By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

Though his days of actual blocking and tackling ended nearly 50 years ago, Stu Levenick's contributions to the success of the University of Illinois football program still endure today.

While it's technically correct that the man who once wore orange and blue jersey number 79 no longer shows up in the statistics, it can accurately be inferred that the former Fighting Illini captain from Washington High School has had a significant behind-the-scenes hand in the program's current 7-3 record. His gift of $5 million for the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center was the first major donation to launch the building of the facility which is seen as one of the best in college football.

Levenick's respect for Illini head coach Bret Bielema has no bounds.

"I've gotten a chance to know Coach B a little bit and I think he's just perfect for us," Levenick said. "He's trying to establish an identity. What he wants is a physical team that has a reputation as a tough defense and a balanced offense. He has a relationship with not only the players, but also with fans and the media. He's the whole package. There will be ups and downs, but he's getting a lot out of the program."

As a former offensive lineman, Levenick had noticed incremental improvement from members of the current Illini O-line.

"In just one year, the level of offensive line play has really ratcheted up," he said. "He had some good guys last year—three of them are on NFL teams right now—but they're playing really, really well now. If you look at the roster, his style has always been a developmental program. Bring 'em in, redshirt them, get 'em in the weight room. Just look at Wisconsin and Iowa; that's essentially what they do. That's his MO (modus operandi). Now, you add to that the transfer portal, so he's got some tools that are different than the traditional path.

"He likes to engage former players—he texts me all the time—and bring in former Illini to be honorary captains. He likes to get the NFL players in there during a bye week. He's doing a great job."

Finding his way to the Illini

Raised in a small community outside of Peoria, Levenick barely tipped the scales at 200 pounds, so his opportunities to continue playing football in college were limited. Even his high school coach was skeptical that Stu could take his athletic career much further.

Levenick's parents had always raised him on the importance of furthering his education, rather than just focusing on athletics.

"They told me that I could play as many sports as I wanted, just as long as I got good grades," he said. "So my objective was to first get the best education that I could in the state and, secondly, get an opportunity to play. After I got accepted into the engineering program at the University of Illinois, (former Illini freshman coach) Carl Meyer asked me if I wanted to walk on, so I did.

"It was the Fall of 1971 when all of us freshmen had a meeting in the northeast tower (of Memorial Stadium) and (then head coach Bob) Blackman was lecturing to us. I remember I was sitting between (future NFL star) Revie Sorey on one side and three or four guys on the other. They all weighed about 250 and I remember thinking, 'This is going to be something.' Well, the first day (of practice), the coaches were sizing everyone up and I didn't embarrass myself. I guess I was courageous; they liked that part. I can assure you that it was intimidating."

Like many members of the 2022 Illini, Levenick continued to physically mature, topping out at about 260. Levenick eventually was selected as captain of the 1975 Illini and he admits that he was shocked by receiving the honor.

"I just didn't expect to be named captain," he said. "It was a big deal for me because it was my peers who selected me. As I look back at my career at Illinois, every step of the way was a bit of a surprise for me. All I was trying to do was the best I could. That led to getting to play a little bit of playing time as a freshman, then getting a scholarship, then becoming team captain, and so on and so forth. If you would have asked me if I was going to be picked in the NFL Draft (in the ninth round by the Baltimore Colts in 1976) when I was a freshman in college, I don't think I would have said yes. But I wasn't concerned about the end point, just about building every step along the way. It just played out that way."

Following his graduation from Illinois, and a year working toward his master's degree, he joined his father at Caterpillar Inc. Throughout his 38-year career, he steadily rose through the ranks and became Group President. About 10 years into his employment at Caterpillar, Levenick eventually got a master's degree in management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Reconnecting with the Illini

It took several years for Levenick to actively reconnect with the University of Illinois. He and his wife, Nancy, lived in Toronto throughout most of the 1980s, then back to Peoria for a couple of years. It was then that the Levenicks made some relatively small donations. They then moved to Vancouver, then afterwards to Jacksonville, Fla., Boston, Singapore, Moscow and Tokyo.

When they returned state-side in 2004, Levenick reconnected with then Athletic Director Ron Guenther and former Illini teammate Steve Greene who had joined the I FUND. His family endowed a scholarship for a walk-on. As time went on and he had the means to give a bigger gift, Levenick had the opportunity to meet new director Josh Whitman.

"When I first met Josh, I felt like the athletic department was moving in the right direction," Levenick said.

In 2018, the Levenick family presented a $5 million leadership gift towards the construction of the Illinois Football Performance Center. The team's auditorium is named in their honor.

"The whole thing has just continued to evolve," he said. "If you're a former player, you're just shocked by the resources today's players have to develop themselves. Not only from a strength or training point of view, but also from the nutritional and academic help that they get. It's really phenomenal."

Levenick's gift has helped trigger more donations from former Illini players.

"As Josh says, nobody has to do everything but everybody has to do something," Levenick said. "My old '70s teammates still stay pretty close—Bud Kittler, Ron White, John Levanti, Paul Yadron, Ed Murray and many others—but as I look at all of this, no one would have predicted where this would have wound up. All of us have been pretty successful in one way or another—all good family men, they've contributed to their communities, etc.—and I connect that development and success in life back to the experiences that we had at the University of Illinois. Those values really mean something. I wanted to make sure that kids in the future had the same opportunity that I had and that's where the giving back part of it comes from."

Levenick is keenly aware of the successful formula that's been instituted and the way its related to the accomplishments of the 2022 Illini.

"The architect of the whole thing is Josh," he said. "One of the things I've observed in the past—and this is true in business as well— is that you need alignment throughout the organization to be successful. Everyone's singing out of the same hymnal. From the Board of Trustees, down through the chancellors, to the AD, right down to the coaching staff ... when you have that alignment, that really helps. And there were times in the past when that didn't exist. You can't function if you don't have that. That speaks highly of the athletic program's future, so I think we're on the right track. This football team has gotten better every week and is growing and learning and developing. That's the name of the game."