Ask the AD - December 16
Dec 16, 2021 | Athletics
Brian Smoller (BS): "Welcome to another edition of Ask the AD. Brian Smoller with the Director of Athletics Gene Taylor as we welcome you into what will be a jam packed Ask the AD as we wrap up the calendar year of 2021. We'll be back in January with another installment. But as we open things up, as joyous as this time of year is, there is also some bit of concern at the moment for K-State nation."
Gene Taylor (GT): "Yeah, terrible storms that ran through the entire region really, and we had some devastation particularly in the state of Kansas. And so our thoughts and prayers are with everybody out there that's dealing with some challenges. There were some nasty fires out west and people lost a lot and so we're hopeful that everybody's as safe as possible and our thoughts and prayers are with them."
BS: "Yeah, kind of odd to have tornado stuff here in December but it is Kansas so you have to be on your toes all the time. Kansas people are pretty strong so we'll be able to bounce back. You know that, but certainly thoughts with everybody. Go from that and into a different type of challenge that you got to experience for the first time this year and that's the college football playoff and being on the board. I'm sure there were challenges in your email inbox, as well. How was that experience?
GT: "It was great. There were some early emails. I'm not the chair, so Gary Barta got a few more than I did. I would just say it was very enjoyable. The group of people in the room, the 13 voters, were tremendous. They care a great deal about college football, and every time we sat down, we sat down over a six-week period, including in championship week. It really wasn't about a particular conference or school. It was trying to put together the best 25 teams we could possibly put together and that wasn't as dramatic as we thought towards the end. All the teams that won and the top four probably weren't as challenging as we maybe thought of earlier in the year. It was really more about who finished where but I will say that people in that room are really, really smart and they care a great deal and it was fun. I'm looking forward to being able to do it for two more years."
BS: "That was my next question. After going through it, are you excited about continuing to do that?"
GT: "Absolutely. It's really an honor and the people that were going off the committee this year, there were five of them that were leaving. It's a three year cycle. They were very emotional about saying goodbye because you get pretty close to the 13 in the room and you share a lot when you're not actually in the room voting and you get to know each other. I'm really looking forward to it."
BS: "From football on the college football national stage to football here locally. Of course, we have seen dirt being moved and started for the project for the indoor football facility. We had a couple of questions as we jump into our fan questions, notably about that area. Are there any plans as to where student tailgating will move now that the grasslands are being paved near Bill Snyder Family Stadium?"
GT: "Yeah, certainly that lot in particular that we somewhat refer to as a student lot. It's really a public lot, but we have been working with our student government association and they're looking at areas that they would like to have us consider, and certainly we're going to do everything we can to work with our students. Obviously we still want to encourage our students to be here and our Ahearn Fund staff is working diligently to figure out the parking for the reserved folks and the season ticket holders and we'll probably be coming out with those plans sometime after the first of the year. Yeah, we're definitely working on the students and trying to find some opportunities for them."
BS: "We have one fan that actually suggested building a parking garage."
GT: "Yeah, that's probably not gonna happen. Those are a little expensive so no, you won't see a parking garage anytime soon."
BS: "That said, if you want to try and give some of that money towards a parking garage you are by more than means welcome to. It's the end of the year giving a certain time of year to tag those to Ahearn Fund and get those donations in. Alright, so from that football stuff as the projects kick off, we've also seen volleyball in the Olympic training facility also being kicked off. so both those projects are in full force it seems like."
GT: "Which is a little bit of a challenge for our facility staff and trying to manage the traffic flow in and out but it's very exciting. The football indoor will be finished next fall and then the volleyball Olympic Training Center will be in the middle of 2023."
BS: "That will be really, really cool to see everybody start to get centered in this athletic complex here on this side of town. From Facebook, my 14 year old son and I attended the West Virginia game. After the game people were not allowed on the field, one of his son's favorite things to do. Is the new policy going to be that no one's on the field after football games?"
GT: "That's a great question and it was actually always fun to see all the kids run around post game and the families throwing the football. We obviously stopped it during the COVID year just because of a lot of health reasons and we continued it this year for similar reasons and just really trying to make sure that in the field and the people that were working and closing out the game could get their work done and done in a safe manner. Now as we move into next season, depending on where we are with COVID, we may open it back up. We'd love to have them back on there but we just got to kind of see what's going on with the COVID world."
BS: "That's right, COVID and flu are still ramping up, especially this time of year and this is our daily time to drop a PSA and get the shots please, the vaccinations for COVID and flu. Alright, from Facebook again, when will we see new uniforms? Fans, they're all in on that uniform stuff. Recruiting and signing day I think helps exacerbate that fear."
GT: "It does and I think for our team and our coaches, they've talked about some opportunities. This year they didn't again, and I think we've talked about it before is the delay in the time it takes to get them designed and get them ordered. But I know our equipment staff and coaches have talked about it. I don't know any specific ideas that they have in mind, but I think it's something that we're not ignoring. It's something our players want and you will probably see it down the road at some point."
BS: "Alright, here comes the big question today. This is a good question, one that I'm sure is very prevalent and at the tip of the tongue so to speak for all athletic departments. Has the athletic department had any discussions or have any plans to play an active role in creating or promoting NIL opportunities for student athletes, whether from businesses or the alumni base?"
GT: "Yeah, it's a great question and we're having a lot of conversations. We have a lot of our donors and alumni base that are very interested in helping. That's a good thing. We've obviously had athletes this year take advantage and be a part of the name image and likeness and signed some good deals. There's a fine line between how much we can be involved. There's some deals out there across the country that people kind of point to that really aren't, in my opinion, what name, image and likeness is supposed to be. But we are working with our alumni. We have a couple of companies that we were talking to to try to figure out what's the best route to take. We just want our fans and alumni that we are very interested. We think it's very important that our student athletes have those opportunities. We just want to make sure it's the right opportunities and follow the rules of name, image and likeness. And sometimes people think well, there are no rules. They really are. But yeah, we've had a lot of interest from alumni and donors. They want to help us. We want to help them. We just need to kind of figure out the best route and we're doing that right now and talking to those folks now."
BS: "Is there any conversation between yourself and other counterparts in the Big 12 and across the country about, 'Hey, what are you doing? What can we do?', those sorts of conversations?"
GT: "We absolutely talk within the Big 12 and certainly just kind of figure out but you just really kind of have to read because everybody's doing it a little differently. Some are a little more conservative, some are having donors. Some companies out there really are not even working with the athletic departments. They are just creating a business to say here's some money and we want our athletes to come. Well, that's not necessarily always the right way to do it. But we're definitely talking to our donors. We're going to do it the right way like we have always done but we certainly want our student athletes to have every opportunity that we can do, as much as we can with them to make sure they have access to name, image and likeness. But we have to be very careful in how we do that."
BS: "One of those is Nijel Pack, of course, will be taking center stage for the K-State men's basketball team here the next couple of weeks. Some news that came out the other day about men's basketball that January 4th game happens to fall on the same day as the bowl game, a special promotion for that game."
GT: "Yeah, we want to pack the house, a game against Texas. I think it's our first home Big 12 contest. We have folks who are going to be in Houston for the bowl game but we want to make sure we pack Bramlage and think it's $1 for general admission tickets. We're gonna have some other opportunities that we're going to be promoting here in the next couple of weeks. But we want our basketball team to really have a home opener that's packed and loud because as you know, when Bramlage is rocking it's certainly a home home court advantage."
BS: "No doubt about it. Free parking for that game as well. And then women's basketball this week against an Oregon team that is ranked 23rd in the coaches poll. Also dollar tickets and Jeff Mittie jumping in with the purchase of tickets."
GT: "I think Jeff (Mittie) bought a bunch of tickets to give out and good for Jeff but again, another great opponent coming in. Our women are playing really well. They're a fun team to watch. They're a young team, they've got some young talent. Obviously Ayoka (Lee) is tremendous and we want to make sure that Bramlage is filled this weekend for that Oregon match because it's going to be a great game."
BS: "It's good to see you and Merry Christmas. We got the Christmas party, the staff Christmas party later today. Karaoke, will you be busting out any karaoke songs?"
GT: "It depends on at what point in the evening the karaoke is. We'll see. There's a favorite song I typically like to sing but we'll see where it is. I want to make sure everybody else has a chance before I get up."
BS: "And that all the phones are put away so that we're all still employed in the New Year. Congratulations also in order to Deuce Vaughn, a consensus All-American.
GT: "That's unbelievable. It's the first one since Tyler Lockett. He's a tremendous young man. I saw him yesterday and congratulated him and he's so humble and just like it was no big deal. It's a huge deal, a huge deal for us and certainly he's a tremendous player. We're lucky to have him."
BS: "Looking forward to seeing him in a Wildcat uniform for another couple of years and the 11th consensus All-American in school history. Gene, appreciate it."
GT: "Thank you very much. Happy Holidays everybody and stay safe."
