AD Josh Whitman 10 years at Illinois
More than deserves it. Thank you, Josh
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Hard to overstate the abyss we were staring into after #NotIdeal
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
I'm sure he'll want to retire before then, but I'll take at least another 15...
We really, really have benefited from having Josh here to guide the athletic dept through this moment in college athletics. Can’t imagine how we would have ended up in an alternate reality with a less competent leader in place.
blackdog
- Champaign
He's only 47 right now so 25 would put him at 72. Maybe a stretch but if he loves his job enough maybe he would stick around that long!
sbillini
- st petersburg, fl
I think the bigger risk (for us) is he wants to take on a greater challenge at some point (eg conference commissioner). I would guess he’s pretty well respected in sports admin circles and still has a lot of years of career ahead of him.
Josh is a fantastic AD. Keep in mind he's has some tailwinds that didn't exist 10 or 50 years ago - the demise of the NCAA (a HUGE win for us that reversed 50 years of punishment), the demise of the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times (no more biased "reporting" from Taylor Bell/Rick Telander/Teddy Purplestein/Bob Verdi, etc.), and NIL/shared revenue pushing the Big Ten into the forefront of college sports.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
WE WILL WIN!! He probably will move on to bigger things at some point. Let's hope it's after one of the 2 (preferably both) big sports delivers the elusive first national title.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
He is both a class act and a fantastic administrator. We are blessed to have him
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
What could be a greater challenge than helping the Illini to multiple national championships in all sports offered by the university?
(ok, running the country could be more challenging)
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
Coaching search posting is rookie stuff. Have you ever mocked up a "athletic directors as basketball recruits" hot list (sadly, I can say "yes")
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Craig Tiley, Rick George, Tom Michael, Let's Remember Some Guys
blackdog
- Champaign
Oh dear
The Illinois AD Search
Wonder what the administration is doing right now with all of the attrition going on sitting back and pretending that it is not happening? Something needs to be done these athletes have no reassurance and rightly so. This is the worst I have ever seen it and fearfully it will get worse. STOP...
www.illinoisloyalty.com
@Joel Goodson oh no.....
The Illinois AD Search
Explain during my introductory press conference that my accent is actually South African, not Australian, although its understandable that people would make that mistake. Bravo!
www.illinoisloyalty.com
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Man, one thing you're reminded of reading back through some of that is what a disaster the relationship between DIA and main campus was, and had been for decades at that point.Oh dear
The Illinois AD Search
Wonder what the administration is doing right now with all of the attrition going on sitting back and pretending that it is not happening? Something needs to be done these athletes have no reassurance and rightly so. This is the worst I have ever seen it and fearfully it will get worse. STOP...
@Joel Goodson oh no.....
The Illinois AD Search
Explain during my introductory press conference that my accent is actually South African, not Australian, although its understandable that people would make that mistake. Bravo!
The work Whitman has done there is nothing short of a miracle. Tim Killeen and Robert Jones deserve great credit too (and there's a little bit of change to the culture in academia nationally at work there too), but the guy who opened the door was Whitman.
And what an amazing 10 years it's been! I don't think anyone else could've turned this program around like Josh did. I mean...we were in the dumpster of the conference. Give this man a raise!
We’ve got one of (if not) the smartest and best ADs in the country. I dont know a lot of other ADs that could have been (or would have even endeavored to be) as eloquent or have better incorporated the big picture of society’s challenges than JW did in his statement. We are so lucky. ILL
Homecoming 2019
- Chicago
Would be very cool if womens T&F this season could win ILL's first womens team title. Would be only the 2nd "northern" school to win outside the Nike machine in Oregon.