Ep. 1102 - Illini AD Josh Whitman on state of Illini football & the state of college athletics
Illini Inquirer Podcast: An Illinois Fighting Illini athletics podcast
247Sports, Illinois, Illinois Football, Illinois Basketball, Illinois Athletics, College Football, C
4.9 • 575 Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2026
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Illini Inquirer's Jeremy Werner discusses Illinois basketball's 81-55 win over Rutgers, a few new transfer additions and DL Angelo McCullom planning to enter the transfer portal before a 40-minute sitdown conversation with Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman, who discusses Illini football's 2025 season, why this is a big offseason for the program and the state of college athletics and where it's going.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome in to the Olauna Inquirer, |
| 0:15.0 | John Inquirer, Holine Inquirer, Holine Quire, Publisher here with you. |
| 0:17.6 | Today on the podcast, we have a special guest. |
| 0:20.3 | Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman. We're the podcast, we have a special guest. Illinois athletics director |
| 0:21.2 | Josh Whitman. We're supposed to do this sit down in Nashville. Obviously, some things happen |
| 0:26.3 | in my life. They would put that on pause for a little bit, but Josh was kind enough to reschedule, |
| 0:31.5 | invite me into his office. And we had a great 40-minute chat and I think a pretty |
| 0:36.6 | enlightening one for you guys. |
| 0:38.1 | Josh talked about the football season, what sustaining success means for his football program, |
| 0:44.0 | why this off-season is a huge test for the program. |
| 0:47.0 | I found that part of the conversation great. |
| 0:49.0 | And we do a deep dive into the state of college athletics. |
| 0:53.7 | And he is very candid on what he thinks of the house |
| 0:55.9 | settlement, whether the college sports commission has teeth right now, and whether college football |
| 1:00.9 | will eventually have the structural reset that I think we all see that it needs. It's some fascinating |
| 1:07.5 | insight from Whitman, who is the second longest tenured AD in the Big Ten and the Division I Council Chair. |
| 1:13.3 | And I think Josh has been more and more comfortable in using his voice and saying what he really feels. |
| 1:19.7 | And I thought he did that in this podcast. |
| 1:21.8 | So I think you guys will enjoy what he has to say and at least learn things from what he has to say. |
| 1:28.3 | We also hit on a few other topics, including soccer's great turnaround. |
| 1:31.6 | I know a lot of people want volleyball to be better. |
| 1:34.1 | I asked him about that. |
... |
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