Josh Whitman Named 14th Illinois Athletics Director

#377      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
FeelYourPaign said:
Don't know if this comment is best here or in the Lovie thread, but

I've never given money to IFund, but I'm going to now. Not so much as to be"important", but enough to say thank you and I care and I approve of what is happening here. I'm with you Josh!
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I'm feeling the same way. Little people jumping on board adds up to mean a lot.
 
#378      

DrewD007

DrewD007
Woodridge, IL
DrewD007
I think this is an example of why having an alumni can be so important as an AD. You can't fake the kind of passion that Josh has for Illinois and I'm sure that came across when pitching the job to Lovie.
 
#380      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal
mattcoldagelli
Fillory said:
Illinois football is perennially thought of as a sleeping giant. Illinois alumni travel well, but their teams are usually so uninspiring to the point where they simply don't bother every year. We're either on a good spurt for one or two years or we're really bad.
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This is what I mean. The sleeping giant narrative has been around for so many years, always accompanied by ADs whose approach could be summed up as "pointing out we were a sleeping giant and then sitting back and waiting for the stars to align."

Whitman actually did something about it, and in his first weekend on the job.
 
#381      

Oskee67

Oskee67
Champaign
Oskee67
Has JFW even evaluated his DIA staff yet? Are any of his "people" in yet? Has anyone received a pink slip to date?
 
#382      

IAmChrisFarley

I
IAmChrisFarley
Vontae Davis ‏@vontaedavis 42s43 seconds ago
#WeWillWin Great meeting @IlliniAD!
Illini Football, Illini Athletics and Josh Whitman
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#389      

IAmChrisFarley

I
IAmChrisFarley
This just shows how ballsy of a move Whitman took.

Note: this tweet was in response to a Tupper tweet.
Jeremy Werner ‏@JWernerScout 4h4 hours ago
Jeremy Werner Retweeted Mark Tupper
Someone who knows and loves Rick told me today that he doubts RG could've pulled this off
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#390      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
IAmChrisFarley said:
This just shows how ballsy of a move Whitman took.

Note: this tweet was in response to a Tupper tweet.
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Rick George may very well have spent the next 7-8 months building a massive war chest and a vision for facilities for the program that would have attracted a terrific football coach and led to just as bright if not an even brighter future. Or he may have done all of that and still not landed someone who could move the needle significantly. Either way, no, he probably couldn't have pulled this particular move off. Lovie and Whitman obviously connected on a very personal, philosophical level and share unique beliefs about what college football can mean for the lives of its players and for a University.

Lucky us, finally.
 
#391      

rdillini

R
northbrook, il
rdillini
Whitman at game today and seems to be everywhere. Things may not work ourtwith Lovie or Groce but it seems clear that we have an AD with a plan and is not afraid to execute it. All arrows are pointing up right now.
 
#393      

TheBucket

T
TheBucket
The bonuses seem low (mostly as compared to base pay). Only $50,000 for a national championship in football? Pay that man double his salary if they win a national championship!
 
#394      

filthytacos

filthytacos
filthytacos
TheBucket said:
The bonuses seem low (mostly as compared to base pay). Only $50,000 for a national championship in football? Pay that man double his salary if they win a national championship!
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And people say that a 'hometown discount' doesn't exist :D
 
#397      

IlliniInTexas

I
IlliniInTexas
TheBucket said:
The bonuses seem low (mostly as compared to base pay). Only $50,000 for a national championship in football? Pay that man double his salary if they win a national championship!
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Bonuses for these kinds of things are always super low. I seem to recall something like Saban only got $150k additional for winning the national championship in his contract. I wonder if it's because coaches know that if they win big games, they'll get rewarded with giant contracts, and teams try to reserve the money that they would use to pay coaches in the contracts afterwards, not paid as a bonus that earns them no additional retention time...
 
#398      

OskeeGirl

O
OskeeGirl
Did we know he had been called during the last search? Like the article says - likely just courtesy - but interesting. I gotta say I loved being an Illini fan 5 minutes from Purdue when I picked this up!