He coached a team led by Joe Roth, Chuck Muncie and Wesley Walker to the Pac-8 co-championship—the school's first conference title in 18 years.

He succeeded Gary Moeller, who in three seasons at Illinois finished no higher than eighth in the Big Ten Conference.

Along the way, White coached future NFL quarterbacks Dave Wilson, Tony Eason, and Jack Trudeau, and record-setting wide receiver David Williams.

But the team went into a nosedive, losing their final six games (with four of the six losses being without Jeff Hostetler at quarterback due to injury) to finish 8–8.

White was fired by the Raiders on Christmas Eve, being given the news by Bruce Allen though Al Davis was involved in the decision.