Joshua Harmon Whitman (born August 5, 1978) is an American university administrator, a lawyer, and a former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He is currently the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at the

University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the fo ...

. Whitman served as the athletic director at

University of Wisconsin–La Crosse The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL or UW–La Crosse) is a public research university in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1909, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and ...

from 2011 to 2014, and

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

from 2014 to 2016.

Education and early career

Whitman graduated from Harrison High School in

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette ( ) is a city in Wabash and Tippecanoe Townships, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash ...

in 1997. He played

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

from 1997 to 2000 under head coach Ron Turner. Whitman graduated from Illinois in 2001 as a bronze tablet scholar with his B.S degree in

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

. In 2004, he retired from the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

and enrolled in the

University of Illinois College of Law The University of Illinois College of Law at Urbana-Champaign is the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a public land-grant research university in Champaign and Urbana, Illinois. It was established in 1897 and offers th ...

. As a law student, Whitman spent time as a law clerk for Michael P. McCuskey and Michael Stephen Kanne, both of whom are United States federal judges. From 2005 to 2008 Whitman also worked in the Illinois athletic department as a special assistant to athletic director

Ron Guenther Ronald E. Guenther (born October 3, 1945) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois from 1975 to 1978, compiling a reco ...

. After receiving his J.D. degree

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in 2008, Whitman took a job in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

working as an attorney for

Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has addition ...

, which serves as outside legal counsel for the NFL.

Athletic administration career

In 2010, Whitman was hired as the athletic director for

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

Wisconsin–La Crosse. While Whitman was at Wisconsin–La Crosse, Eagles teams won four national championships and 21 conference titles. Whitman was later named athletic director of

in 2014. In 2016, Whitman was hired as the 14th athletic director for the University of Illinois. During his time at Illinois; Whitman has fired

Bill Cubit William John Cubit (; born October 14, 1953) is an American football coach and former player. Cubit was the head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, first on an interim basis in the 2015 season and then promoted t ...

Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach. He has served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL) and the Illinois Fighting Illini. Smith has be ...

, and

John Groce John Gordon Groce (; born September 7, 1971) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the Akron Zips men's basketball team. Prior to coaching for Akron, he was the head coach at Illinois and Ohio. Coaching career ...

and also has hired

Brad Underwood Bradley Cole Underwood (born December 14, 1963) is the current head coach for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team. Previously, he served as head coach at Oklahoma State Cowgirls basketball, Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin Lumber ...

, and

Bret Bielema Bret Arnold Bielema (; born January 13, 1970) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a position he has held since the 2021 season. Bielema served as the head football coach at ...

during his tenure. Other notable hires and contract extensions include

Shauna Green Shauna Geronzin Green (born October 31, 1979) is an American basketball coach. Career She coaches the Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team at the University of Illinois. She was hired in March 2022. Green's .621 winning percentage af ...

, Mike Small, Chris Tamas, and Dan Hartleb.

References

External links

Illinois profile

Washington University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitman, Josh 1978 births Living people Buffalo Bills players Frankfurt Galaxy players Illinois Fighting Illini athletic directors Illinois Fighting Illini football players Miami Dolphins players People from West Lafayette, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana San Diego Chargers players Seattle Seahawks players American football tight ends Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Washington University Bears athletic directors Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles athletic directors People associated with Covington & Burling University of Illinois College of Law alumni