Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor has agreed to a contract extension with the school until 2029-30, President Richard Linton and K-State Athletics announced today.
The extension ends on June 30, 2030, and pays Taylor a $925,000 salary starting in 2023-24 and will receive $250,000 at the end of each of the next four years. The number will increase to $500,000 annually for the final three years of the contract according to K-State Athletics.
“K-State is fortunate to have one of the nation’s premier athletic directors in Gene Taylor,” Linton said to K-State Athletics. “Gene leads with a quiet confidence and steadfast belief in our student-athletes and the coaching staffs who support them — and he has been instrumental in growing our facilities and programs into what they are today. I am thrilled that Gene will continue to lead our athletics program through the end of the Next-Gen K-State strategic plan in 2030.”
The school athletic emergence in the past few years occurred under Taylor. His hire of football head coach Chris Klieman led to a Big 12 title and a Sugar Bowl appearance. The most well-known hiring, men’s basketball head coach Jerome Tang, resulted in an Elite Eight appearance in his first year. Volleyball head coach Jason Mansfield has led the team to multiple sweeps of Top 25 opponents in his first season at K-State. Women’s golf also won its first tournament since 2019 under new head coach Stew Burke.
Taylor’s 2022-23 success had him named the NACADA Athletic Director of the Year as he continues to build the athletic program further.
“There is no other place our family would rather be than Manhattan and K-State,” Taylor said. “I appreciate President Linton, the KSA Board and the Kansas Board of Regents for their continued trust in me leading such a phenomenal athletics program. We have the best fans and donors in the country and a group of coaches, staff and student-athletes who are committed to competing for championships, and I am looking forward to the years ahead as we continue to elevate our program.”
