By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
Thanks to his overwhelming success as a high school and college athlete, Fighting Illini coach Jim Heffernan is a member of multiple wrestling Halls of Fame. However, it's his introduction to the sport 46 years ago that's one of the most interesting chapters of his story.
Parents Jim (Sr.) and Barb Heffernan encouraged all of their six sons and three daughters to stay active, preferably outdoors.
"We weren't allowed to sit on the couch," Jim Jr. remembered. "We were constantly doing something and we all preferred doing the athletic side of things."
Jim Jr., the fourth of the nine Heffernan kids, loved playing baseball and football, the latter sport his dad played at the University of Toledo. Junior's introduction to wrestling wasn't initiated as much by his own personal interest as it was by an edict from his father.
The story begins with his oldest brother, Brian. He was one of the biggest kids on his junior high football team and the wrestling team needed a heavyweight.
"The wrestling coach approached my dad," Heffernan recalled. "My dad started talking to Brian about wrestling because he thought it would really help in in football. He told Brian that the best linemen he'd ever been around wrestled in the offseason."
"Well, I'm not doing it unless Jim does it," Brian said.
"Then my dad looked at me and said 'You're going out for wrestling!'" Heffernan remembered.
Previous to his 2017 selection to the lllinois Wrestling Coach & Officials Hall of Fame, Heffernan also inducted into the St. Edward High School Hall of Fame, the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the University of Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame.
So the third grader stepped on the mat the following Monday. He thoroughly enjoyed it.
"The first couple of weeks I didn't do very well because I didn't know what the heck I was doing," Heffernan said. "But I learned a little bit, figured out how to make adjustments, and took to wrestling right away."
Young Jim would excel on the mat at Lakewood, Ohio's St. Edward High School, finishing fifth in the Ohio state championships as a sophomore for Coach Howard Ferguson's Eagles. He then won state titles at 145 pounds his final two seasons, capturing his last 107 matches, including a 54-0 record with 35 pins his senior year.
As the nation's No. 1 college prospect, the Heffernan family's mailbox was packed with recruiting letters. Ultimately, Jim made visits to Michigan State, Penn State and Iowa.
Though he wound up wearing a Hawkeye singlet, a 2015 story revealed that Heffernan's Hall of Fame wrestling career for the University of Iowa almost didn't happen.
It was Sunday, January 31, 1982 when Hawkeye coach Dan Gable phoned Heffernan with disappointing news.
"The one-on-one concept of wrestling is what makes it so unique. It's tough. It's physical. There are a million things going on all at once and, as an athlete, I really enjoyed that part of it." - Jim Heffernan
"We think you're a really good wrestler," Gable told Heffernan, "but we don't think you're going to be at a weight class we need. I think you should look at other schools."
Crestfallen, Heffernan huddled with his father and his coach to brainstorm other possible destinations. Five days later, Gable's Hawkeyes tied Oklahoma, 19-19, in a dual meet that featured a Sooners victory by fall at 150 pounds. Just minutes afterwards, Gable called Heffernan again.
"Do you think you can wrestle 150?" Gable asked.
Heffernan affirmed that he could. His answer changed the course of his career.
What happened during Heffernan's four years at Iowa developed into Hawkeye legend. He became the ninth wrestler in Big Ten history to win four conference championships. Nationally, he won an NCAA title in 1986 as a junior, was runner-up twice and finished fourth as a freshman. Collegiately, he amassed a record of 131 victories and three draws in 152 matches.
Heffernan quickly credits Gable for his success.
"Coach was a huge influence on me as an athlete, as a person, and as a coach," he said. "He was a really good role model and a good family man. He's everything you want in a coach who is responsible for your child. The older I get, the more I see how positive he was."
By his junior year at Iowa, Heffernan knew exactly what he wanted his career to be.
"Outside of my parents, coaches have been my biggest influence," he said. "My grade school coach (Dale Smith), my high school coach (Ferguson) and some other really good people at my high school were very influential. Of course, Coach Gable, J Robinson and Mark Johnson were big influences on me, too. I had a great experience with the sport and I realized that coaching would be a good tract. I thought I would enjoy it and I hoped someday to provide other people with the same experience I had as an athlete."
When Johnson got the coaching job at Oregon State in 1990, he asked Heffernan to be his assistant. Then, when Johnson received an offer from Illinois in 1992, Heffernan and his family (wife Rebecca, son Sean and daughter Ally) got the opportunity to return to its Midwestern roots.
Seventeen years later, in 2009, when Johnson retired, Heffernan became head coach of the Illini. Illinois's success has continued over the past nine years in the ultra-tough Big Ten Conference. His teams have placed among the nation's top 13 teams each of the last eight seasons and, a few weeks ago, Director of Athletics Josh Whitman rewarded Heffernan with a contract for an additional five years.
"As much as anyone, Jim Heffernan embodies the values we espouse with our athletic program," Whitman said. "He cares first and foremost about his students."
Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman, two-time NCAA champion Isaiah MArtinez and Coach Jim Heffernan on Senior Day at Huff Hall, January 5, 2018.
"Parents trust us to take on their children," Heffernan said. "That's a pretty important job and I take it very seriously. Developing them as an athlete is one thing, but developing them for life is most important. It's an all-inclusive thing. We want them to become good husbands, good fathers, and productive professionals."
Heffernan's 10th season as UI's head coach begins this Saturday when Illinois hosts Missouri at Grange Grove (2:30 p.m.), weather permitting. He's pleased with the make-up of his 2018-19 Illini.
"We have some experienced guys who have competed in the post-season and we have some guys that will take some time to develop," Heffernan said. "I like what I've seen out of the freshmen so far and to have a transfer (from Iowa) like Joey Guenther certainly fills a void. It's the time of the year when they're getting tired of being in the practice room and seeing the same guys every day, so I'm anxious to see where we're at."
