Kansas State University Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Director of Athletics
- Phone:
- (785) 532-6910
The last three years could go down as one of the most successful periods in K-State Athletics history as Gene Taylor’s program has taken the college athletics world by storm. Team championships, individual titles, postseason runs, record crowds, continued academic success and new facility enhancements have all been the cornerstone of recent Wildcat success.
This past year, Chris Klieman’s football team won nine games and were Rate Bowl champions, the women’s basketball team garnered another Top 10 ranking and trip to the Sweet 16 under Jeff Mittie, while Pete Hughes and the baseball squad advanced to its second straight NCAA Regional. On the golf course, Stew Burke’s women’s squad advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history and were led by All-American Carla Bernat, who also won the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur title, and Big 12 individual champion Sophie Bert. Two new coaches began leading their respective programs in 2024-25 as Travis Geopfert took over the track and field/cross country program and Colleen Corbin in women’s soccer.
The 2023-24 campaign was highlighted by a Super Regional berth for baseball, just the second time in program history that the Cats have won a regional and advanced to the supers, a Pop Tarts Bowl win for the football team and a women’s basketball season that saw the Wildcats rise to as high as No. 3 in the national rankings before hosting the 2024 NCAA First and Second rounds in Manhattan. Jason Mansfield’s first season leading the volleyball program included record crowds in the new Morgan Family Arena and numerous wins over Top 10 opponents.
That all came on the heels of Klieman’s football team winning the 2022 Big 12 Championship and playing in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and Big 12 Coach of the Year Jerome Tang and his men’s basketball squad making a remarkable run to the Elite Eight following a preseason poll that picked the Wildcats to finish last in the league. Both coaches were hired at K-State by Taylor, who was also named the 2022-23 Cushman & Wakefield FBS AD of the Year following a record year.
A former member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and current member of the LEAD1 Board of Directors, Taylor was named the Director of Athletics at K-State in April 2017. During his tenure K-State has seen the football program qualify for six bowls and win the 2022 Big 12 Championship, the men’s basketball team win a Big 12 Championship, earn an Elite 8 appearance and advance to two NCAA tournaments, the baseball team win the Fayetteville Regional and the women’s track and field team win back-to-back Big 12 Outdoor championships.
Additionally, Taylor and his staff have fundraised and implemented a department-wide facility master plan that benefits all Wildcat teams including the newly completed Indoor Track and Field Complex, the Morgan Family Arena for volleyball, Morris Family Olympic Training Center and the Shamrock Practice Facility for football.
Taylor, who was named the eighth-best Athletic Director among FBS programs by Stadium in 2020, has implemented a strategic plan for the department which places an emphasis on the student-athlete experience, while his leadership in navigating the COVID-19 crisis, in addition to enhancing the department’s already-strong diversity and inclusion program, has been well documented.
With the support of fans and donors, K-State Athletics has also continued to be financially self-sufficient and does not receive support from the university. In FY 2019, a year earlier than anticipated, the program ended the practice of receiving student privilege fees in support of the program. This move makes Taylor’s program one of eight across the country to operate with no direct or indirect university and student funding or state support.
K-State Nation continues to support the athletics program in unprecedented fashion as overall pledges and cash gifts to the department during the 2024 fiscal year totaled $36.9 million, of which $26.1 million was designated for the Ahearn Fund annual giving program. Included in the $26.1 million in annual giving was a department record $1.1 million raised during the Powercat Auction.
Hiring and retaining top coaches is also a critical function of the program. Taylor hired Klieman to replace hall of fame coach Bill Snyder after winning four national titles in five seasons at North Dakota State, and in year four led the Wildcats to a Big 12 Championship. Taylor also hired Tang to lead the men’s basketball program, Jordan Smith to take over the tennis program and Hughes in baseball, who took the Wildcats to just their second Super Regional in school history. Mansfield had a banner first year on the volleyball court as record crowds saw his squad knock off three Top 10 opponents at home. Burke, in his first season in 2023-24, catapulted the women’s golf program up the national ranks and narrowly missed on qualifying as a team for the NCAA Tournament in year one.
Graduating student-athletes remains the top priority for the department and academic success has continued under Taylor’s guidance as K-State continues to rank among the top schools in the Big 12 in APR and graduation success rate.
Taylor is a 1980 business management graduate of Arizona State, and he received his master’s degree in sports administration in 1985 from St. Thomas University in Florida. He worked in the ticket office at Southern Methodist University in 1985-86 before joining the Naval Academy. His tenure at Navy included serving as the commissioner of the five-team Collegiate Sprint Football League that includes Army, Navy, Penn, Princeton and Cornell. He served 13 years as Athletics Director at North Dakota State before being named Deputy AD at Iowa in 2014.
Taylor and his wife, Cathy, have a daughter, Casey, and a son, Jared.
