Hall of Fame
James "Sonny" Whittington first came to Southern Arkansas as a freshman from Rison in the fall of 1957 when the school was Southern State College. He arrived with a half-scholarship to play football for Coach Auburn Smith, who would have a tremendous impact on his life. Before the year was out, Whittington worked hard enough to earn a full scholarship. He finished his Mulerider career as an All-Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) cornerback in 1960.
As a sophomore, he was the starting quarterback for the football team. When Mulerider All-America quarterback Calvin Neal returned from military service, Whittington was shifted to play other positions, including tight end. He finished his football career at defensive back and being named All-AIC in 1960.
Whittington attended the university when the bond between athletes and other students was strong, facilitated by the small size of the student body where everyone knew everyone else on campus and when professors knew students by name and often knew the students' family, too. Years later, Whittington said that the greatest compliment he ever received as Director of Admissions at SAU occurred when someone said he reminded them of Milton Talley, the beloved dean of students at the university, noted for his personal interest in every student he met.
Whittington received his B.S.E. from the university in 1961, and later, his M.S.E. from Henderson State in 1969. He was hired by Fordyce High School in 1961 as football coach and history teacher. After six years there, he became head football coach at Pine Bluff High School and enjoyed great success.
In December 1968, Coach Raymond "Rip" Powell asked him to join the Muleriders as an assistant coach. Whittington served during one of the programs greatest eras of winning football, as the teams compiled a record of 62-38-2 for a .618 winning percentage over a period of 10 seasons from 1969 through 1978. The staff included Powell, Whittington and Neal for the duration. Bobby “Cotton” Staten was there for the first three years, Jim Canter for two years after Staten, and then Eldon Hawley finished with the staff.
While coaching, Whittington also served as assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education.
Whittington left coaching in the spring of 1979 and was named director of admissions and recruiting at SAU. He served in this position for 23 years, retiring in 2001. He attributed his success in recruiting to lessons he had learned from Powell, particularly an approach that treated each student as unique and special, meriting the “personal” touch which became the hallmark of Whittington’s successful career after football.
Whittington developed the first true marketing plan in the Office of Admissions for SAU, and his office grew over time from himself and a part-time secretary to a fully-staffed office of three full-time recruiters and support personnel.
He always paid close attention with personal visits to all schools in SAU's prime recruiting territory in a 150-mile radius from Magnolia, going out of his way to make friends with each school's superintendent, principal and counselor. He also developed programs designed to appeal to the different types of students and parents found in these locales.
Often, he engaged in recruiting students one-on-one by finding how SAU might meet the needs of particular students, and if he found a student that wanted or needed a program not found at SAU, he would help put the student in touch with a recruiter from another school. His personal and caring approach found much success. Over the twenty-three years in which he directed recruiting, the student body increased an average of 60 students per year, growing from 1,739 in 1979 to 3,127 in 2001 when Whittington retired. Like so many alumni and retired faculty and staff at SAU, Whittington in retirement continued to work and promote in other ways the university that he loved.
Sonny has been married to his wife, Sherry, for 26 years. His son, Mike, is a former Mulerider tennis player, and they have a daughter, Whitney.
