Jim Heffernan retires, Mike Poeta the new Wrestling coach

"Jim Heffernan, who helped lead the University of Illinois wrestling program to 13 Top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, announced his retirement today after 12 years as head coach and 29 years overall with the Illini wrestling program.

Considered one of the most prominent collegiate wrestling coaches in the nation, Heffernan coached 73 All-Americans, 215 NCAA qualifiers, 11 individual NCAA champions and 20 Big Ten Conference champions during his time at Illinois. He helped lead the Illini to Top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships 13 times, and during his coaching career in Champaign, the Illini have had at least one All-American on the roster in 28-consecutive seasons."

Mike Poeta Named Fighting Illini Head Wrestling Coach

Dan said:

"Jim Heffernan, who helped lead the University of Illinois wrestling program to 13 Top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, announced his retirement today after 12 years as head coach and 29 years overall with the Illini wrestling program.

Considered one of the most prominent collegiate wrestling coaches in the nation, Heffernan coached 73 All-Americans, 215 NCAA qualifiers, 11 individual NCAA champions and 20 Big Ten Conference champions during his time at Illinois. He helped lead the Illini to Top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships 13 times, and during his coaching career in Champaign, the Illini have had at least one All-American on the roster in 28-consecutive seasons."

Illini Wrestling Coach Jim Heffernan Announces Retirement - University of Illinois Athletics

Jim Heffernan led Illinois to 13 Top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships.

fightingillini.com

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lol, "...one of the most prominent ...coaches in the nation" ???????????????
The record speaks for itself (results in B10 tournament):

2009 - 2nd of 11 teams (Mark Johnson's last year as coach)

2010 - 8 of 11 (Heffernan's first year as head coach)
2011 - 6 of 11
2012 - 4 of 12
2013 - 5 of 12
2014 - 6 of 12
2015 - 6 of 14
2016 - 7 of 14
2017 - 6 of 14 (Poeta joins staff as assistant)
2018 - 8 of 14
2019 - 11 of 14
2020 - 11 of 14
2021 - 11 of 14

Mediocre might be a better description than prominent. Note that the program has slid into oblivion since Poeta came on board and this is the guy that Whitman chose to lead the program going forward.