Catching Up With: Mike White

Steve Virgen

Mike White had it all planned out.

He had just finished his career in the National Football League with

one of the most improbable championship runs in league history as he

helped lead the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl XXXIV title in January

2000 as an assistant coach.

After he retired with friend and former Rams head coach Dick Vermeil,

White prepared for the luxuries of retirement. The Rams kept White and

Vermeil under contract as consultants and that agreement allowed White to

receive even more comfort.

Residing with his wife, Marilyn, in their residence on Balboa Island

the past three years, they were ready to build a new home there.

He was also ready to enjoy the time he was about to spend with his

family -- the Whites have a son, Chris, who is moving to Orange County,

while daughter Carrie, and her husband Scott Chantos, live on Balboa

Island and they have two children Hannah, 8, and Noah, 5. Also, White’s

son Matt and his wife Julie, who live in Newport Beach, are the parents

of grandchildren Harrison, 2, and Dylan, 1.

Retirement appeared to be the best decision made in White’s life.

But, sometimes life’s expectations can change more dramatically than

the Rams’ storybook championship run, which included an NFC West title

they captured in a stunning turnaround from 4-12 to 13-3 with

backup-quarterback-turned-NFL-MVP Kurt Warner at the helm.

“I thought I was surprised when Dick retired (in 2000),” said White,

who is 65 years old. “But then I was o7 reallyf7 surprised when he

told me we were going back to work.”

“He told me, ‘We’re going to take another team (the Kansas City

Chiefs) to the Super Bowl,” White said. “I just said, what the heck. He

was the only person I would have done anything like this for, because I

have so much respect for him.”

Vermeil and White signed three-year contracts with Kansas City in

January. White figuratively described the act, saying the Chiefs stapled

their contracts together as Vermeil signed as head coach and White was

inked as director of football operations.

The coaches hope to duplicate the same three-year process that

resulted in an NFL championship with St. Louis, where White and Vermeil

formed a unique relationship.

Said White, “We have sort of an unwritten job description and we feed

off of each other’s instincts. I know that we developed a blueprint for

winning in the three years in St. Louis. We have confidence that we could

build the same in a short period of time, here in KC. Dick has proved

that he is a winner. I have a lot of confidence in him.”

Vermeil, in turn, relies on White’s strengths to cancel the head

coach’s weaknesses.

“I wouldn’t have come back without him,” said Vermeil, who came out of

a retirement that lasted one year. “He’s a difference maker. Mike could

do what I’m titled to do. He’s very critical in our plan and vital in a

Dick Vermeil-coached football team.”

“He’s one of those guys who thinks a lot of himself, but not a lot o7

aboutf7 himself, it’s a tremendous attribute,” Vermeil said.

Like Vermeil, White ditched retirement for personal reasons. The two

are bound by friendship and they are bonded by the same blood, so to

speak. They were born to coach, it’s in their blood.

“(White) has got too many miles left in his gas tank,” Vermeil said.

And it’s true. Amid his retirement, White realized a void in his life.

Though he cherished each moment spent with his family, he craved what

coaching has provided throughout the years.

“I missed being a part of the team,” White said. “I missed the

day-to-day challenges that I’ve had in all my coaching experiences. This

opportunity with the Chiefs has really filled a need for me and I’m glad

I came back.”

The Chiefs recently ended minicamp and White is now on “vacation.” He

returns to the team Wednesday for training camp, where the Chiefs will

prepare for the upcoming season in River Falls, Wis.

If training camp fulfills White’s need for a challenge, games on the

Chiefs’ schedule will be like climbing Mt. Everest.

On Aug. 31, Kansas City ends its preseason with a nationally televised

game at St. Louis. And if that wasn’t enough, the Chiefs open the NFL

season, Sept. 9, by hosting last year’s AFC West Champions, the Oakland

Raiders, the team White coached from 1990-96, the final two years as head

coach.

“It will be exciting, playing the Raiders,” said White, who has a

second date with the AFC West rival Dec. 9 in Oakland. “It’s the opening

game and it’s here. We’re playing the AFC West champions. Even if it

wasn’t the Raiders, I would be excited about that. The fact that it is

the opening game is enough for me.”

The spirit of competition, White said, is what has made him who he is

today.

He earned nine varsity letters at the University of California, in

football, swimming, track and field, baseball and rugby, from 1954-58. He

also played basketball and received unique training from legendary coach

Pete Newell.

“I remember (White) used to always write in his notebook during our

practices,” said former Corona del Mar High boys basketball coach Tandy

Gillis, who played for Newell’s national championship team in 1959. “I

always thought that was pretty smart of him to do that, knowing that he

was going into coaching.”

The need for competition and coaching have always been a part of

White’s life.

After eight years of coaching for the University of Illinois, White

broke back into the pro ranks as he worked on the World League of

American Football (now NFL Europe) developments, in 1988-89 (earlier, he

had worked with the San Francisco 49ers).

Just before he moved on to the Raiders, White served as a consultant

to the Newport Harbor High football team in 1989.

The time spent with the Sailors, when his son Matt played for the

team, is one of the most memorable for White.

“I will always be grateful to Jeff (Brinkley),” White said. “He

allowed me to be part of that program that year. I probably enjoyed that

year as much as my other years of coaching, because the players were so

receptive. Next time I come back home (and retire), I hope he has a job

for me. I should’ve done it when I had the time off last year.”

White actually had enough time to offer words of inspiration before

Newport Harbor upset top-seeded and previously unbeaten La Mirada, 35-16,

in a CIF Southern Section Division VI semifinal last fall.

“He helped me a lot in terms of game preparation,” Brinkley said of

his time spent coaching with White. “Whenever he’s done winning Super

Bowls, we would love to have him help us out again.”