created for the purpose of giving players whose circumstances rendered them unable to enter the main NFL draft.
Eight of the 46 players selected supplementally have reached the Pro Bowl, including Hall of Famer Cris Carter. Tony Eason succeeded Wilson as the Illini QB1, and he would go on to become a member of the famed quarterback class of ’83. Eason, who was selected 15th overall, was one of six QBs who went in the first round of the 1983 draft.
This class includes Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, John Elway and Dan Marino.
He would later lead the New England Patriots to Super Bowl XX. Speaking of 1983, it marked the year that White achieved a milestone that will almost certainly stand the test of time. Back then the Big 10 was actually 10 teams, no more, no less, and the Illini beat every single one of them.
No one else has ever done that- beaten the entire rest of the conference in one season. And unless the Big Ten goes to a 17 game conference season, and somebody runs the table during their league slate, it won’t happen again.
Illinois blew their outside chance of claiming a national title that season however, by getting utterly routed by a rather mediocre UCLA team in the Rose Bowl. The Bruins QB that day, famed CBS commentator Rick Neuheisel, perfectly explained why in a media conference call about 30 years later.
White went 40-26-2 in conference play during his eight years at the University of Illinois. His end came unceremoniously in 1988, however, when he resigned amidst a NCAA investigation into recruiting violations.
Basically, he was doing NIL 40 some years before it was allowed. And maybe this is why his legacy is somewhat under the radar these days.
However, his image is still prominently featured today at U of I’s Memorial Stadium. There is a plaque honoring him on a pole in the west concourse.
This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: RIP Mike White, a coach who developed QBs for the NFL Draft
