Illinois athletics

Josh Whitman’s fork-in-the-road moment, as he calls it, came in his early 30s. He had spent a year at the Washington, D.C., office of Covington & Burling, where he was beginning to establish himself at one of the country’s most elite law firms.

But Whitman kept remembering that he went to law school to become an athletic director, not an attorney.

The fork in the road came when he was offered the AD job at Division III Wisconsin-La Crosse.

“I was probably a little naïve, but I figured the best way to become a college athletic director was to become a college athletic director,” Whitman said. “So I walked back across the bridge and decided I wasn’t going to use this law degree after all, took a 50 percent pay cut, and moved to this little town in Wisconsin. If I hadn’t done that, there’s very little chance I’d be in the position I’m in now.”

When Whitman, a four-year starter at tight end for the Illini and an NFL veteran who played for four teams, tells that story to young athletes, it’s typically part of a bigger message. “You have to follow your heart and be willing to make some short-term sacrifices in order to pursue your dreams,” he said.

Two stops at Division III schools led Whitman back to Champagne. When he was hired two years ago at age 37, Whitman was the youngest AD in the power five and the youngest in the Big Ten by 10 years.

In two years, Whitman has hired coaches for football and men’s and women’s basketball. He will break ground on a new $80 million football performance center in the spring, and soon he’ll make a call on whether the Illini should add ice hockey.

“You can go somewhere where you’re just making sure the trains run on time or you can go somewhere where you have a chance to make a difference,” Whitman said. “To be able to make a difference at your alma mater, that means a lot to me.”

— Michael Smith