Mark, Champaign, illinois: When does Mark Johnson retire? Who takes his place? I need some wrestling gossip?

Moderator: Mark,

That's something I've never asked Mark Johnson. I don't get the impression he plans on retiring anytime in the near future, but he is getting to the age where many wrestling coaches begin to think about it.

As for who might take over for him, it's really impossible to say. One thought is that Ron Guenther tends to promote from within for many of the non-revenue sports at Illinois (Kevin Hambly in volleyball, Dan Hartleb in baseball). How about Carl Perry? He's a national champion from the University of Illinois who has been an assistant since he graduated in 2000. Jim Heffernan is another obvious candidate as Johnson's top assistant, but I don't get the impression he's really seeking a head coaching position. All complete speculation on my part, so don't go starting any internet rumors, Mark!

As I think about Mark Johnson's possible replacement a bit more, I do think there's a very good chance it comes from his own coaching staff.  In my own humble opinion, I think either Jim Heffernan or Carl Perry would be good candidates.  Heff has been Mark Johnson's top assistant for all seventeen seasons, so he knows the program inside and out.  Perry wrestled under Johnson, and won a national championship for him in 2000.  Heff is more of a quiet guy, while Perry is more outgoing.  But the bottom line is that Mark Johnson has had a very successful program at Illinois, so I don't think Ron Guenther is likely to shake things up too much with a hire from the outside.  The most recent example of Guenther's philosophy in this regard was the hiring in January of volleyball coach Kevin Hambly to take over for the retiring Don Hardin.

I just received the official news release from Ben Taylor in Illinois Sports Information.  Here are just a few of Johnson's coaching accomplishments at Illinois:

* Won 2005 Big Ten Championships
* Ranked No. 1 in 2004
* Won Midlands team title 2003-05, only the third team to win three consecutive teamtitles
* Led Illinois to 10 Top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships and 13 Top-15 finishes in the last
  15 years
* Coached seven NCAA Champions
* Coached 45 All-Americans
* Coached 120 NCAA qualifiers at Illinois

Mark Johnson is a man that I've enjoyed working with over the past five years I've been covering Illinois
wrestling. It appears that I'll still be seeing him around Champaign-Urbana, however, as there's this
quote from athletic director Ron Guenther:

"Mark's decision to resign as head wrestling coach did not necessarily come as a
surprise to me. Mark has done an exceptional job in leading our
wrestling program, however, over the past few years, he has expressed a desire to
explore other opportunities. I am pleased for Mark that an opportunity came up to
hold him in our community and I wish him much success."

We should find out more information on Johnson's next endeavor at a news conference tomorrow
afternoon. I'll share that with you in this space.

bmoline@wdws.com