This article provides some history on Guenther's history with the Illinois DIA. Interesting that he was ousted from his fundraising post over improper use of funds. We might have had a dramatically different football history had Bob Todd been selected rather than Guenther.
While Mackovik was a perfectly serviceable HC/AD hybrid, I think Stoner before him did a remarkable job coming out of the doldrums of the 70s, giving the middle finger to the Big Ten over Dave Wilson's eligibility, and turning the Illini into a solid program under White and Mac. Apologies for the salty language in the SI article.
Thanks for both of those reads. I was in high school in Ohio when the Wilson incident occurred. Growing up around OSU, what I recall of it in the media is that it seemed that Schembechler and Michigan's AD in particular led the charge against Illinois. (OSU had been somewhat distracted in '79 and '80 by the firing of Woody Hayes and a new regime under Earle Bruce. And Schembechler ran up the score deliberately in that infamous 70-21 beating they gave us in Ann Arbor in '81.)
I appreciated that SI article. That's interesting context. I always assumed that the "hidden agenda" that the UI faculty rep alludes to was other conference members blocking a school from attempting very quickly to rebuild its football program via transfers, which is exactly what White did. I do recall that the media and other programs were shocked at White's tactics. I don't believe anyone (EDIT: in the BT) had tried to do what he did before. It's not only the transfers he brought from California (where he had great success at Cal), it was their talent. The fact that we had a winning season in '81 and then got where we did in '82 and '83 showed that those other schools had reason to be worried. It's interesting that Hayden Fry arrived at Iowa only one year before White joined us, and yet Fry (coming from a Texas background) got his team to the Rose Bowl after three seasons from a similar starting point (2-9 the season before he got there) without seeming to have to resort to White's measures.
And, yes, Stoner dug his own grave. He did great things for the programs but also seemed responsible for an institutional environment that invited investigation and sanctions. The relative detachment of the DIA from the university (which is my perception; I may be wrong) compared with other athletic departments in the BT didn't help us either in terms of financial controls.
(BTW, I loved looking through that 1981 SI issue. There's a great article in there on the father of "Moneyball", Bill James, long before Billy Beane discovered his methods.)