Apr. 4—James White had to contend with a much smaller media scrum Thursday afternoon at the Smith Center than he did during his eight seasons with the New England Patriots.
It was a fairly casual 15 minutes for White in the lobby between the weight room and Irwin Indoor that gets transformed into an ad-hoc interview area following practices or games. A get-to-know-the-new-coach moment where White followed fellow new hires Harper Cole (offensive skill and special teams assistant) and Blake Smithback (offensive front assistant) on Thursday.
The early read on White is he should fit right in with the rest of Bret Bielema's Illinois football staff. And not just because of his history with the Illini coach that dates back to the three Big Ten titles they won together at Wisconsin or the Super Bowl title they both claimed in 2018 with the Patriots (one of three for White).
White is still finding his footing just a few weeks into his new job as Illinois' assistant running backs coach, but he appears to operate with a similar energy (i.e. high) as his new colleagues. Coaching might not have been White's first choice following his NFL career that ended in 2021, but he discovered that as his calling after spending last season working in an unofficial capacity with coach Thomas Hammock at Northern Illinois.
Illinois now provides him the platform to pass down a wealth of experience and knowledge to a new group of young running backs. Something the 33-year-old White spoke of with passion Thursday afternoon. Enough conviction to understand why he changed his mind about pursuing a second career as a coach.
"I'm just trying to be a sponge," White said. "Just like I was as a player, so I can share information with the players and 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."
