We conclude our Every Living Former Illini Football Coach- Where Are They Now Series with part three, focusing on Lou Tepper, John Mackovic and Mike White. Part 1 (Ron Zook, Ron Turner and Lovie Smith) can be found here. Part 2 (Tim Beckman and Bill Cubit) can be found here.
Lou Tepper
Summarizing his era of Illini Football:
If you liked 9-7, 6-3, 7-0 scores, then this was your guy! Big fan of running the ball 55, 60 times a game? Then Tepperball was the style for you. Dude was the Godfather of the Big Ten West long before we even had the idea of Legends and Leaders.
The Illini were consistently mediocre under him, but hey, at least they weren’t awful…except for his final season in 1996.
The 1994 team, led by an unreal defense and some ok pieces on offense, was pretty good, and almost came close to doing some special things.
What he is/was instead of being a true Big Ten Head Football Coach:
A defensive coordinator through and through.
Really wasn’t a guy that should be running a power 5 program, but he did so in a clean, honest way. But again his teams had a, uh, uhmm “pragmatic” style of play.
Football Jobs After the Illini:
His next stop after Illinois was LSU, where he served as DC and Linebackers coach- not bad work!
From there he then became head coach of Division II Edinboro, whose mascot is the Fighting Scots, which is pretty cool, we got to say.
After a pretty solid run in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, he took over another D2 program, where he went 36-18 as the leader of the IUP Crimson Hawks. His last stop in football was the University of Buffalo, where was, of course D Coordinator, from 2012-2014.
Current Gig:
He officially retired from football in 2015, at the age of 71. But you can buy his book, “Complete Linebacking,” (2013) to which Khalil Mack contributed online.
John Mackovic
Summarizing his era of Illini Football:
Kept up a lot of Mike White’s success, but did so in a clean fashion. Won a co-Big Ten title in 1990, before leaving for Texas.
He did alright in Austin, but fell far short of the very lofty expectations the Longhorns have for themselves. The UT fanbase remains very self-deluded, 32 years late.
It was a turning point for Illini football too though- they have only had eight winning seasons (and just one in double digits) since he left.
Football Jobs After the Illini:
Fired by Texas, he then worked for ESPN for a short period, then took over Arizona, where he flopped. He then had a couple more minor coaching roles, here and there before calling it a career.
Current Gig: At age 80, long out of football, and retired for quite some time.
Mike White
Summarizing his era of Illini Football:
Ok, so here is where the fun truly begins! (Yes, way down here!). White was way ahead of his time. With the possible exception of maybe Hayden Frey at Iowa, no coach truly brought the modern passing game to the Big Ten.
White’s teams were a NFL QB factory, and they produced the most fun to watch period that the Illini football program has ever seen.
Unfortunately, the Illini football passing game (other than for three seasons under Kurt Kittner) has never come back anything remotely close to what it was back then.
Although White was crooked, and eventually resigned his post in 1987 due to recruiting violations, he also led the most legendary team in Illini football history- the 10-2 1983 squad.
They will forever be remembered as the only team that beat all other nine Big Ten teams in the same season. The Big Ten has long been more than 10 teams, and it is obviously not going back to that size any time soon. That team also partied with U of I alum Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion on Dec 31, 1983. Right before the Rose Bowl on Jan 2, 1984.
It’s just too bad for Rick Neuheisel and UCLA, their opponents who thrashed them that day, because they were not invited to the big soiree; despite being just up the road.
Football Jobs After the Illini:
He got an assistant job with the Raiders in the late 80s, and became the head coach by the mid 90s.
It was on his watch, in the 1995 season, the team’s first in Oakland after a 12-year sojourn in Los Angeles that saw the 8–2 Raiders nosedive, losing their final six to finish 8–8 and out of the playoffs.
Following a 7-9 record in 1996, White was fired by the Raiders on Christmas Eve, being given the news by Bruce Allen though Al Davis was involved in the decision. How Dickensian!
I guess Al Davis was Ebeneezer Scrooge.
White was on then on the staff of the Rams from 1997-1999, including a Super Bowl victory in ’99. He later served as the Director of Football Administration for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Current Gig: Retired, and now 88 years young.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.