CHAMPAIGN — Former Illinois football head coach Mike White, who led the Fighting Illini to the 1983 Big Ten Conference championship, died on Sunday. He was 89.
White took over the Illinois program in 1980, guiding the Illini for eight seasons and 47 victories. His 1983 squad went 10-2, won the Big Ten title by beating all nine league opponents including a trio of top-10 victories and played in the 1984 Rose Bowl.
The 1983 team became the lone team in conference history to have beaten every other conference opponent in the same season.
His teams featured several of the all-time great Illini quarterbacks including Dave Wilson, Tony Eason and Jack Trudeau. Illinois’ all-time leading receiver David Williams, a 2025 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, still holds the Illini records for career receptions, season receptions, career touchdown receptions, season touchdown receptions, career receiving yardage, and season receiving yardage.
Following his tenure at Illinois, White spent 1990-1999 in the NFL with the Los Angeles Raiders, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams. He was for head coach for the Raiders in 1995 and 1996, going 8-8 and 7-9 in those two campaigns.
White then won a Super Bowl with Rams in 1999 as an offensive assistant.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Longtime Illinois football coach and former NFL coach dies at age 89
Reporting by Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
