Forrest Gene Taylor (born July 22, 1957) is an American university sports administrator, currently serving as the athletic director at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, serving since May 2017. Prior to his current position, Taylor served as the deputy athletics director at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

from 2014 to 2017, and was the athletics director at North Dakota State University from 2001 to 2014.

Career

Early career

Born in

Safford, Arizona Safford (Western Apache: Ichʼįʼ Nahiłtį́į́) is a city in Graham County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 10,129. The city is the county seat of Graham County. Safford is the principal ...

, Taylor graduated from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

in business in 1980 and completed his master's degree from St. Thomas University in 1985. After graduating from Arizona State, Taylor worked in restaurants while completing his master's degree. During the 1985–86 school year, Taylor served at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

working in the ticket office. For the next 15 years, Taylor would serve in various roles, including associate athletics director, at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

from 1986 to 2001.

North Dakota State

In the summer of 2001, Taylor began his first full-time gig as an athletics director at North Dakota State. During his tenure at North Dakota State, Taylor more than tripled the department's budget, as well as helped the university transition from an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

school to an NCAA Division I FCS school. Taylor also hired several successful coaches who have moved on to larger NCAA Division I schools: football coach

Craig Bohl Craig Philip Bohl (born July 27, 1958) is an American college football coach and former player, currently the head football coach at the University of Wyoming. He was previously the head coach at North Dakota State University in Fargo from 2003 ...

(2011–2013 FCS national champions) who is now at

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, and basketball coaches

Tim Miles Timothy Sean Miles (born August 20, 1966) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the San Jose State Spartans men's basketball team. Miles previously served as the head coach of North Dakota State University, Colo ...

(now at San Jose State) and Saul Phillips (now at Northern State). Taylor left for the University of Iowa to become the deputy athletic director in 2014. In 2008 and 2012, Taylor was awarded the FCS Central Region Athletic Director of the Year.

Kansas State

In April 2017, Taylor was hired as the new athletics director at

, replacing John Currie. During his first year-and-a-half at K-State, Taylor unveiled a new master plan for the athletics department, as well hired Pete Hughes as the head

baseball coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisi ...

, and Chris Klieman as head football coach, replacing

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...

. He currently serves on the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

Selection committee.

Personal life

Taylor is married to his wife, Cathy, and has two children.

References

External links

Kansas State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Gene Living people 1957 births Arizona State University alumni Kansas State Wildcats athletic directors North Dakota State Bison athletic directors St. Thomas University (Florida) alumni Sportspeople from Arizona