CHAMPAIGN — Approaching five months to the date of Lovie Smith’s hiring and the 2016 season getting underway today with the first of 16 fall training camp practices, Illinois football is still at the forefront for the Illini fan base.
That was readily evident Wednesday when Josh Whitman spoke to the Champaign-West Rotary Club. The first-year Illinois athletic director took questions from the crowd afterward, with Illini football — and the new head coach in particular — the hot topic.
Whitman detailed his thought process in pursuing Smith, with the idea first coming to him in January when Smith was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.