As a high school player at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, former NFL running back James White earned the nickname “Sweet Feet” from his creative writing teacher during his senior year.

It’s the nickname White now uses as his handles on both X and Instagram. A three-star prospect in high school, White shared the backfield with 10-year NFL veteran Giovani Bernard, rushing for well over 1,000 yards before continuing his career at Wisconsin.

“My creative writing teacher, Mr. [Adam] Aloma was in charge of doing the senior skit,” White said. “He was telling a random story and he was like, ‘James Sweet Feet White’... I just kind of laughed at him saying it, but I never used it at that point. When I entered the draft, my agents said I should change my Twitter name and I don’t know why, but that’s the first thing that came to my mind.”

Fast forward over a decade and “Sweet Feet” is now embarking on the next phase of his athletic career. Just over two months ago, Benet announced that it had hired White, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the NFL’s New England Patriots, to become its next head football coach, replacing retiring coach Pat New. White, who has lived in Naperville for four years, started his new job last month.

“My kids go to school up the street and a bunch of Benet alumni have kids who go to that school,” White said. “I’m friends with a couple of them and they told my wife that the head coach at Benet retired... Having small kids, I was trying to figure out my next move and I applied not knowing how long the search had been going.”

It’s the first high school coaching job for White, who will make his debut when Benet travels to battle defending Class 1A champion Lena-Winslow on Aug. 21. Since his hiring in late November, White has been getting to know the team’s players and coaches. He first spoke to the team when he was hired just over two months ago.

“I shared how I ended up being here and how it probably seems random to most people, but I’ve been living here for quite some time,” White said. “I shared my background and my plans for the program as far as creating a routine to set them up for success. It’s going to be a disciplined program and it’s going to be a little different, but we want to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

White will look to lead the Redwings back to the postseason. While Benet reached the second round of the Class 5A playoffs two seasons ago, the Redwings went 3-6 and failed to qualify last year. New, whose retirement was announced on Nov. 4, went 92-67 and guided Benet to the playoffs 10 times during his 16-year tenure.

“I have to figure out what’s going to work for these guys,” White said. “You need to build relationships first. That’s why my first 2-to-3 weeks here... I just kind of analyzed and I didn’t really say anything. I’m not going to just step in and be this authoritative figure. I wanted to see how they interacted with one another. After a month or so, I started inserting myself and coaching a little bit.”

White had previously been serving as the assistant running backs coach at Illinois, where he spent the 2025 season working with his college coach, Bret Bielema. Prior to Illinois, White aided in player personnel at NIU under Thomas Hammock, White’s running backs coach at Wisconsin. The two are among White’s biggest mentors.

“Getting to work with coach [Bielema] and see how he shifted that Illinois program was truly amazing,” White said. “In the previous year, getting to be around coach Hammock, who really shifted my mindset and approach to football when he was at Wisconsin, that was awesome as well... I was a pretty decent player my freshman year before he got there, but he elevated and transformed me.”

As a player, White’s high school success carried over to college. White rushed for 4,015 yards and 45 touchdowns during his four-year career at Wisconsin, helping the Badgers claim three Big Ten titles. The 2010 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, White was a fourth-round selection by the New England Patriots in the 2014 NFL Draft.

An eight-year NFL veteran and a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, White totaled over 4,500 yards and scored 36 touchdowns in his professional career. Playing under legendary coach Bill Belichick and alongside seven-time champion Tom Brady, White scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime to seal New England’s comeback over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.

“Bill Belichick, he’s the greatest coach of all time in my opinion,” White said. “He held all of his players accountable and the way he prepared was second to none. If he said something was going to happen in the game, there was a 99% chance it was going to happen. If he said we needed to do three things to win and if we didn’t hit all three, then we probably didn’t win the football game.”

Whether it’s been at the high school, college or professional level, White brings championship experience to a Benet football program that hasn’t reached the state finals since 1984. In New England’s comeback win over the Falcons, White caught 14 passes for 110 yards, both of which are Super Bowl records for a running back.

“To me, the number one thing is a sense of togetherness,” White said. “It wasn’t about individuals, it was all about the team... It was every single person in those locker rooms who helped us get prepared for Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays or whenever we played. I have the kids break it down by saying, ‘one team, one sound’. We’re all walking in lock step. How one of us moves is how we all move.”

White becomes the latest former NFL player to become a head coach in the CCL/ESCC. St. Patrick hired Tom Zbikowski in 2025 and St. Viator hired former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould in December 2024. Jordan Lynch has won multiple state titles at Mount Carmel and former Bears fullback Jason McKie is at Carmel.