Mike White, the former Cal head football coach and a towering figure in Golden Bears history, passed away Sunday at the age of 89 in Newport Beach. A Cal Athletics Hall of Famer, White left a legacy that’s still felt across the program - not just in the wins, but in the way he built teams, developed talent, and carried himself as a leader.
White’s signature season came in 1975, when he guided Cal to its first conference title in 17 years. That team didn’t just win - it lit up the scoreboard.
The Golden Bears led the nation in total offense, averaging a staggering 485.5 yards per game. And it wasn’t just one-dimensional firepower.
White’s offense was the definition of balance, with a ground game and aerial attack that kept defenses guessing and fans on their feet.
That season, Cal went 8-3 overall and 6-1 in the Pac-8, sharing the conference crown with UCLA. They finished ranked No. 14 in the final AP Top 25 - a fitting cap to a historic campaign.
At the heart of that offensive juggernaut were some serious stars. Running back Chuck Muncie and wide receiver Steve Rivera were both consensus first-team All-Americans.
Muncie, in particular, was electric - finishing as the runner-up in the Heisman voting and earning Pac-8 Player of the Year honors. Quarterback Joe Roth orchestrated it all with poise and precision, showing the kind of command that made White’s system hum.
And White didn’t just find success in 1975. Over his six seasons at the helm from 1972 to 1977, he compiled a 35-30-1 record, including a 21-19-1 mark in conference play.
His teams finished 8-3 twice - in 1975 and again in 1977 - and his 1974 squad wasn’t far behind at 7-3-1. Over his final four seasons, Cal went 28-15-1, a testament to the program’s steady rise under his watch.
White also helped shape the career of quarterback Steve Bartkowski, who earned consensus All-American honors in 1974 before being selected No. 1 overall in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. That kind of player development was a hallmark of White’s coaching - a blend of football IQ, trust, and a deep understanding of how to maximize talent.
“Mike was special,” said former Cal linebacker Burl Toler Jr., who played 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’s connection to Cal went far beyond the sidelines. He was a four-sport athlete for the Bears in the 1950s, earning varsity letters in football, rugby, track and field, and junior varsity basketball.
On the football field, he played wide receiver and punter from 1955 to 1957. In track and field, he won both the high hurdles and high jump in the 1957 Big Meet against Stanford - a snapshot of his all-around athleticism.
After graduating, White jumped straight into coaching. He spent six seasons at Cal working with the defensive line before heading across the Bay to Stanford, where he served as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator from 1964 to 1971. In 1972, he returned to Berkeley as head coach, launching a run that would reenergize the program.
Following his tenure at Cal, White made the leap to the NFL, joining the San Francisco 49ers as offensive line coach in 1978 and 1979. But the college game called him back in 1980, this time to Illinois. There, he built another winner.
In 1983, White delivered a season for the ages in Champaign. The Illini went 10-1 in the regular season, captured the Big Ten title, and earned their first Rose Bowl appearance in two decades.
That team didn’t just win - it made history, becoming the only squad in Big Ten history to beat every other conference team in a single season (9-0). White was named both national and Big Ten Coach of the Year for his efforts.
He stayed at Illinois through 1987, finishing with a 47-41-3 overall record and a 40-26-2 mark in conference play. All told, White’s 14-season college head coaching career wrapped up with a 75-56-3 record - a .571 winning percentage that reflected both consistency and impact.
After a brief break from coaching in 1988, White returned to the sidelines at Newport Harbor High School in 1989 before heading back to the NFL in 1990. He spent several seasons with the Los Angeles Raiders, first as offensive line coach (1990-93), then as quarterbacks coach (1994), before being named head coach for their first two seasons back in Oakland (1995-96).
White’s final coaching chapter came with the St. Louis Rams from 1997 to 1999, where he served as an offensive assistant and helped guide the team to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory - a fitting end to a long and accomplished coaching journey.
After stepping away from coaching, White continued to contribute to the game as Director of Football Administration for the Kansas City Chiefs. But his heart never strayed far from Cal. He returned to his alma mater and spent many summers working with the California Alumni Association as Director of Camp Blue at the Lair of the Golden Bear - a role he first held as an undergrad.
In 2013, White received the Glenn T. Seaborg Award, an honor given to former Cal football players who exemplify the university’s ideals of excellence in academics, athletics, leadership, and character.
Mike White’s legacy is etched into the fabric of Cal football and beyond. He was a coach, a mentor, a competitor, and above all, a Bear through and through.