Former California Golden Bears football head coach Mike White died Sunday at the age of 89 in Newport Beach. White, a member of the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame, was recognized as national Coach of the Year in 1975 after leading the team to its first conference title since 1958. That season, Cal finished with an 8-3 record and a 6-1 mark in league play, sharing the Pac-8 championship with UCLA and ending ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25.
The 1975 Golden Bears led college football in total offense, averaging 485.5 yards per game with a balanced attack that included running back Chuck Muncie and wide receiver Steve Rivera, both consensus first-team All-Americans. Quarterback Joe Roth also contributed to the team’s performance. Muncie finished as runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and was named Pac-8 Player of the Year. White coached quarterback Steve Bartkowski, who earned All-American honors in 1974 before being selected first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1975 NFL Draft.
During his six seasons as Cal’s head coach from 1972 to 1977, White compiled a record of 35-30-1 overall and went 21-19-1 in Pac-8 play. His teams posted two eight-win seasons (1975 and 1977) and had a combined record of 28-15-1 over his final four years.
“Mike was special,” said Burl Toler Jr., a linebacker who played at Cal under White from 1974 to 1977. “He treated us like men and with a lot of respect. Mike was a very gifted and smart coach who loved Cal and loved being a coach, and he surrounded himself with a lot of like minds who instilled in us a will to succeed.”
White was also an accomplished student-athlete at Cal during the mid-1950s, earning varsity letters in football as a wide receiver and punter from 1955 to 1957. He participated in rugby, track and field—winning both high hurdles and high jump at the Big Meet against Stanford—and junior varsity basketball.
After graduating from Cal, White began coaching at his alma mater as defensive line coach (1958–63), then spent eight years at Stanford as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator (1964–71). He returned to Berkeley as head coach in 1972.
Following his time at Cal, White joined the San Francisco 49ers as offensive line coach for two seasons before becoming head coach at Illinois for eight years (1980–87). At Illinois, he led teams to several successful seasons including a school-record ten wins in 1983 when he received national Coach of the Year honors again; that year’s Illini squad became the only Big Ten team to defeat every other conference opponent in one season.
In total, White recorded an overall collegiate head coaching record of 75-56-3 over fourteen seasons.
White took one year away from coaching after leaving Illinois before working briefly at Newport Harbor High School. He later joined the Los Angeles Raiders’ staff starting in 1990, eventually serving as their head coach for two seasons after their return to Oakland (1995–96). He concluded his coaching career with three years on staff for the St. Louis Rams—including their Super Bowl XXXIV win.
After coaching, White worked for Kansas City Chiefs administration before retiring from football entirely.
In retirement, he remained involved with UC Berkeley through work with the California Alumni Association’s Camp Blue program. In recognition of his contributions on and off the field, he received UC Berkeley’s Glenn T. Seaborg Award in 2013.
