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Whitman At Home, In Charge At Illinois

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Minutes after watching Illinois dismantle Murray State on Saturday, Josh Whitman stood in the middle of a jubilant locker room and presented Lovie Smith with a game ball commemorating his first win as Fighting Illini head coach.

Someone should’ve handed Whitman a game ball.

 

 

That's the type of impact the 38-year-old athletic director has had in just six months on the job.

It started on his very first day of work, when he fired Bill Cubit just months after he was given an underwhelming two-year contract by the school. Two days later, Whitman replaced Cubit with Smith, a coach that went 89-87 in 11 seasons as a NFL coach including a trip to the Super Bowl with the Bears.

And it continued Saturday, with more than 48,000 enthusiastic orange clad fans showing up for game one of the Whitman/Smith era.

But the excitement at Illinois Saturday was about more than just a football win against an overmatched FCS squad.

A BOLD HIRE

On the morning of his introductory press conference, Whitman walked into Memorial Stadium at sunrise. And on a chilly February day the six-foot-four former Illini tight end began to run the old stadium's steps, just like he did from 1997-2000 for his coach, Ron Turner, marveling at the experience he had as a student-athlete and overcome by the opportunity before him.

Later that morning, across the street in a conference room in the school's athletic administration building, Whitman was welcomed with a cheer, much like he once was after catching passes from Kurt Kittner.

"We're coming home and it feels great," Whitman said. "This is a dream for me."

The hire of a former Illini player provided excitement, if not a proven track record of an administrator.

Whitman had never worked full-time in a division I athletics department, serving as athletic director at Wisconsin-LaCrosse for four years and Washington University in St. Louis for two years.

And while his teams' had success, winning four national championships and 34 conference titles, he didn't have to beat Michigan or Ohio State at those stops.

He ran an athletic department on $7 million at Washington University. The athletic department budget at Illinois was $74.4 million last fiscal year, which still ranks in the bottom half of the Big Ten.

Yet it was a job Whitman had been preparing for ever since his days as a player.

"I never knew when, or even if, this opportunity would come," Whitman said: "But I knew that when it did, if it did, that I wanted to be ready for it."

The two-time Academic All-American, who got just one B in college, prepared by playing parts of four seasons in the NFL before returning to Illinois to earn his law degree.

He spent time cultivating relationships working as a special assistant to former Illinois Athletic Director Ron Guenther while in law school and gained valuable experience practicing for a Washington D.C. law firm that deals primarily with sports business, including work with the NFL.

The opportunity came ahead of schedule, but Whitman was prepared to give Illinois fans what they needed to hear.

NEW VISION

"We will win," the new A.D. proclaimed.

Of all the things said by and about Whitman at that introductory press conference, that phrase stood out.

Those three words have been printed on t-shirts and have become a rallying cry for a fan base desperate for success.

Whitman has delivered his message over and over the last six months, giving hope to weary fans that have watched just five football teams qualify for the postseason in two decades and their proud basketball program fail to reach the NCAA Tournament the past three seasons.

More than just being an athletic director that wants to build a winner, Whitman wants to re-connect the program, and the university, with apathetic fans across the state.

"The greatest thing you can do is just show up," Whitman told a group of boosters last week. "We need everybody."

He has shown up everywhere, from softball games to booster clubs to rotary meetings around the state. And he has given fans a reason to follow his lead.

He hired Smith, the first African-American head coach in football or men's basketball in university history, resulting in the sale of more than 2000 season tickets within the first 48 hours of the announcement.

He showed his support for basketball coach John Groce, who had struggled to get over the hump in recruiting the state's fertile talent. Since Whitman's hire, Groce has received verbal commitments from three of the state's top prospects in building a top five recruiting class.

And this year, Whitman plans to unveil several initiatives ranging from improvements to fan experience to much needed facility upgrades.

SETTING THE PACE

Late Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before kickoff of the Illini's season opener, Whitman looked out his office window at the grass lots that would soon be filled with tailgaters.

He typed out a pair of tweets, "In case anybody is interested in coming along, I'm starting my #ILLINI game day with a run... 7AM, SE corner of Hessel Park... 4 miles, ~9:00 min pace, probably thru campus. Just a quick sweat to start a big day that is going to end with an #ILLINI win!"

 

 

 

The tweets showed up in my timeline across town, where I was enjoying a beautiful Friday afternoon with my mother who still lives in the house I grew up in in Champaign.

Without a football game I needed to cover Saturday, I had decided to head home to visit her and see the game, with no intentions of writing anything about it.

But the tweets intrigued me. How many FBS athletic directors run four miles on game day, let alone invite any fan who can keep up to run along?

So I showed up Saturday, a few minutes before 7am, to see a crowd of about 30 decked out in orange and blue running attire.

In the middle was Whitman, who still looks like he could play like one of the best tight ends in Illinois history, ready to walk, er, run what he talks.

He didn't say much, just a thank you for coming out and how excited he was for the day.

We took a group picture and we were off.

 

 

Whitman led the pack around tailgating lots, through campus to the school's famous statue of the Alma Mater, around the quad and down Florida Avenue past the cemetery to the place where the trees part and the majestic columns of Memorial Stadium come into view.

It's that sight that Whitman says made him fall in love with Illinois on his recruiting trip in high school. On Saturday morning, he relived that emotional experience with a pack of eager followers.

When the group returned to where it started, Whitman handed out donuts to the group and smiled for pictures.

Engagement from fans is what Whitman is asking for, and no one is more engaged than the A.D. himself.

After a shower, Whitman did a local radio show, met with boosters and fans, greeted the players and coaches amongst thousands of fans at the team's traditional Illini Walk and then watched them dominate a football game in a way that has happened only a few times in recent years.

The school was hoping for a crowd of 40,000 for the 52-3 drubbing. The announced crowd was 48,644.

Just like our running group, the fan base is in line behind their new A.D.

THE MOVEMENT

Julian Hylton intercepted a K.D. Humphries' pass on the game's second play from scrimmage. Moments later, Wes Lunt hit Malik Turner for a touchdown.

When Lunt and Turner connected again on a 67-yard score minutes later after a second interception, the game was all but over.

They won't all be this easy, but that's just fine with Whitman.

He believes in what he's building. He's seen it before.

In the days leading up to the opener Whitman met with Illini Pride, a student group dedicated to supporting the university's athletic teams.

Whitman stood on the stage inside Foellinger Auditorium and recalled the first time he walked inside that building. It was the first class of his freshman year, 8 A.M. on a Tuesday. The class was Greek Mythology, and it was taught by Richard Scanlon, a bit of a campus legend himself.

Every Thursday near the end of class, Professor Scanlon would leave and reappear dressed as his alter ego, the Priest of Apollo. He would then ask the class to cheer him on to a prediction for that weekend's football game.

"I-L-L", the professor started. "I-N-I", responded the students three times until Scanlon would give his prediction.

"It didn't matter whether we were playing the Minnesota Golden Gophers or the Minnesota Vikings," Whitman told the crowd of students. "Professor Scanlon always predicted that we will win."

Never mind the fact that Whitman and the Illini went 0-11 that year in Turner's first season as head coach.

Whitman thought if he still believes, why shouldn't we?

Two years later, Whitman's Illini won eight games, beating Michigan and Ohio State in the process, and scored 63 points in the 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl rout of Virginia.

Two years after that, the Illini were Big Ten champions.

Whitman wrapped up his story to the students with his own prediction for the Illini, "Our Illini are going to win, and they're going to win big. And we're going to keep winning."

He then asked the students what he's asked everyone in the state of Illinois since the day he took the job.

"Give us your trust." Whitman requested with a sincere confidence. "We need everybody."

"We have been a sleeping giant. And it's time to wake up that giant."

Three days later, Illinois students woke up and packed their section above the north end zone at Memorial Stadium for the first time in years.

The road to getting Illinois athletics to the championship level Whitman and the fan base desire will be long and challenging.

But with Whitman Illinois finally has a clear plan and a fan base that has bought in.

And, at least for one sun-splashed Saturday afternoon, it had a vision of the winner Whitman promised.

Copyright 2016 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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