Josh Whitman Named Illinois AD: Latest Details, Reaction

The University of Illinois has named former football player Josh Whitman its next athletic director.

Whitman officially announced the news on Wednesday. On Thursday, Shannon Ryan of the Chicago Tribune reported Whitman signed a five-year contract worth $600,000 annually. 

As noted by Jeremy Werner of Scout.com, Whitman had been a favorite throughout the search process. He'll be replacing Mike Thomas, who was fired in November after an investigation into alleged mistreatment of student-athletes by former head football coach Tim Beckman.

Beckman, who was fired in August, allegedly coerced injured players into staying in games. The 51-year-old coach has denied these allegations publicly in a statement given to the Associated Press. After an investigation backed some of the claims made by former players, Thomas was fired without cause, meaning the university found no wrongdoing on his part.

"It's time to put the distractions of these past months behind us and to put the focus back on the success of our athletics programs," Chancellor Barbara Wilson said at the time, per Shannon Ryan of the Chicago Tribune. "It is time to take stock about what we've learned through this process and boldly move forward."

Whitman, 37, takes over after a nearly two-year run as the athletic director at Washington University in St. Louis. He previously spent four years at the same position with Wisconsin-La Crosse.

While younger than most athletic directors at major college programs, Whitman's arrival represents a homecoming. He played tight end at Illinois from 1997 to 2000 and previously spent time in the Illini athletics department from 2005 to 2008, including a stint as an assistant director of athletics.

The first order of business for Whitman will be fixing the football program, which went 5-7 in its first season under Bill Cubit. Cubit took over for Beckman last year before having his interim tag removed, but his contract was only for two years. That means he could be seen as a lame duck for Whitman, who will likely use the entire 2016 season to evaluate the 62-year-old coach.

As it stands, this is an important step forward for Illinois' athletic department regardless of how 2016 plays out on the football field.

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.