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New command: K-State A.D. makes visit to southwest Kansas
Published 8/25/2009 in Sports
By MIKE KESSINGER
He leaned forward in the soft chair and grasped his hands together. After a few seconds, unable to sit still for long, he rubbed his eyes.
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram — Kansas State University Athletic Director John Currie, left, chats with KSU Alumni Association treasurer Charlie Claar on Monday night at the Clarion Inn.
The red below his eyes gave a sense of what his day had been like. New Kansas State University Director of Athletics John Currie sat in the hallway next to the hotel entrance of the Clarion Inn around 5:30 p.m. Monday and rested for a short while. His day started in Pratt with breakfast at 7 a.m. He then made a visit with a group of Kansas State athletic supporters. From there, his southwest Kansas tour took him and assistant athletic director Lon Floyd (who also coordinates Catbacker events) to Dodge City, Montezuma, Holcomb and finally Garden City. He checked his Blackberry just to make sure that was the schedule they had followed. His final social event of the day with Wildcat supporters was in the new addition of Samy's Spirits and Steakhouse. The purpose of Currie's appearance in each town was to make an appreciation visit to K-State fans in Southwest Kansas and give them a chance to ask him questions in person.
"There are many K-State fans out this way who travel to Manhattan for several athletic events, and it just seems like the least I could do by coming out here and seeing them," Currie said with a smile as he stood up to go prepare for one more meeting with fans.
Hired as the school's 15th Director of Athletics on May 18, Currie started his new job June 8. He came to K-State via the University of Tennessee where he was the Executive Assistant Athletic Director. His responsibility included the management of units that annually produced $84 million in revenue and gifts for the university. He was also in charge of the athletic department's fund-raising, marketing, ticketing, media relations, public relations, Internet and broadcasting offices. Currie led Tennessee's search committee for a new basketball coach in 2005 that concluded with the hiring of Bruce Pearl, who has led the Volunteers to four straight NCAA tournament appearances.
Born and raised in Chapel Hill, N.C., Currie, 38, graduated from Wake Forest in 1993, and received his Masters degree in Sports Management at Tennessee in 2003. The Wildcats head of the athletic department compares Chapel Hill to his new home Manhattan.
"It's really neat," Currie said of Manhattan. "My daughter, she's six years old, and she was riding her scooter down the street the other day and she pulled into the driveway and said 'Daddy, I want to live here forever.' There's just something about the vibe in Manhattan. It's such an easy town for a family."
Since his arrival at K-State, Currie has had his hands full with athletic preparation, Catbacker events, and plenty of unconventional dealings such as the university's current battle with former head football coach Ron Prince. Fired in November while leading the Wildcats to their second straight losing record in his three years, Prince is asking for a $3.2 million buyout he signed with then athletic director Bob Krause. K-State has countered by insisting the proper people, including school lawyers, had not been involved in the buyout process they say Krause went ahead and signed without them knowing.
"The situation with the former football coach has obviously been in the press for quite some time," Currie said. "I can't really comment, legally, on some of the specifics and on-goings. I do want to assure our fans that we're working aggressively to protect the university in that regard."
Before Currie arrived to Manhattan, the university had been working on a large fund-raising project that would help build some of K-State's athletic facilities, including Bill Snyder Family Stadium and Bramlage Coliseum. One of the main features to Currie's resume was how well he has worked in fund-raising. With the legal proceeding K-State is going through with Prince and a few other setbacks, Currie has slowed the improvement projects for now. But he insists the university is ready to move forward. As he has gone around Kansas visiting with K-State supporters, Currie said there has been a lot of concern and frustration, but for the most part, he sees everyone ready to move forward.
"In any situation, every university has some problem, and some university has some advantage," Currie said. "In our case at K-State we have a heck of a lot more advantages than disadvantages. There's a lot more accomplishments and a lot more great things in the last 12 months at K-State than bad things. It's just that bad things get a little more attention. So I think our set of circumstances is unique in some ways and some ways it's not. Bottom line, if it wasn't this, it would be something else."
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