Jim Heffernan is a 1982 graduate of the Ohio high school wrestling powerhouse St. Edwards where he was a three-time All-State wrestler, winning 2 individual state titles and finishing 5th as a sophomore. He won 106 matches in a row. He won a Junior National Freestyle Championship and finished 2nd in the Junior World Championships.

Jim competed for the University of Iowa and earned four NCAA D1 All-American honors while winning 131 bouts. He placed 4th in 1983, 2nd in 1985 and 1987 and won a national title in 1986. His Iowa teams won four Big Ten titles and three NCAA titles. He was a two-time team captain and the University of Iowa 1987 Male Athlete of the Year.

Jim began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Iowa for a year and then moved on to Lehigh to serve as an assistant coach for two years. He was a two-year assistant for Mark Johnson at Oregon State, and then moved on to the University of Illinois with Coach Johnson where Jim assisted him for 17 years. He took over the head coaching role at the U of I for the 2010 season. He was the U of I head coach for 12 years, retiring after the 2021 season.

During his time at the University of Illinois, he produced 70 All-American wrestlers, 26 during his head coaching tenure. He coached 11 National Champions including two-time champions Jesse Delgado and Isaiah Martinez while he was head coach. U of I had an All-American wrestler every year during his 29 years, one of only four schools to achieve this honor.

While at the U of I, the Illini wrestlers won the 2005 Big Ten Title, the first Illinois Wrestling Big Ten title in 53 years. Jim was named the Big Ten Assistant Coach of the Year three times, in 1995, 2001, and 2003. In 2006, Jim was a Glen Brand Inductee with the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Jim and his wife Rebecca live in White Heath, Illinois. They have two children Sean (Danica) and Ally and two grandchildren, Quinn and Owen.