Kansas State University Athletics
K-State’s Leader Honored by Peers
Mar 29, 2023 | Sports Extra, Athletics
By: D. Scott Fritchen
It was clinking of silverware, white tablecloths, and a slice of cherry cheesecake. It was Gene Taylor sharing the head of the table with wife Cathy in the far corner of the DiValletta Restaurant at Grandover Resort & Spa in Greensboro, North Carolina, one evening in mid-March. It was 11 dinner guests who share Taylor's passion for Kansas State athletics. And then the surprise, yes, the surprise, an announcement, an iPad filled with congratulatory sentiments from family, friends and associates from across the country. It was hugs and a couple tears, as seated guests applauded and cheered on Taylor, the sixth-year K-State athletic director.
Taylor had just learned that he had been named the 2022-23 Cushman & Wakefield FBS AD of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) — an honor formally announced on Monday, underscoring the dedication by the steward of athletic success in Manhattan.
K-State athletic department staff nominated Taylor for the honor, and then peer ADs voted upon all the nominees.
Taylor rose to the top.
"I'm just humbled by the award and the fact that you're nominated by your staff and then it's voted on by your peers," Taylor says, "it's a really, really humbling experience."
It marked a first for K-State, which was the only school in the nation in 2022-23 with a football team that participated in a New Year's Six bowl game and a men's basketball team that appeared in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
It also marked the first time since 2015-16 that a school had won a football conference championship and advanced so deep into a NCAA Tournament in the same year.
Both Klieman and Tang were hired by Taylor, who also currently serves on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and the LEAD1 Board of Directors.
"This year is one of those years you want to bottle it up and keep it and someday when you're having a rough year you can drink out of that bottle because it tastes so good," Taylor says. "Years like this don't happen sometimes and when they happen like this, you really have to sit back and enjoy it, and enjoy the ride, because sometimes it doesn't always happen like this."
Taylor will be recognized in conjunction with the 58th Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Florida, at the beginning of the Association-Wide Featured Session on June 13.
The 65-year-old Taylor, a native of Morenci, Arizona, who has been involved with collegiate athletics for more than four decades, grew up riding with his father, a state-championship high school football coach, on a yellow school bus to high school games. Taylor assumed his first administrative role as varsity basketball team manager his senior year of high school.
A 1980 business management graduate of Arizona State, Taylor earned his master's degree in sports administration from St. Thomas University in Florida in 1985. He first served at SMU as a ticket office assistant in 1985-86 before he served as an administrative assistant, assistant ticket manager, ticket manager, assistant AD for tickets/operations, and as an associate athletics director at the Naval Academy in 1986-2001. His tenure at Navy included serving as commissioner of the five-team Collegiate Spirit Football League, comprised of Army, Navy, Penn, Princeton and Cornell.
Taylor assumed the role of athletics director at North Dakota State in 2001 and led the program through the reclassification to Division I from Division II and secured conference affiliation for all 16 sports. He became deputy athletics director at the University of Iowa in 2014, where he remained until then-K-State President Richard Myers hired him to lead the Wildcats in April 2017.
It's been a perfect marriage.
"When I arrived at K-State, I sat down with every staff member and listened to them regarding what we were doing well and where we could improve, and certainly there were some facility needs that were No. 1, and ultimately, I knew probably the biggest thing was how long Bill Snyder was going to be our head coach, and that probably was the biggest decision that once it happened I was going to have to make — finding a guy to replace a legend," Taylor says. "Really, there were a lot of really good things happening. I looked at it like, 'I'm not walking into a place that has a lot of issues.'
"It was really continuing the facility growth and trying to find a way to have consistent success with all our programs."
Taylor was named the eighth-best athletic director among Football Bowl Subdivision programs by Stadium in 2020. Under his guidance, the K-State football program has won a Big 12 title and played in four bowl games, the men's basketball program has won a Big 12 title and advanced to three NCAA Tournaments with two appearances in the Elite Eight, the women's basketball program has made two NCAA Tournaments, and the women's track and field program has captured back-to-back Big 12 outdoor championships.
"After I was announced as the new president for Kansas State University, my first phone call was from NC State's athletic director, who said that at K-State, I would have the best AD in the country," says Richard Linton, who began his service as Kansas State University president in February 2022. "As an avid supporter of K-State's entire athletics portfolio, Gene is truly building one of the strongest and finest athletics programs in the country, from facilities to our coaching staffs, and of course, to our incredible student-athletes.
"To put it in the simplest of terms, Gene Taylor is a champion."
Taylor quickly credits his staff. It was the first thing he thought about when he learned of his honor.
"I just thought about how fortunate I am to work with really great people that make my job easier," Taylor says. "Obviously, it's an individual recognition, but you can't do these kinds of things without a really good staff. I just felt really happy for our department that our colleagues recognize what's been accomplished here at K-State."
True to form, Taylor has consistently shared the recognition for his success.
Jill Shields, Deputy Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator, says that Taylor's "demeanor is so refreshing," adding that "it's never been about him."
"He's about having a strong culture and letting his coaches and staff do their job," she adds. "He's able to keep the crazy world of athletics in perspective and rides the rollercoaster of emotions that goes along with it."
Executive Associate AD for Internal Operations and Event Management Casey Scott says that Taylor's style "allows you to work with him, not for him. It's a huge distinction."
"You're involved with the decision-making and direction of the department, and in my case, even the hiring of coaches," Scott says. "He spreads the credit and recognizes all of our staff in the success we're having. He's a great leader and friend."
Executive Associate AD for Communications and Public Relations Kenny Lannou calls Taylor a "loyal and humble man who has worked his tail off to get to where he is today."
"His relationship skills and care for others rubs off on everyone in the department," Lannou continues, "and has shaped the culture that exists here today."
It's a culture of winning with an emphasis on relationships and with the needs of the student-athlete always at the top.
"Gene is a wonderful and fun-loving person who cares deeply about the people who work with him and for the student-athlete," Scott says, "but he is also very competitive and loves to win."
K-State continues to win on and off the field.
Academically, football, men's golf, women's golf, tennis and volleyball programs all earned Big 12-leading graduation-rate figures, and K-State's all-sport graduation rate of 93% marked the highest in department history, as the NCAA released its latest graduation rate data in November.
Under Taylor, K-State has implemented a department-wide facility master plan that has benefited the baseball and women's soccer programs in addition to Building Champions, a $105 million initiative focused on the south end zone of Bill Snyder Family Stadium, the new Morgan Family Volleyball Arena, an Olympic training center and the Shamrock Football Practice Facility. Overall pledges and cash gifts to the department during the 2022 fiscal year totaled $58.9 million, of which $20.4 million was designated for the Ahearn Fund annual giving program and surpassing its budgeted goal previous record of $18.9 million in fiscal year 2019. Included in the $20.4 million in annual giving was a department-record $801,000 raised during the Powercat Auction. The department also received $42.6 million in cash giving, marking only the third time in history it has eclipsed the $40 million mark.
"He gets choked up when you ask him what K-State means to him and his family," says Josh McCowan, Senior Associate AD of Development. "He feels like the luckiest man in the world to be serving our student-athletes, coaches, alumni, fans and donors. He truly cares about this place and the love that he has for everyone associated with this university and athletics program is as genuine and authentic as he is."
It was shortly after Taylor's hiring and during a trip to the Kansas City area to meet with various donors that McCowan witnessed Taylor's caring demeanor. While approaching their car to attend a meeting, Taylor spotted an elderly woman stranded by virtue of a flat tire. Taylor offered to assist, and he and McCowan began peeling off their suit jackets.
"Her son called and was on the way, so she assured Gene enough to make him feel good about leaving, so we went on," McCowan says, "but Gene was willing to miss our next important meeting, get his dress clothes sweaty and dirty, all to help a complete stranger who needed it.
"He brings that same heart, desire and attitude for people to work every day."
Taylor most recently felt the love of K-State fans when the men's basketball team arrived from New York City following the Elite Eight on Sunday.
K-State fans packed Manhattan Regional Airport to welcome them home.
"People ask me what's so special about K-State and Bill Snyder said it best, it's about people and the love they have for K-State," Taylor says. "You can feel it when you get here. I can feel it amongst the staff when they come to work every day. The scene we had Sunday when we arrived back from New York City, that doesn't happen many places.
"It's because people really, really love K-State."
Taylor is grateful and proud of K-State and its ongoing passion and efforts as the Wildcats embrace being a part of the new-look Big 12 Conference going forward.
"I think something Coach Tang said was best: We've always taken great pride in doing more with less," Taylor says. "I love that about our staff. We don't have the biggest staffs and the most employees, and we have to work a little harder and we have one of the smaller budgets. As we go forward, let's do more with even. Let's find the resources and revenue that we can begin to take care of our staff and begin to build more consistent success and continue to enhance the student-athlete experience. We have to find ways to do more with even. I liked that comment by Coach Tang."
All eyes will fall upon Taylor as he receives the 2022-23 Cushman & Wakefield FBS AD of the Year Award by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics in Orlando in June.
No doubt, playing in a New Year's Six bowl and advancing to the Elite Eight in the men's NCAA Tournament is rare.
For a school to possess an athletics director like Taylor, well, that is rare, too.
"We have something special happening at K-State," Shields says, "and we have a tremendous leader in Gene guiding the ship."
It was clinking of silverware, white tablecloths, and a slice of cherry cheesecake. It was Gene Taylor sharing the head of the table with wife Cathy in the far corner of the DiValletta Restaurant at Grandover Resort & Spa in Greensboro, North Carolina, one evening in mid-March. It was 11 dinner guests who share Taylor's passion for Kansas State athletics. And then the surprise, yes, the surprise, an announcement, an iPad filled with congratulatory sentiments from family, friends and associates from across the country. It was hugs and a couple tears, as seated guests applauded and cheered on Taylor, the sixth-year K-State athletic director.
Taylor had just learned that he had been named the 2022-23 Cushman & Wakefield FBS AD of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) — an honor formally announced on Monday, underscoring the dedication by the steward of athletic success in Manhattan.
K-State athletic department staff nominated Taylor for the honor, and then peer ADs voted upon all the nominees.
Taylor rose to the top.
"I'm just humbled by the award and the fact that you're nominated by your staff and then it's voted on by your peers," Taylor says, "it's a really, really humbling experience."
Under Taylor, K-State has experienced an uncharted feat in the school's history. Three months after head coach Chris Klieman and the K-State football team captured the 2022 Big 12 Championship and appeared in the Sugar Bowl, the men's basketball team, picked to finish last in the league's preseason poll, advanced to the 2023 Elite Eight under first-year Division I head coach Jerome Tang, a Naismith National Coach of the Year finalist who was named Big 12 Coach of the Year.Best in the nation@KSTATEADGT named NACDA Athletic Director of the Year
— K-State Athletics (@kstatesports) March 27, 2023
📄 https://t.co/4FZjIwPLF2 pic.twitter.com/USP3iNKpXS
It marked a first for K-State, which was the only school in the nation in 2022-23 with a football team that participated in a New Year's Six bowl game and a men's basketball team that appeared in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
It also marked the first time since 2015-16 that a school had won a football conference championship and advanced so deep into a NCAA Tournament in the same year.
Both Klieman and Tang were hired by Taylor, who also currently serves on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and the LEAD1 Board of Directors.
"This year is one of those years you want to bottle it up and keep it and someday when you're having a rough year you can drink out of that bottle because it tastes so good," Taylor says. "Years like this don't happen sometimes and when they happen like this, you really have to sit back and enjoy it, and enjoy the ride, because sometimes it doesn't always happen like this."
Taylor will be recognized in conjunction with the 58th Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Florida, at the beginning of the Association-Wide Featured Session on June 13.
The 65-year-old Taylor, a native of Morenci, Arizona, who has been involved with collegiate athletics for more than four decades, grew up riding with his father, a state-championship high school football coach, on a yellow school bus to high school games. Taylor assumed his first administrative role as varsity basketball team manager his senior year of high school.
A 1980 business management graduate of Arizona State, Taylor earned his master's degree in sports administration from St. Thomas University in Florida in 1985. He first served at SMU as a ticket office assistant in 1985-86 before he served as an administrative assistant, assistant ticket manager, ticket manager, assistant AD for tickets/operations, and as an associate athletics director at the Naval Academy in 1986-2001. His tenure at Navy included serving as commissioner of the five-team Collegiate Spirit Football League, comprised of Army, Navy, Penn, Princeton and Cornell.
Taylor assumed the role of athletics director at North Dakota State in 2001 and led the program through the reclassification to Division I from Division II and secured conference affiliation for all 16 sports. He became deputy athletics director at the University of Iowa in 2014, where he remained until then-K-State President Richard Myers hired him to lead the Wildcats in April 2017.
It's been a perfect marriage.
"When I arrived at K-State, I sat down with every staff member and listened to them regarding what we were doing well and where we could improve, and certainly there were some facility needs that were No. 1, and ultimately, I knew probably the biggest thing was how long Bill Snyder was going to be our head coach, and that probably was the biggest decision that once it happened I was going to have to make — finding a guy to replace a legend," Taylor says. "Really, there were a lot of really good things happening. I looked at it like, 'I'm not walking into a place that has a lot of issues.'
"It was really continuing the facility growth and trying to find a way to have consistent success with all our programs."
Taylor was named the eighth-best athletic director among Football Bowl Subdivision programs by Stadium in 2020. Under his guidance, the K-State football program has won a Big 12 title and played in four bowl games, the men's basketball program has won a Big 12 title and advanced to three NCAA Tournaments with two appearances in the Elite Eight, the women's basketball program has made two NCAA Tournaments, and the women's track and field program has captured back-to-back Big 12 outdoor championships.
"After I was announced as the new president for Kansas State University, my first phone call was from NC State's athletic director, who said that at K-State, I would have the best AD in the country," says Richard Linton, who began his service as Kansas State University president in February 2022. "As an avid supporter of K-State's entire athletics portfolio, Gene is truly building one of the strongest and finest athletics programs in the country, from facilities to our coaching staffs, and of course, to our incredible student-athletes.
"To put it in the simplest of terms, Gene Taylor is a champion."
Taylor quickly credits his staff. It was the first thing he thought about when he learned of his honor.
"I just thought about how fortunate I am to work with really great people that make my job easier," Taylor says. "Obviously, it's an individual recognition, but you can't do these kinds of things without a really good staff. I just felt really happy for our department that our colleagues recognize what's been accomplished here at K-State."
True to form, Taylor has consistently shared the recognition for his success.
Jill Shields, Deputy Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator, says that Taylor's "demeanor is so refreshing," adding that "it's never been about him."
"He's about having a strong culture and letting his coaches and staff do their job," she adds. "He's able to keep the crazy world of athletics in perspective and rides the rollercoaster of emotions that goes along with it."
Executive Associate AD for Internal Operations and Event Management Casey Scott says that Taylor's style "allows you to work with him, not for him. It's a huge distinction."
"You're involved with the decision-making and direction of the department, and in my case, even the hiring of coaches," Scott says. "He spreads the credit and recognizes all of our staff in the success we're having. He's a great leader and friend."
Executive Associate AD for Communications and Public Relations Kenny Lannou calls Taylor a "loyal and humble man who has worked his tail off to get to where he is today."
"His relationship skills and care for others rubs off on everyone in the department," Lannou continues, "and has shaped the culture that exists here today."
It's a culture of winning with an emphasis on relationships and with the needs of the student-athlete always at the top.
"Gene is a wonderful and fun-loving person who cares deeply about the people who work with him and for the student-athlete," Scott says, "but he is also very competitive and loves to win."
K-State continues to win on and off the field.
Academically, football, men's golf, women's golf, tennis and volleyball programs all earned Big 12-leading graduation-rate figures, and K-State's all-sport graduation rate of 93% marked the highest in department history, as the NCAA released its latest graduation rate data in November.
Under Taylor, K-State has implemented a department-wide facility master plan that has benefited the baseball and women's soccer programs in addition to Building Champions, a $105 million initiative focused on the south end zone of Bill Snyder Family Stadium, the new Morgan Family Volleyball Arena, an Olympic training center and the Shamrock Football Practice Facility. Overall pledges and cash gifts to the department during the 2022 fiscal year totaled $58.9 million, of which $20.4 million was designated for the Ahearn Fund annual giving program and surpassing its budgeted goal previous record of $18.9 million in fiscal year 2019. Included in the $20.4 million in annual giving was a department-record $801,000 raised during the Powercat Auction. The department also received $42.6 million in cash giving, marking only the third time in history it has eclipsed the $40 million mark.
"He gets choked up when you ask him what K-State means to him and his family," says Josh McCowan, Senior Associate AD of Development. "He feels like the luckiest man in the world to be serving our student-athletes, coaches, alumni, fans and donors. He truly cares about this place and the love that he has for everyone associated with this university and athletics program is as genuine and authentic as he is."
It was shortly after Taylor's hiring and during a trip to the Kansas City area to meet with various donors that McCowan witnessed Taylor's caring demeanor. While approaching their car to attend a meeting, Taylor spotted an elderly woman stranded by virtue of a flat tire. Taylor offered to assist, and he and McCowan began peeling off their suit jackets.
"Her son called and was on the way, so she assured Gene enough to make him feel good about leaving, so we went on," McCowan says, "but Gene was willing to miss our next important meeting, get his dress clothes sweaty and dirty, all to help a complete stranger who needed it.
"He brings that same heart, desire and attitude for people to work every day."
Taylor most recently felt the love of K-State fans when the men's basketball team arrived from New York City following the Elite Eight on Sunday.
K-State fans packed Manhattan Regional Airport to welcome them home.
"People ask me what's so special about K-State and Bill Snyder said it best, it's about people and the love they have for K-State," Taylor says. "You can feel it when you get here. I can feel it amongst the staff when they come to work every day. The scene we had Sunday when we arrived back from New York City, that doesn't happen many places.
"It's because people really, really love K-State."
Taylor is grateful and proud of K-State and its ongoing passion and efforts as the Wildcats embrace being a part of the new-look Big 12 Conference going forward.
"I think something Coach Tang said was best: We've always taken great pride in doing more with less," Taylor says. "I love that about our staff. We don't have the biggest staffs and the most employees, and we have to work a little harder and we have one of the smaller budgets. As we go forward, let's do more with even. Let's find the resources and revenue that we can begin to take care of our staff and begin to build more consistent success and continue to enhance the student-athlete experience. We have to find ways to do more with even. I liked that comment by Coach Tang."
All eyes will fall upon Taylor as he receives the 2022-23 Cushman & Wakefield FBS AD of the Year Award by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics in Orlando in June.
No doubt, playing in a New Year's Six bowl and advancing to the Elite Eight in the men's NCAA Tournament is rare.
For a school to possess an athletics director like Taylor, well, that is rare, too.
"We have something special happening at K-State," Shields says, "and we have a tremendous leader in Gene guiding the ship."
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