Illinois showed it was willing to spend when it signed Lovie Smith as its new football coach, and even athletic director Josh Whitman will be earning a raise over his predecessor. The details have come out about Whitman's contract with the Illini, and he have plenty of opportunity to add to his salary if his teams perform well.
Per the News-Gazette, Whitman has a 5-year contract that will pay him $600,000 per year. For comparison, former athletic director Mike Thomas earned $568,178 in 2015, according to The Daily Illini's Salary Guide.
Since this is Illinois, where contracts never seem to last all the way through, Whitman does have a buyout in his contract.