Illinois defensive coordinator Lou Tepper was promoted to head coach Friday, one day after John Mackovic resigned to take over the Texas football program.
Tepper, who like Mackovic came to Illinois in 1988, vowed to continue Mackovic's emphasis on honesty and academic success."This program is not a win-at-all-costs program," Tepper said. "We will do it strictly within the rules and we will do it strictly with the care and love of our student-athletes."
Tepper, who will coach the Illini against UCLA in the John Hancock Bowl Dec. 31, said he does not expect to lose any assistant coaches before then. He expects to compete with Mackovic for some of them later.
Tepper, who has held various assistant coaching jobs in the past 25 years, was waiting for the right head coaching opportunity, and Illinois offered it to him.
Tepper learned about a week ago that Mackovic was seriously considering a move to Texas, and felt he would be the prime candidate though "nobody promised me the job."
"This place has for me all that I have sought," Tepper, 46, said. "I have been patient and have declined several excellent opportunities because of my desire to make Champaign-Urbana my long-term home."
The university Athletic Board convened Thursday after Mackovic's departure, interviewed Tepper and recommended him to chancellor Morton Weir. Tepper met with Illinois president Stanley Ikenberry, and was approved by the Board of Trustees.
Weir said Mackovic had changed Illinois' image as a team that cut corners and did not concentrate on academics, and Tepper was the perfect coach to continue that tradition. He said Illinois did not look for any other coaching candidates.