Mike White Makes Pitch to Chargers
Former Illinois Coach Mike White has told the Chargers he would be a “hands-on” head coach, one who would call the offensive plays from the field and one who, if hired, would move immediately to retain Charger defensive coordinator Ron Lynn to run his defense.
White is one of three leading candidates for the job that has been vacant since Charger owner Alex Spanos fired Al Saunders last month. The others are Lynn and Washington Redskins assistant Dan Henning.
Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers’ director of football operations, said Friday there are other names still under consideration. But, he added, “We are trying to focus in and get the number down to one or two people.”
White said he expects to meet with Ortmayer this weekend in San Diego and tour the team’s offices and practice facilities. The Chargers continue to talk to Henning and Lynn.
Meanwhile, the Chargers’ chances of retaining Lynn as either head coach or defensive coordinator improved Friday when the Raiders hired Dave Adolph, defensive coordinator in Cleveland for the past three seasons, to fill the same job with them. Lynn, regarded throughout the NFL as one of the league’s keenest defensive minds, had talked to the Raiders about that job and was considered a leading candidate until the hiring of Adolph, who also coached with the Chargers in 1985.
White is the only candidate so far who has talked openly about what kind of team he would put on the field if the Chargers make him their next head coach.
“Hopefully, we’d be a team that that put a lot of responsibility back on the players,” he said Friday by phone from Lake Tahoe. “We’d be a thinking man’s team, a team with a variety of ways of doing things. We’d be a team that used substitutions creatively. And I’d run the offense. I think I’m good at that.”
In White’s first season at Illinois, his quarterback, Dave Wilson, passed for 621 yards and 6 touchdowns in a 49-42 loss to Ohio State. The Illini finished 3-7-1 that year and improved to 7-4 in 1981, his second season.
White’s best year at Illinois was 1983, when his team finished 10-2 (9-0 in the Big Ten) and went to the Rose Bowl, where it lost, 45-9, to UCLA. White resigned from Illinois Jan. 18, 1988, over allegations that members of his staff were involved in illegal payments to recruit Hart Lee Dykes, a wide receiver who attended Oklahoma State.
White’s overall record in 8 years at Illinois was 47-41-3. Before that, he was 35-30-1 as head coach at Cal from 1972-77. Most recently, White has worked for Pro Scout Inc., a football scouting service in Newport Beach.
“I think the year off from coaching has re-charged my batteries,” he said.
White said he considers Lynn a “close personal friend.” Asked if he would be able to work with White if he doesn’t get the head coaching job, Lynn said, “I couldn’t even speculate.”
Added White: “I have faith and trust in Ron Lynn. And that’s half the battle.”
Ortmayer and Spanos have emphasized all along the desire to keep Lynn and several other Charger assistants on staff no matter whom they name as their next coach.
White also has had preliminary talks with new Kansas City General Manager Carl Peterson about a personnel-related job with the Chiefs. But he said those talks are on hold until the Chargers make up their mind about their next coach.
Charger Notes
Don’t expect the Chargers to name a coach before Monday. Owner Alex Spanos and pro golfer Mike McCullough were five strokes out of first (12 under par) after the second round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Unless they blow sky-high, Spanos and McCullough will likely make the 54-hole cut, which means Spanos would still be playing Sunday.