Josh Whitman’s run at Illinois has reached the point where the results speak for themselves.
The Illini have been piling up wins across the department, and the timing of that surge makes one thing clear: the people in charge of hiring the right coaches matter. Illinois football is coming off back-to-back seasons with bowl trips and at least nine wins.
Men’s basketball just reached its first Final Four since 2005 and had a player taken No. 5 overall in the NBA Draft. Women’s basketball has made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
That kind of across-the-board success doesn’t happen by accident.
Whitman is the common thread. The athletic director’s connection to Illinois runs deep, beginning with his days as an undergraduate and football player at the university, where he earned his degree. After going undrafted in the NFL Draft in 2001, he earned a law degree, moved into college athletics in 2010, and eventually took over as Illinois’ athletic director in 2016.
Now, after helping steer the department out of a long stretch near the bottom, Whitman has been rewarded with a new deal that keeps him in Champaign through 2036. His salary will start at $2.1 million annually and rise to $3.1 million by 2035.
#illini Athletic director Josh Whitman's new contract was approved
10 years and he will start at $2.1 million annually, and will increase to $3.1 million by 2035
Illinois locking up one of the best ADs in the nation pic.twitter.com/2JIzeXbjhl
- Carson Gourdie (@GourdieReport) July 16, 2026
The biggest reason Illinois has wanted to keep Whitman around is simple: his hires have changed the direction of the program. Bret Bielema, Brad Underwood and Shauna Green are the three names that stand out most.
Bielema needed time to settle in, but the football program is clearly in a better place now. Illinois went 10-3 two seasons ago and beat South Carolina in the Cheeze-It Citrus Bowl.
Last season brought a 9-4 record and a win over Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. The success has gone beyond the scoreboard, too, with Bielema making noise in high school recruiting and in the transfer portal.
Underwood has delivered similar momentum on the basketball side. He arrived in Champaign in 2017 and eventually got the program rolling.
Since the 2020-2021 season, Illinois has not missed the NCAA Tournament. That stretch includes an Elite Eight run in 2024 and the Final Four appearance this past season.
He has also helped uncover talent, including three-star recruit Keaton Wagler, who is now in the NBA after going No. 5 overall in the recent draft.
Green’s tenure has been shorter, but her impact has been obvious. She got Illinois back to the NCAA Tournament in 2022-2023 for the first time since 2003.
The Illini missed the tournament in 2024, then won the WBIT and returned to the Big Dance the next year. The last two NCAA Tournament runs ended in the Round of 32, but Green has still built the program into something far more competitive than it was before.
Whitman’s extension is a reflection of all of that. Illinois has invested in the person who helped bring in the coaches driving the department’s best stretch in years, and the university clearly believes the best is still ahead.
In Other News...
Illinois Adds Trezavant Boyd As 2027 Secondary Build Keeps Growing
Illinois 2027 secondary build picked up another piece with the addition of Trezavant Boyd, a three-star cornerback from Miami Central who brings a profile that fits the kind of long-term defensive planning programs chase on the recruiting trail. Boyd is rated by 247Sports as the 72nd-best cornerback nationally and the 61st player in Florida, and his physical tools and playing style give Illinois another prospect to mold for the back end of its defense.
The appeal here is less about immediate impact and more about how Boyd could grow into the system over time. He may need a couple of years before hes ready for steady defensive snaps, but his frame and movement skills point to a player who can be developed into a useful piece in Illinois scheme, with early value possibly coming in other phases while he learns the college game. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Is Betting Big On A Few Familiar Faces In 2026
Illinois is heading toward 2026 with a familiar kind of offseason plan: trust the players already in the building to take on bigger jobs. On defense, James Kreutz is expected to move into a starting inside linebacker role, while Joe Barna is lined up to become the teams top edge presence. On the other side of the ball, Nathan Knapik is in the mix for an offensive line spot after already showing he can step in when needed.
The bigger backdrop is a new voice running the defense in Bobby Hauck, and that change could matter as much as any individual promotion. Illinois is counting on continuity in some key places, but it also needs those returning pieces to grow fast enough to handle heavier responsibility. How quickly Kreutz, Knapik and Barna settle into those roles will go a long way toward shaping what this roster looks like when the season arrives. [Read more 🡒]