Mike White`s often stormy eight-year tenure as head football coach at the University of Illinois came to an abrupt end Monday when he resigned after an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations at the Champaign school. Judith Rowan, associate chancellor for public affairs, revealed that the university had received a letter from the NCAA in December concerning three infractions of NCAA rules.
Two appeared insignificant, but the third, alleging payment for lodging by an assistant coach to a prospective player, was not.
Rowan would not reveal the names of either the player or the coach. The player never enrolled at Illinois. The coach is no longer on the staff.
White tendered his resignation to Athletic Director Neale Stoner, who made no statement Monday. Interim Chancellor Morton Weir said White, who just received a three-year $900,000 contract, would be paid about $300,000 as part of the departure settlement. White`s contract ran through 1990.
Weir said the university`s investigation revealed that White and two assistants had visited the home of a prospective athlete in 1986-at a time of the year when the NCAA does not allow that. But he said White apparently did not realize it would be a violation.
However, Weir said in the case of the cash payment for lodging to a prospective athlete, the assistant coach ”knew he was doing something in violation of the rules.”
”We could just not continue this way, and when the coach saw (the allegations), he decided we could not continue this way,” said Weir.
”If you examine these (NCAA) allegations when they become public, you may note that they appear to be minor in nature and date back to 1985,” White said in a statement. ”While I was unaware of the violations, I take full responsibility for the allegations in my capacity as University of Illinois`
head football coach.”
Internal audits conducted into the football program by the school indicate that more, unspecified violations have been discussed.
The university has conducted semi-annual audits of the football program since an NCAA probation was tendered in 1984 for earlier recruiting violations during White`s tenure.
All results will be reviewed Feb. 5 by the NCAA Committee on Infractions. ”I`m shocked,” said Russell W. ”Ruck” Steger, a Chicago business executive who has served as an officer on Illinois` Athletic Association and as a member of the university`s Board of Trustees, and currently is the assistant chairman of a drive to raise $25 million for the Illini`s athletic department. ”It was our posture on the board (trustees) that if White did not adhere, did not comply, to regulations, that some decision had to be made.
”He did not have to be a big-time winner. We told White that. The president (Stanley Ikenberry) made that clear. There was too much on the table to risk. We told White we wanted a good representative team.”
White, 51, was hired Dec. 17, 1979, to bring on-the-field respectability to a football program that had had only one winning season in 15 years. He did that in his second year, leading the Illini to a 7-4 record in 1981.
The following year, the Illini went 7-5 and accepted a bid to the Liberty Bowl, Illinois` first postseason appearance since 1964.
White`s coaching stock reached its high point in 1983, when his team went 10-2 and became the only team in Big 10 history to go undefeated through a nine-game league season.
But off the field, the news was never as rosy. The Big 10 put Illinois on probation in 1981 for violations centering on its recruitment of former Illini quarterback Dave Wilson.
Illinois was prohibited from a postseason appearance in 1984 and could not appear on television in 1985 after being placed on probation by the NCAA. Those sanctions expired December, 1986.
White was 47-41-3 at Illinois, but the last two seasons had been marred by turmoil.
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He suspended 23 players before the 1986 season, a year the Illini went 4-7.
Hopes were high before the 1987 season, when White brought in virtually an entirely new staff and had 16 starters back.
The hopes were soon dashed as Illinois (3-7-1) generated the worst offense in the league.
Despite two straight losing seasons, however, White`s job seemed secure, largely because of the renewed hope generated by highly touted quarterback Jeff George, who will become eligible in 1988 after transferring from Purdue. ”Coach White was called upon to undertake a very difficult task in 1979 when our football program was enjoying very little success,” said interim Chancellor Morton Weir. ”His teams brought excitement to Illinois football.” ”When I took over the program, I knew the risks involved based on the university`s unfavorable history with the NCAA,” White said. ”Nevertheless, I believed then with Neale Stoner`s leadership and the commitment of my staff we have established a first-class organization that has made every effort to operate within the framework and guidelines of the NCAA and Big 10 standards. We have returned Illinois football to the national prominence and tradition that was missing when we came here.”
”Things are going to go on,” said linebacker Romero Brice. ”I`m sure his leaving will have some impact.”