Asmussen | Whitman's football program reaches a happy place, with room to grow

Josh Whitman spent two hours Wednesday talking about the Illinois athletic program. No surprise, football was a constant topic. The sport does, after all, pay the bills. The monster media-rights deal for the Big Ten is driven in large part by football. Whitman on Wednesday held his annual media roundtable discussion with local reporters, conducted within the relatively new Demirjian Park complex. In past years, the football part of the conversation wasn’t always easy or pleasant. Some version of “what’s wrong?” Not now. Third-year coach Bret Bielema turned around the program in 2022. For the first time since 2011, Illinois finished with a winning season. The eight victories were the most since the 2008 Rose Bowl team. Needle pointing up. Illinois beat Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin in the same year for the first time in almost 40 years. “I was excited, same as with the women’s basketball team, for us to gain some national recognition,” Whitman said. “For us to make an appearance in the (Associated Press) Top 25, for us for the first time in the history of the rankings to show up in the CFP (College Football Playoff) rankings for a number of weeks (was exciting).” Bielema deserves a large share of the credit. The former Wisconsin and Arkansas coach found a good fit in his home state. “He has created an incredible player experience,” said Whitman, who conducts exit interviews with seniors. “Everybody raves about being part of that program and being in the Smith Center, which sitting in my chair is a very rewarding thing to hear.” Whitman is happy with Bielema’s decisions in staffing, development and recruiting. “I think that Bret on the recruiting side leaves no stone unturned,” Whitman said. “He is more involved as a head coach in the recruiting process than anybody I’ve ever been around.” Getting recruits to Champaign-Urbana is only part of the job. “To see them take some of these players and help transform them into All-Americans, help transform them into draft picks, speaks for itself,” Whitman said. Obviously, Whitman wants to keep his head coach at Illinois. Bielema has deal that extends through the 2028 season, with automatic extensions built in. “Grateful to him for his interest in being a part of this place, and incredibly excited about the future under his leadership,” Whitman said. Change is coming This upcoming season will be the last for the 14-team Big Ten, which grows by two in 2024 with the additions of Southern California and UCLA. Whitman is a fan of the Big Ten football scheduling model, which guarantees teams will meet at least every two years starting in 2024. “I applaud the Big Ten staff, my colleagues across the Big Ten,” he said. “This took us over a year to develop this model. We looked at a lot of different possibilities, for how to manage our schedule going forward. “From our perspective, I’m really looking forward to seeing schools in the conference with more frequency.” Illinois will host Michigan in 2024, which will mark the 100-year anniversary of the dedication game against the Wolverines at Memorial Stadium. That’s the day Red Grange became a nationwide star. Looking ahead, Illinois will play against Northwestern and Purdue each season. The rivalry game with the Wildcats is logical. The schools are in the same state. But Whitman and Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski had to push a bit to make sure the Illinois-Purdue game was protected. “Other than Michigan and Michigan State, we’re the two most approximate schools geographically,” Whitman said. “We have a trophy game (the Cannon). “To me and Mike Bobinski, it made sense that we would attempt to protect that. It was blessed by the conference.” A third rivalry game wasn’t discussed for Illinois. If it had been, Whitman said he would have favored either Indiana or Iowa as the opponent. “We never got to that point,” he said. Some have suggested Illinois and Northwestern consider moving their annual game away from the final weekend of the regular season. Crowds for the matchups, when students are often home for Thanksgiving, have been sparse at both Memorial Stadium and Ryan Field. Whitman wants the game to stay put. “I like it at the end,” he said. “That has really been developed as rivalry weekend in college football. Northwestern is our biggest in-state rival. I like it there. I talked to Derrick (Gragg), my counterpart at Northwestern, and I don’t see any intention of trying to change that.” Hot items During all those years of losing football, attendance suffered at Illinois. Often, the crowd recovery doesn’t start until the year after a breakthrough season. Illinois is starting to see some of the bounce. Whitman said the school has 8,000 new season tickets sold for 2023. “A number we think will surpass 9,000 before the season opener (Sept. 2 against Toledo),” he said. Whitman said he expects an increase in student ticket sales. Next week the department will announce single-game ticket prices. In mid-July, the tickets go on sale. “We’re trying to eliminate barriers,” he said. “We want people to get into the stadium. We want them to bring their families.” In 2022, football ticket revenue was more than $8 million — the highest in a decade. Whitman touted attendance numbers that climbed 38 percent from 2021. “And just had great energy in and around the building, from the very first game throughout the season,” Whitman said. Bob Asmussen can be reached at 217-393-8248 or by email at asmussen@news-gazette.com.