Sept. 24—CHAMPAIGN—Sherrone Moore knows the Michigan atmosphere well. So does Jonathan Smith at Michigan State. And Luke Fickell at Wisconsin.
Like Bret Bielema at Illinois, Moore, Smith and Fickell understand what it’s like to work for an athletic director who also played football at your current employer.
Let’s talk about a great source of information. And someone who lived, breathed and loved it.
Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman played tight end for Ron Turner at the school from 1997-2000.
The relationship between Bielema and Whitman was on high Friday night after Illinois’ 31-24 overtime win over Nebraska. As he does after every Illinois game, Whitman was one of the first to greet Bielema as he came off the field, giving his fourth-year coach a warm hug.
Bielema is in his third FBS school as a head coach.
His first boss was a rare man: College Football Hall of Famer and Wisconsin legend Barry Alvarez, one of the greatest football minds in Big Ten history.
“I was very fortunate,” Bielema said of working for a guy like Alvarez, who was so committed to the Badgers despite his degree and his time at Nebraska. “I thought that was the norm.”
The next stop was Arkansas, with Jeff Long in charge of recruiting there.
And now Bielema is working in his home state for a guy who spent endless hours in the locker room at Memorial Stadium before the Smith Center was even on the drawing board.
Whitman appreciates the school, which he returned to in 2016 to lead the athletic department.
“Josh, for doing what he did here … every day when I get off that elevator, his face is smiling for the role of Academic All-American,” Bielema said of the photos of honorees hanging on the wall. “To have someone in that role — he obviously played in the NFL — it’s not just someone who played here and was good. He was exceptional.”
Whitman added to his experience after the NFL, where he spent time with six different teams from 2001-04. He attended law school and also served as an athletic director at NCAA Division III schools Wisconsin-La Crosse and Washington University in St. Louis before returning to his alma mater eight years ago.
“I think we are always shaped by the experiences we have had,” Bielema said.
Strong ties
In his Monday afternoon press conference at Memorial Stadium, Bielema recounted what happened after Friday night’s upset win over Nebraska.
The football team had been monitoring the weather for the return trip and the concerns proved to be justified.
“After the game, I said to the locker room, ‘As quick as you can get ready, let’s go and go home,'” Bielema said.
Not so fast. Fog at Willard Savoy Airport forced the team plane to stay longer in Nebraska.
“We stayed on the track for a few hours,” Bielema said.
In this case, it was a good thing. Bielema sat next to Whitman and they were able to discuss several topics. It probably would have been frowned upon for the head coach to take a nap.
“We talked about what was coming. We talked about what was happening during our bye week. We talked about what’s on the horizon,” Bielema said. “He and I are both very involved in the administration.”
Quick connection
What did Bielema think of his new boss when he arrived at Illinois in December 2020?
As Bielema always says, “first impressions last a lifetime.”
The first time he met Whitman was when Bielema was head coach at Arkansas, while they were both at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.
“We met and I was like, ‘This is a great guy,’” Bielema said. “He’s the athletic director at Illinois, blah blah blah.”
In 2020, the year before Illinois hired Bielema, he was in the NFL as an assistant coach with the New York Giants. The job in Champaign-Urbana had long been on his radar.
“I always recruited against Illinois and I played here,” Bielema said.
Before Friday night’s game in Nebraska between the then-22nd-ranked Cornhuskers and the then-24th-ranked Illini, one of Illinois’ last ranked road games came in 1991, when 15th-ranked Iowa beat 13th-ranked Illinois 24-21. A game Bielema played in for the Hawkeyes before beginning his coaching career.
“I was a player at the University of Iowa,” Bielema said. “I knew this place had the potential to be successful. When Josh contacted me the first night, I came down and my wife and I were thrilled.”
A few days later, he had the job. Four years later, his team is ranked 19th. With a win at No. 9 Penn State this Saturday night, Illinois could likely climb even higher than the 14th place it reached in 2022 under Bielema.
Bielema seems grateful for the opportunity Whitman has provided.
“It’s a great relationship that we hope will continue and grow in the years to come,” Bielema said.
Whitman, of course, wants this to work. After botching his first football hire (Lovie Smith went 17-39 in five seasons, including 10-33 in the Big Ten), Bielema is 22-19 in three-plus seasons and already has more Big Ten wins than Smith, going 13-10 so far in league play. There are eight more tries left in 2024.
Bielema’s decision is working out for Whitman, and it had to go well. Few athletic directors are allowed to hire three football coaches.
