Illini Coach Backs Out After Accepting Offer

(CBS) This probably isn't the way new Illini head football coach Tim Beckman wanted to start his time in Illinois.

One day after Jon Tenuta accepted a position in the program, likely as the defensive coordinator, he changed his mind to stay at North Carolina State, citing family reasons for his decision.

"I've known (Beckman) for 20 years and I have no doubt that with the staff he is putting together, he will have Illinois at the top of the Big Ten very soon," Tenuta said in a statement released Wednesday by the Illini. "However, my family comes first and I may have made a decision without fully thinking through the situation with them."

The 31-year-old Tenuta was named to the Illini staff Tuesday along with Chris Beatty out of Vanderbilt and Luke Butkus from the Seattle Seahawks.