Asmussen: Learning at heart of Whitman hire

Lovie Smith's First Day » moreChris Peacock knows Josh Whitman. And he knows Illinois athletics.

Peacock and Whitman worked together at Illinois from 2005 to ’08. When Whitman became the athletic director at Washington University, he brought Peacock to the St. Louis school as his right-hand man, naming him deputy director.

Now, Whitman is in charge at Illinois.

Nobody better to ask about a Whitman-Illinois marriage than Peacock, who spent more than a decade in Champaign-Urbana.

“It’s a home run,” Peacock said. “Illinois bought a stock on the way up. Now, I’m speaking as an Illinois fan: He’s just what Illini Nation needed and is what the staff there needs. Very, very sharp. A very hard worker.…