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MANHATTAN — Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor admits that he's getting towards the end of his career.
Just how close is that?
"A few more years," Taylor, 68, said. "I have four more years on my contract, and it won't be any longer than that. I'm not gonna ask for an extension or anything."
Taylor's contract runs through June 2030. He's paid a $925,000 base salary, along with a $250,000 retention bonus after this year and $500,000 after each of the following three.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Capital-Journal, Taylor said he wants to leave the Kansas State athletics department in a position for success for his successor.
"I want to make sure it's in a position financially that we're able to do everything that we need to do, particularly in revenue sharing and all those things," Taylor said. "Knock on wood, I hope I won't have to hire another coach in the next few years; I think we're pretty well set on coaches."
Taylor was hired in 2017 after spending 2014-17 as the deputy AD at Iowa, following a lengthy career as North Dakota State's athletic director from 2001-14. Among his career highlights was being named the 2022-23 Cushman and Wakefield FBS AD of the Year after winning a Big 12 championship in football and reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in men's basketball, both of which were achieved by his coaching hires. He's also been lauded for his handling of legendary football coach Bill Snyder's retirement and the hiring of Chris Klieman.
Outside of the pandemic-impacted period in which K-State had little on-field success, the 2025-26 athletics year was as rough a year for Taylor at Kansas State as any he had led before.
K-State football underperformed, finishing 6-6 when it entered the year with Big 12 championship aspirations. When the season ended, Klieman surprised Taylor by saying that he intended to retire. That led to a quick coaching search that resulted in legendary Wildcats quarterback Collin Klein becoming the program's head coach.
Those frustrations proved minimal compared to the year the men's basketball program had, when Jerome Tang's Wildcats started 10-15 overall and 1-11 in Big 12 play. Postgame press conferences became controversial, highlighted by Tang's tirade after K-State's loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11, which ultimately led Taylor to fire the coach midseason for cause.
Kansas State told the Capital-Journal that it couldn't comment on anything Tang-related during this interview. It is believed that Tang and his lawyers are continuing to meet with K-State behind closed doors in pursuit of a settlement, as he has yet to sue the university as of May 21.
Taylor hired former Belmont coach Casey Alexander as Tang's successor once the season ended.
With coaching hirings out of the way, for what Taylor hopes will be the foreseeable future, it's all about money in the ever-changing college athletics landscape.
"It's a little more challenging for a place like Kansas State, in terms of where our revenue comes from," Taylor said. "A lot of these institutions are throwing significant dollars at their athletic programs, and some states are doing the same. We're not in that position right now, so we've got to be creative and find new revenue sources and new opportunities to increase revenue. The university will hopefully step up, and we think they can here this upcoming year.
"But I just want to be able to position ourselves, so when I walk out the door, whoever walks in here feels like I'm not leaving them with a disaster."
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State AD Gene Taylor on his future, what he wants to accomplish
Continue reading...
Just how close is that?
"A few more years," Taylor, 68, said. "I have four more years on my contract, and it won't be any longer than that. I'm not gonna ask for an extension or anything."
Taylor's contract runs through June 2030. He's paid a $925,000 base salary, along with a $250,000 retention bonus after this year and $500,000 after each of the following three.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Capital-Journal, Taylor said he wants to leave the Kansas State athletics department in a position for success for his successor.
"I want to make sure it's in a position financially that we're able to do everything that we need to do, particularly in revenue sharing and all those things," Taylor said. "Knock on wood, I hope I won't have to hire another coach in the next few years; I think we're pretty well set on coaches."
Taylor was hired in 2017 after spending 2014-17 as the deputy AD at Iowa, following a lengthy career as North Dakota State's athletic director from 2001-14. Among his career highlights was being named the 2022-23 Cushman and Wakefield FBS AD of the Year after winning a Big 12 championship in football and reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in men's basketball, both of which were achieved by his coaching hires. He's also been lauded for his handling of legendary football coach Bill Snyder's retirement and the hiring of Chris Klieman.
Outside of the pandemic-impacted period in which K-State had little on-field success, the 2025-26 athletics year was as rough a year for Taylor at Kansas State as any he had led before.
K-State football underperformed, finishing 6-6 when it entered the year with Big 12 championship aspirations. When the season ended, Klieman surprised Taylor by saying that he intended to retire. That led to a quick coaching search that resulted in legendary Wildcats quarterback Collin Klein becoming the program's head coach.
Those frustrations proved minimal compared to the year the men's basketball program had, when Jerome Tang's Wildcats started 10-15 overall and 1-11 in Big 12 play. Postgame press conferences became controversial, highlighted by Tang's tirade after K-State's loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11, which ultimately led Taylor to fire the coach midseason for cause.
Kansas State told the Capital-Journal that it couldn't comment on anything Tang-related during this interview. It is believed that Tang and his lawyers are continuing to meet with K-State behind closed doors in pursuit of a settlement, as he has yet to sue the university as of May 21.
Taylor hired former Belmont coach Casey Alexander as Tang's successor once the season ended.
With coaching hirings out of the way, for what Taylor hopes will be the foreseeable future, it's all about money in the ever-changing college athletics landscape.
"It's a little more challenging for a place like Kansas State, in terms of where our revenue comes from," Taylor said. "A lot of these institutions are throwing significant dollars at their athletic programs, and some states are doing the same. We're not in that position right now, so we've got to be creative and find new revenue sources and new opportunities to increase revenue. The university will hopefully step up, and we think they can here this upcoming year.
"But I just want to be able to position ourselves, so when I walk out the door, whoever walks in here feels like I'm not leaving them with a disaster."
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State AD Gene Taylor on his future, what he wants to accomplish
Continue reading...
