After 34 years at Auburn University, fundraiser and former assistant coach Joe Whitt Sr. has officially retired from Auburn Athletics.
Twenty-five of those 34 years were dedicated to four different coaches. Whitt was a defensive assistant, coaching defensive ends, the defensive line and linebackers for 12 seasons under Pat Dye, six for Terry Bowden, half a season for interim coach Bill Oliver and seven seasons for Tommy Tuberville.
Whitt was an assistant football coach and head wrestling coach at Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery in 1981. After speaking with coach Dye, Whitt and his family moved to Auburn where he and James Daniel (an assistant coach at Enterprise High School) would become the first African-American football coaches in Auburn’s history.
Whitt helped win five SEC titles: 1983,1987,1988,1989 and 2004. He’s been to 17 bowl games and 20 of his former students have gone to play in the NFL, some being second round picks. Whitt coached numerous All-SEC and All-America selections, and he ended his coaching career after the 2005 season.
The former coach became an assistant athletic director and fundraiser for nine years. Whitt was recently honored by his alma mater, by being appointed to the Alabama State University Board of Trustees. Whitt was a defensive end at ASU from 1969 to 1971. Though he is retired, Whitt is still performing tasks part-time for Auburn similar to his assistant athletic director and fundraiser positions.
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