Kansas State University Athletics
Ask the AD: August 28, 2024
Aug 28, 2024 | Athletics
Gene Taylor (GT): I hope so. It's game week, though. That's exciting.
BS: It is exciting. We'll get to that here in a moment. I guess we'll start first with the national and then kind of narrow focus into K-State. On the national side, you have the House settlement that continues to sit out there, the idea of NIL, and how does that transform? I thought I'd ask you this question in more of just as coaches try and plan for the future, and they set recruiting classes a year out, two years out, what do you tell coaches how to plan for roster sizes and that sort of thing?
GT: Well, that's a great question. If I had an answer for you, I'd be able to share that with you. You know, it is very confusing right now, and it's confusing for all of us. When I say all of us, I'm talking coaches and ADs across the country. This House settlement is very complicated. There are a lot of pieces to it, everything from roster sizes to the amount of revenue or NIL that you can give to an athlete. How that all is given? Do you share those dollars equitably? Do you share it based on the teams that generate the most revenue? And there's still so many unanswered questions right now. So what we're trying to do is get those questions answered. Our conference has been great in providing us as much information as they can provide us. We've been on multiple calls with our conference and our conference office and various attorneys, including our own in-house attorneys, just talking through, "Well, if we do this, how does that affect us?" and "What do we tell our coaches about roster size?" What's going to happen in November? November is going to be signing day—will we have these answers? So we're trying to get as much information as we can. Judge Wilkins, who's the judge that will basically approve the settlement, is supposed to approve that sometime in September. After that, there's a period of time where people can challenge that decision, so it probably won't be finalized until maybe sometime after the first of the year—maybe even as late as February or March. But in the meantime, we are trying to put our plan together for coaches to say, "Okay, here are some things we need to think about. Here's how you might need to be prepared to approach it. Your squad size is going to be different next year." Is that squad size going to have to be effective right on August 1, or will there be some grace period? So some of those things we're still working through, but we're trying to give our coaches a heads-up to start thinking about what the new world of college athletics looks like.
BS: It's kind of hard to believe that a year from now, this will all go into effect. You mentioned a whole lot that has to happen before then.
GT: Yeah, the train's coming at us at a pretty big clip, and I'm not sure we're fast enough to get out of the way yet.
BS: Hopefully, it all gets resolved. It won't, just in the sense that it's college athletics; it's ever-moving and ongoing. And one of the things, as we mentioned, that continues to change in this world—one of the things that will affect football this year, and it's not necessarily related to that, but it is in the idea of change—is that no loose change will be accepted at football stadiums coming up at K-State this year. Cashless facilities—this was the reasoning, I guess.
GT: Yeah, you know, I understand it's frustrating for some. I mean, I'll be honest with you, I go to facilities across the country, and most of them are cashless anymore. And I do still carry cash and still like to use cash, but I think we looked at all the number of cash transactions versus the number of credit cards, and credit cards dwarf the number of cash transactions. We've been cashless in Bramlage for most of the last couple of years or so. And we just felt it was a customer service to speed up the concessions lines, to speed up some things. Everybody usually has either a debit card or credit card. Be honest with you, folks much younger than me don't even carry cash anymore. So we just felt it was time for us to move into that cashless era, so to speak, and we were ready to do it. And yes, we're prepared for anything that might happen because obviously, when you're doing things electronically, things can happen. But we just felt the amount of cash transactions we have per game is so small anymore that we just said, let's just go cashless across the board.
BS: That'll be the case, and as you mentioned, it's already been in place at some of the other facilities for K-State. So this shouldn't be too big of an adjustment as we get into football season.
GT: We try to give everybody enough notice that when they come on Saturdays, when they come to the events, they are aware that we're going to be cashless, and I'm sure people will get used to it.
BS: Yep, that includes parking lots as well, east and west lots here outside the stadium. The games this weekend for K-State— we'll talk about the game, the football specifically, but the Hall of Fame Class is going to be honored for K-State. And what a class this is—a star-studded class all the way from top to bottom. Should be a lot of fun this week.
GT: It really is. And you know, Hall of Fame is such a special time for those athletes and their families. What they accomplished while they were here—we have a great donor family that's going to be inducted as well, Carl and Mary Ice. But when I think about the number of Hall of Fames I've been fortunate to be a part of in the ceremonies and sometimes the raw emotion of it, sometimes just the excitement of having those athletes back. And like you said, it's a star-studded class. It'll be great to have them here, great for our fan base to get to interact with them, and it's a great accomplishment on their part. To go into the Hall of Fame is such a high honor. We're just fortunate to be a part of it. I'm so glad that all those athletes and coaches are going to be able to come back and be a part of it.
BS: It's going to be really great, kind of kicking off the family reunion this weekend. Football—15th straight sellout expected coming up this weekend. Traffic has been a little bit interesting here in Manhattan; there's been a lot of releases that have been sent out. So come early to the game. What else strikes you about this year's football team? The excitement building?
GT: I think just the energy behind how we finished last year—obviously winning the bowl game. And then, you know, with folks that opted out, and the transfers, and there were so many new faces, and obviously, the quarterback situation. We have a couple of new transfers, Dylan Edwards. There's just a lot of energy and excitement. And what I like to focus on is what I hear Chris talk about: the depth on defense, the depth of the defensive line and the linebackers, where we are from our safeties and our corners. Obviously, the offensive line is fairly new, but a lot of experience is still there. So I think I just get a sense that everybody's really looking forward to an exciting year and to see a guy by the name of Avery Johnson take this team and see where they can take it.
BS: I haven't asked Chris yet if he's excited about doing the interviews at the end of the first quarter and third quarter.
GT: Yeah, some of the in-game stuff.
BS: Yeah, we could just have Matt talk to you, and maybe that'll divert the attention away from media. Ireland—you didn't go this recent for the Florida State, Georgia Tech game. We had some representatives go over to Ireland in preparation for next year. Do you sense there's excitement building for that?
GT: Yeah, I think so. I think a couple of things. I think there were a lot more eyeballs on that game from our fan base than there have been in years past. It was great to have our staff go over and really get a sense of what the game feels like and some of the things that we can be prepared for. But yeah, I noticed that during the course of the game, there was a lot of stuff promoting next year's game, which is us and Iowa State, and there's already been a lot of packages sold. I think this may boost even more excitement about it. Obviously, it was a very exciting game, came down to a field goal at the end. From what I understand, it's a wonderful facility. The Ireland folks love having us over there. Their fans are really beginning to understand American football, and it's going to be a great matchup next year. I mean, us and Iowa State—it can't get any better than that. So I think we'll have a lot of fans over there.
BS: I think there'll be a lot of kindred spirits, especially when it comes to beer drinking. Between the two fan bases.
GT: Yeah. I'm guessing they don't run out of beer in Ireland.
BS: No, they don't. Maybe different kinds of beer, but yeah, for sure, they do not. All right, we only had one question that we took from the fans. And we really didn't have very many, I think it just kinda got lost in the mix of everything. But this question is a good one and it comes from @kstated on X: "Will we have an on-field appearance to celebrate our new Olympic medalists?" Although Erik Kynard was a silver medalist a few years ago and given the gold medal this year, rightfully. And then Tara Davis Woodhall, who is now one of the assistant coaches here, and then Eugene Omalla, who won it with the Netherlands - will we have an opportunity to honor them?
GT: Yeah, that's a great question and a wonderful question. As a matter of fact, we will be able to do that. We will honor those athletes and what a tremendous time of year, the Olympics. I think somebody told me the other day, it's the one time of year that the country is actually not divided about something. They're all on the same thing. And to see Tara win that and, you know, and to have that success, one of our athletes winning a gold medal, and then Eric finally getting awarded, like you said, as he should have been. And we're going to honor Coach Rovelto as well at the KU game. So we're going to bring him back and certainly celebrate those successes. And then really just excited about, you know, the focus on track right now, track and field. It's a great time of year. I think we've got a great new staff, and a lot of it's on the backs of Cliff and what he and his staff have accomplished here over the years.
BS:Â Travis was announced, obviously, as the new head coach, and his assistant coaches got to meet the fans here just the other day. Great staff. What excited you the most about having Travis?
GT:Â You know, I think it's the energy that he brought. He sees what we've done, both at the indoor facility and obviously he thinks it's a great training opportunity. His connections, his success at Arkansas as an associate head coach, his understanding of the track world, and bringing that type of staff together. His vision was very clear when we had a chance to interview with him, and once we got a chance to sit down with him and really start talking through what he saw for our track program, it was pretty energizing. And he certainly brings that energy every time I've seen him so far. So that's going to be good for us.
BS: I noticed that we had an all-staff meal the other night, and he was bouncing around the room talking to everybody. High-energy guy.
GT: As is his staff. They are the same way.
BS:Â It's really great to see them, meet them, and get to know them as part of the K-State family. Sports are continuing here this weekend, and everybody's getting started. Football, obviously, but volleyball is on the road. A big season is expected for Jason Mansfield's club. Soccer's got some home matches this week, and cross country kicks off. I know people are also excited about Morgan Family Arena this year.
GT:Â Yeah, you know, I think, again, this time of year is such a fun time because there's just so much excitement. Obviously, football seems to be the most focused on. But boy, I tell you what, when you talk about volleyball and the excitement for volleyball coming off of last year, and, you know, soccer again, having a home game already, they've got a great season potentially ahead of them. So there's just a lot of energy. And I think Jason's got a couple of matches this weekend that are going to find out how good they really are. And I think, I think he thinks they can be very, very good. And I think the team feels they can be very, very good. So, a lot of excitement. And, you know, I have tried to be as conservative as I can in my outlook, but there's a lot of energy right now behind our program.
BS:Â No doubt about it. No doubt about it. And of course, keep those tickets. There are still tickets available, even though we're sold out for football here in the next few home games. There are SRO tickets still available. Come be a part of the fun and excitement at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Just don't bring your cash. Bring your credit card.
GT:Â That's right.
BS:Â Gene, thanks for the time. Appreciate it.
GT:Â Thank you very much.
BS:Â We'll catch you next month for the next edition of Ask the AD.