 On June 12, 2015, the "New York Times" reported that Whitlock had been removed from his post.Whitlock attributed his dismissal to “numerous reasons, including my foolish belief that I could manage like a football coach.I learned there’s an art to corporate politics that I’m not good at.”

On Oct. 19, 2015, ESPN issued a statement announcing that Kevin Merida, author, journalist and "Washington Post" managing editor, would assume the editor-in-chief position at TheUndefeated.com.