White Denies That He Did Anything Wrong in Getting George at Illinois

Throughout his eight years at Illinois, Mike White has heard it time and again.

Sometimes the charges are subtle, whispered among the coaching fraternity. Other times they are printed in bold, black headlines in major midwestern newspapers.

It does come down to the same charge: Cheating.

“I guess at first it used to make me mad, angry, hurt,” says the Illini coach. “Now I guess I’m developing a different attitude. I know we’re clean.”

The questions of alleged illegalities surfaced again late this summer when highly-touted quarterback Jeff George decided to enroll at Illinois. George, the No. 1-recruited high school quarterback out of the state of Indiana two years ago, had played one season at Purdue. When Coach Leon Burtnett was fired, George announced he was enrolling at the University of Miami.

But before he enrolled, George again changed his mind and decided to enroll at Illinois, a school that, during White’s tenure, has produced top-flight pro quarterbacks like Jack Trudeau, Dave Wilson and Tony Eason.

“What I really feel bad about is that Jeff is the one who seems to be getting the rap here and it’s just not fair,” White says. “The thing to remember is that Jeff came to us. We didn’t go to him. The timing might not have been the best but it was all on the up and up.”

New Purdue Coach Fred Akers, who tried unsuccessfully to keep George at Purdue, hasn’t directly charged any impropriety.

“The last look at this has not been taken,” Akers said. “The last look has not been taken.”

Akers’ comments are typical of some of the subtle charges White has heard since moving to Champaign in 1980. Some have said he has had feuds with other Big Ten schools, including Bo Schembechler and Michigan. Some have questioned his recruiting methods.

“The thing that hurts is that people didn’t believe we could turn around the program and do it within the bounds of the regulations and rules of the NCAA,” White says. “Look at (athletic director) Neale Stoner. He has run an honest, decent program here. But like I said, I don’t worry about those things now. We do things by the book here.”

In his first season, Illinois went 3-7-1. By 1983, Illinois had won the Big Ten title, the first in 20 years, and had gone to the Rose Bowl. But during that time, Illinois was placed on probation for NCAA violations which prohibited the 1984 team, a 7-4 club, from going to a postseason bowl game.

George’s decision to go to Illinois is likely to increase the focus on White and the Illinois program although no one has lodged an official complaint or demanded an investigation.

Because of Big 10 rules, George must sit out a year and also will not receive a scholarship because he transferred from another Big Ten school. Again, subtle charges were being leveled that Illinois would skirt the scholarship issue by rewarding George with a lucrative summer job.

“Do you really think we’re so dumb that we’re going to give Jeff a special job, different than another player, and get an investigation launched on us?” White asked.

George, who threw for 8,100 yards during his high school career, likely will wind up being a distraction from this year’s club, which is trying to come off a disappointing 4-7 season last year.

“We realize that and we’re going to have to deal with it. Jeff George cannot play for us this year and we know that,” White says. “I know everywhere we go for a while people are going to ask about the signing of George, the recruiting of George, how he is going to play, what he can do. They might also say that Jeff could have done something for us if we don’t play a particularly good game.”

“But we’re ready for that. We know how to handle distractions around here,” White says.

Although George’s credentials are impressive--he was 122 of 227 for 1,217 yards last year as a freshman starter for Purdue--he isn’t going to be handed the job at Illinois on a platter.

“He’s going to have to earn it and he knows that. He’s going to have to earn the respect of the other players on the squad and that won’t come overnight,” White says.

George also will have to overcome some of the negative factors--his change of mind in attending schools and his 15 interceptions against only four TDs last year.

“He’ll handle it. He’s that type of individual,” White says.