This month, the college coaching world was taken aback by Jim Heffernan's retirement from the Illinois wrestling program. Coach Heffernan, who helped lead the University of Illinois wrestling program to 13 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, announced his retirement after 12 years as head coach and 29 years overall with the Illini wrestling program.
The decision caught many by surprise simply because Heffernan has become such a well-respected mainstay in both Champaign, Illinois, and the Division I coaching community at large for the last three decades.
Additionally, few saw this coming, given the very successful campaign Heffernan and Co. just strung together during the strangest of college wrestling seasons in recent memory.
As it stands now, a shortlist of candidates to fill the role has been identified. The candidates include Doug Schwab, Mark Branch, Mike Poeta, Tony Ramos, and possibly others.
A decision is expected to come likely within the week. By all accounts, the search committee is moving quickly and wants a resolution as soon as possible.
Whether it is one of these four or a "dark horse candidate" that gets the job, here is a look at the particulars of what the new head coach will inherit.
A Turnkey Team
When there is a coaching change at a marquee program, there is often a need to"rebuilt." That is not the case with the Illinois wrestling program.
During the COVID-condensed 2021 season, Illinois had five national qualifiers, and four of them were underclassmen, either freshmen or sophomores.
With respect to NCAA qualifiers, the only senior, was All-American Dylan Duncan. It is currently unknown whether Duncan intends to return for the 2021-22 campaign with his additional COVID eligibility year. Fellow All-American freshman Lucas Byrd proved to be an unexpected bright spot for the Illini this season. If his trajectory over the next few seasons continues, the Cincinnati, Ohio, native should develop into a legitimate national title hopeful for the Orange and Blue.
The remaining three qualifiers are all sophomores. Heavyweight Luke Luffman and the Brauangel twins, Danny and Zac. Luffman was a true sophomore, while the Braunagels have used redshirts. The trio fell short of the podium in 2021 but is part of a solid foundation in Champaign to build upon. And although 125-pounder Justin Cardani didn't make it to St. Louis this year, he does have a previous appearance at the national tournament.
As a team, Illinois was an impressive 5-3 in dual meet action in 2021. Illinois started the 2021 campaign off with four consecutive wins over Indiana, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Purdue. Their final win came against an in-state rival and a very talented Northwestern squad that finished tenth nationally in St. Louis.
Premiere Conference Association
It's no secret that the Big Ten is the NCAA's premier wrestling conference. Being a Big Ten wrestling member school means that as a coach, you have a leg up in recruiting, scheduling, personal salary, facilities, additional resources, national tournament qualifying bids, and so much more. Granted, coaching in the Big Ten with perennial powerhouse programs like Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, and others is no enviable task, but Big Ten wrestling is the cream of the crop.
With that, It's relatively rare for Big Ten jobs to open, so whenever one happens, it captures the attention of the coaching world. Since 2015, only seven head coaching hires have occurred in the conference. Of those seven, five went to an assistant already on staff (Angel Escobedo - Indiana, Sean Bormet - Michigan, Roger Chandler - Michigan State, Brandon Eggum - Minnesota, Matt Storniolo - Northwestern). Only Maryland (Alex Clemson) and Wisconsin (Chris Bono) went outside of their existing staff.
Only time will tell if Illinois follows the trend and promotes from within or if they choose an outsider. Either way, given the scarcity of these Big Ten coaching opportunities, it is no surprise to see that some of the nation's best coaches are in contention for the role.
Fertile Recruiting Territory
With only 79 NCAA Division I wrestling programs in the entire country, coaches don't always have the luxury of living, working, and recruiting in the most desirable regions of the country. Leading the Illini program in Champaign does not qualify as one of these less-than-desirable locations.
Concerning the strength of in-state recruiting potential, you can't ask for much better than the state of Illinois. In 2021, 29 Illinois natives qualified for the NCAA Championships. This amount was second-most, behind only Pennsylvania's 49 qualifiers. Seven of the 29 went on to earn All-American honors. Most notably, a testament to the increasing strength of high school wrestling in Illinois, North Carolina's Austin O'Connor became the first Illinois native to win an NCAA title since his coach, Tony Ramos, did so in 2014.
In short, any prospective coach should (and likely would) jump at the chance to have a home base with so much Division I-caliber talent in their metaphorical backyard. While it is not impossible to find success in regions that are not traditional wrestling hotbeds, it's certainly easier to do so when you can fall back on your home state. This luxury is something Heffernan took advantage of with regularity during his illustrious tenure in Champaign. Under the new leadership, whomever that may be, I'd expect a healthy contingent of Illinois preps to find their way on the roster.
Strong Academic Reputation
As if the conference association and advantageous location in a wrestling-rich state like Illinois weren't enough, the future Fighting Illini head coach can take comfort in knowing that their new school has a sterling academic reputation. This academic success will only aid their future recruiting efforts even more.
Illinois is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois, with over 30,000 undergraduates. In terms of its academic ranking, US News and World Report puts Illinois 47th nationally and 15th among public universities. Only Michigan and Wisconsin were among the public Big Ten schools ranked higher. Northwestern ranks higher when factoring in private schools from the conference. Being a top-five school within your conference and a top-50 school nationally are certainly valuable stats to pull from when making a recruiting pitch.
Good Pay
While one cannot say with certainty that Heffernan's replacement will get the same compensation that Heffernan had for his most recent contract, it wouldn't be wrong to think the new coach will have a salary that is at least "in the ballpark" with Heffernan's. This theory gains more validity when you consider some of the names associated with the vacancy (Schwab, Branch, Poeta, Ramos, and others) who are expected to command a significant price tag.
With this in mind, Per to the University of Illinois, Heffernan's salary was a smidge under $200,000 annually. While this isn't football or men's basketball money, it is certainly enough to attract top coaching talent.
It may only be a matter of days before the wrestling world knows who will have the reigns of the Illinois wrestling program. Whoever that individual is, he will have a top-notch program with many helpful resources already in place. Truthfully, it would not surprise me to see Heffernan's heir apparent have instant success on the mats.
Division I coaching jobs like this one are a dime a dozen, so the next chosen leader of the Illinois program will be fortunate.
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