CHAMPAIGN — In the back of his mind, James White always knew coaching football was a priority. He also intentionally kept a potential future in the profession tucked away as far as he could.
White knows the hours are strenuous, the responsibilities steep and the grind stressful. But he also knew he understood the game of football at a high level and had the desire to make an impact on 18- to 24-year-old college athletes.
Coaching just wasn't his first choice because of all the rest of the job entails. Plus, the guy isn't exactly hurting for cash after making more than $15 million during his eight-year NFL career with the New England Patriots.
Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has known for a while that White had the makings of a good coach, but he had to let his former star Wisconsin running back learn that for himself. The door was always open as soon as White wanted to break through.
After spending last season assisting Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock — not as a coach, White points out, but as more of a consultant — White got the itch. Hammock had been pushing the three-time Super Bowl champion in that direction, but White was happy helping out here or there, "four or five days a week."
Ultimately, White got the itch. He told Hammock he was ready to jump into this thing. Hammock, while keeping open a spot for White in DeKalb (Ill.), told White to call Bielema and other coaches.
So, on a "random Tuesday or Wednesday," White fired off a text to Bielema with interest in a job. Bielema reponded right back at the star back he recruited 15 years ago, and things were moving. Fast.
White arrived on the UI campus "probably a day or two later," and after meeting with the Illini staff was hired as assistant running backs coach, reuniting him with his former college head coach.
The relationship with Bielema was a driving force in White joining the Illini staff.
"Obviously ,he's an awesome coach, but an awesome human being too," White said. "I think that's what's most important to me. That's why I ended up going to Wisconsin. When he comes into your home and you visit the campus — for me it was Wisconsin and for the kids here it's Illinois — you feel a sense of, kind of, comfort. It's like a home away from home. He's going to try to make you be the best football player you can be, but be the best human being you can possibly be. I think that's what it's all about. We believe in a lot of the same things. I think it's just a great mesh."
Bielema isn't the same coach at Illinois as he was when he coached White at Wisconsin, in the same way White isn't the same person now wearing an orange Illinois shirt inside the Smith Center as he was when he was an 18-year-old freshman for the Badgers. Time marches on, and people evolve, but the core values of Bielema have stayed the same.
The guy knows how to run a football program and cultivate belief inside the building.
"It's his style of coaching and the way he knows the game," White said. "You get to know your players. It's kind of like pushing those buttons to know what buttons to activate on every single day. I think he's learned the game even more than what he had, even when I had him at Wisconsin. Just situational football and knowing what type of players you have and maximizing their talent. That's a huge thing. I think the more you can help these kids learn the game of football, along with helping them be the best players they can possibly be, I think the results instantly show for themselves. I think him as a human being gets those types of kids in the room who are very receptive to all of that. They do an excellent job of recruiting the right type of kids who walk into this building and they're probably not going to have any issues. They love the game of football, they love to work hard and that's why you see those guys aren't leaving the program because they recruit them the right way."
Things are still settling down for White. He's learning how a talented Illinois running back room ticks and operates while observing how each player learns. White is paying close attention to running backs coach Thad Ward to see how he teaches things to the room.
Fully settling in takes time, but White is a heck of a resource for Illinois to have.
"Just to hear the way he teaches those guys, whether it's different phrases or sayings or ways to communicate to make sure those guys are learning," White said. "That's what I've learned just the two or three weeks I've been here is everybody learns differently and everybody learns at a different pace. You've got to be able to know the way each player is going to learn. You're not just coaching one guy. You've got like eight guys in the room, so you've got to make sure all those guys are up to speed because you never know when those guys are going to have to play."
Illinois has four backs — Kaden Feagin, Josh McCray, Aidan Laughery and Ca'Lil Valentine — expected to get carries this season in a by-committee approach. White knows that all too well after sharing a collegiate backfield with John Clay , Montee Ball and ****Melvin Gordon. If there's any voice to complement Ward's in terms of the benefits of a committee approach, White is a pretty darn good one.
"There's a lot of talent in there," White said. "It kind of reminds me of some of my backfields when I was at Wisconsin with different body types, different personalities. Everybody does things a little bit differently, but things that make them unique. I'm still trying to learn them, learn how they learn, learn how they practice to help maximize their talents.
"It's all about competition. I think that's first and foremost. It's not going to be easy because you're only going to get a certain amount of reps. One day, you may get 10 reps, and one day, you may get 20 reps. You never really know how it's going to be. When you have other talented backs in your backfield and you see what they're doing, you want to be just as good or better than what they are. I think it naturally makes you a better football player, and you can learn from each and every one of those guys. Then, hey, you stay a little bit fresher too when you have three or four guys who can go out there and make an impact."
White had a stellar NFL career. He was a fourth-round pick of the Patriots and ran for 1,278 yards and 11 touchdowns during his NFL career to go with 3,278 receiving yards and 25 receiving touchdowns. He was a favorite check-down target for NFL all-time great Tom Brady, and White had several key plays in Patriots' Super Bowl wins.
White also was the 2010 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and rushed for 4,015 yards and 48 touchdowns during his Wisconsin career, which included three Rose Bowl appearances.
The thing is, White doesn't really talk about all of that. Not yet. He's not shielding anyone from his success, but he's not going to be the guy to walk into a room and plop his three Super Bowl rings on the table or relive his college glory days in front of a group of guys he doesn't totally yet know.
If White is asked, of course, he'll answer. If Ward looks to White to share advice, consider White ready to share it. If there's a clip of his playing days — running back Aidan Laughery, for example, just watched a top-10 plays of White's career video last week — that relates to something on campus, White will dig it up.
"I'm just trying to be a sponge, just like I was as a player and trying to learn as much as I can so I can share the information with a player, share some of my experiences that I went through as a player and as I'm learning as a coach to make sure they're at their best come Saturdays."
Added Ward: "James has been awesome to work with. First of all, he's a studious, intelligent, humble young man that really understands the game. He brings a ton of experience, not really as a coach but as a player. So man, he's been unbelievable for our team and for our guys in the room. Just been awesome, man, for me to work with him and be able to pick his brain on a day-to-day basis."