He Helps Make Sure They’re Not Cut Off at the Pass : Raiders: It is assistant coach Mike White’s job to ensure that the team’s quarterbacks are performing to potential.

Mike White studies Raider quarterback Jay Schroeder lofting passes to receivers. Noticing a hitch in Schroeder’s throwing motion, White pulls him aside to correct the mistake.

Hired as quarterback coach last spring, White’s role is to tutor quarterbacks Schroeder and backups Steve Beuerlein and Vince Evans, although Beuerlein reported only Monday, after missing training camp because of a contract dispute.

“He’s been a big help,” Schroeder said of White. “He’s very fundamental in everything he does, and everything starts with the fundamentals. We’ve needed it around here. Not only that, but he knows the passing game. And it’s helped the football team.”

Can White improve Schroeder, who had more interceptions than touchdowns last season?

“Obviously, I feel I can,” White said. “Jay has been scarred. He’s not only been scarred himself, but he’s been scarred in the eyes of other people. And that’s the toughest one to come back from. He needs support.

“I’m sort of like the teaching pro a golfer goes to every so often to tighten up his fundamentals. I don’t want to overstate it, but that’s basically my job. I’m responsible for the quarterbacks’ mechanics and techniques and that’s it. I’ll try to help them mentally and emotionally. That’s my role.

“The one thing that was made very clear to me by the Raiders is that that’s my role and no more. The rest is a learning experience.”

White’s coaching credentials are impressive.

A disciple of Bill Walsh, former coach of the San Francisco 49ers, White, in a 32-year career, has coached an all-star list of quarterbacks, among them Jim Plunkett, Steve Bartkowski, Vince Ferragamo, Joe Roth, Rich Campbell, Tony Eason, Dave Wilson, Jack Trudeau and Jeff George.

White, 54, who had an 82-71-4 record in 14 seasons as a head coach at California and Illinois, joined the Raiders after being out of coaching for two years.

If Art Shell, in his first full season as a head coach, were to falter, the Raiders would have a proven head coach in White. Does he hope to use his job with the Raiders as a steppingstone to becoming an NFL head coach?

“In total candor, I have no idea,” White said. “I’ve been humbled by how little recall I have of the NFL. I really have no idea. I’m going to take it a day at a time and then I’ll see what I’ve accomplished and take it from there.

“Some guys have to be head coaches. I’m not sure that that’s what I need. I just want to be happy and get some fulfillment from what I’m doing, and I am.

“As a young coach, everything looks to the future. In my case, I’m grateful to be working again. I don’t have anything to prove. I’ve proved my executive ability and I’ve proved the ability to take two programs that were down and out and turn them into successful programs.”

Hired at Berkeley in 1972, White led the Bears to the 1975 Pacific 10 co-championship. Then, he led the Illini into the 1984 Rose Bowl, losing to UCLA, 45-9.

Yet White’s success has been tarnished because his recruiting methods have come under scrutiny.

He resigned from Illinois on Jan. 18, 1988 in the wake of an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations. An assistant coach paid for the lodging of a recruit, Hart Lee Dykes, who eventually enrolled at Oklahoma State, and White and an assistant coach made an illegal visit to another recruit. Illinois was also placed on NCAA probation in 1984 for earlier recruiting violations.

“I’ve always had a cloud over my head,” White said. “When I got to Cal, I inherited three years of probation. In both cases, where I was forced to leave, I feel bad that I affected some people’s lives that I really didn’t have control over. That’s not fair, and I feel bad about that.”

Although White said he has strong feelings about how the NCAA administers college athletics, he declined to discuss them.

Asked if he would consider a return to college coaching, White said: “I basically suffer from the fact that I stayed too long in two places. I was shoved out the door at two different places (Cal and Illinois). I’m the kind of guy who wore people out with my work ethic and attitude and enthusiasm.

“That’s why I’m not so sure that head coaching has to be my next step, because I know what the head coach goes through. I spent more time solving problems off the field than I did coaching football.

“Now that I’ve been around the pros, I think I can get as much enjoyment out of this as I did out of college.”

After leaving Illinois, White moved to Newport Beach, where he worked for Pro Scout, Inc., in 1988. He was a consultant to Tex Schramm, president of the World League of American Football last year, researching the acceptance of American football in Europe.

White was interviewed for the San Diego Chargers’ head coaching job in 1989 but the job was given to Dan Henning.

The only coaching he did was as an assistant at Newport Harbor High, where his son, Matt, was a senior last year.

That made White realize how much he missed coaching.

“I’ve had some hard knocks, but I’m still addicted to coaching,” he said.

White returned to coaching this spring when he accepted an offer from Walsh to help run a camp for NFL quarterbacks. The two were assistant coaches at Cal and Stanford, and White later served as an assistant on Walsh’s 49er staff between the jobs at Cal and Illinois.

Their first client was the Raiders, but Walsh had to end the camp after 1 1/2 days because NBC, which employs Walsh as a television commentator, considered the camp a conflict of interest.

So the Raiders hired White to finish the job.

“I really do feel fortunate,” he said. “I feel extremely fortunate. This job has been perfect for me. The two years proved to me how much I missed the on-the-field coaching.”

Does he feel frustrated because he isn’t in charge of the team?

“No, and that’s not a paid political announcement,” White said. “I’ve got far more to learn than I could contribute right now. I’ve got to keep my mouth shut and learn.

“An assistant who becomes frustrated doesn’t become a good assistant, because your players reflect it, and you don’t get the kind of effort you want.”

Shell said White hasn’t overstepped his role.

“Mike is just dealing with the quarterbacks,” Shell said. “That’s Mike’s job. He’s done a good job with the quarterbacks. He’s gotten into their heads and is constantly reminding them of techniques.”

White said he turned down offers to become an NFL head coach after his big 1975 season at Cal, and again after Illinois won the 1983 Big Ten title.

Does he regret not taking an NFL job then?

“I’ve been misunderstood from the very first,” White said. “When I was at Cal, I was misunderstood as an enterprising guy who would capitalize on my success. I reached the pinnacle in 1975 after Cal tied for the Pac-10 (title). But I was happy where I was because it was my alma mater and I wanted to take their football fortunes to the ultimate. I was hot in 1984 after Illinois went to the Rose Bowl.

“But this business is a goofy business. When you’re hot, you’re hot. When you’re not, you learn a little humility.

“I don’t have any bitterness. I think the most important thing is that you know that you’ve had an impact on people and you know you’ve had some success. And I feel in those cases I did.”