Voth's View: Gene Taylor has delivered gift after gift to K-State Athletics

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, I hope Santa delivered your family as many great gifts as Gene Taylor has since he arrived in Manhattan.

Whenever a new hire is made at a place like K-State, questions come in large waves. Is the person a good fit? Could they be doing more now that they are here? Fire this guy, fire that girl, hire this person. A lot of demands come the way of the person in charge of guiding K-State Athletics, but Gene Taylor has done a great job.

Taylor has attacked every problem head-on and found a great solution to said problem. In many cases, he has done more than just address the issues, he has shot by that and delivered gifts to K-State.

The first gift that Taylor delivered to the supporters of K-State was relatability and likability, something that seemed to be missing from John Currie's repertoire. It certainly helped that Taylor's background was being deputy AD at Iowa and the head man at North Dakota State, two midwest schools that have achieved strong athletic success despite being in relatively small communities in the midwest.

And guess what? Fundraising hasn't skipped a beat with Taylor, who has come through and delivered impressive remodels to Tointon Family Stadium, Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Bramlage Coliseum, and Buser Family Park. He also was able to initiate athletics-funded projects for a brand new indoor practice facility for the football team and a dedicated venue for K-State Volleyball.

Taylor also arrived in Manhattan with the growing chance that Bill Snyder's second tenure at K-State would not end as graciously as his first. That was the case in Taylor's first full year on the job after the Wildcats went 5-7 and blew a late lead in Ames to end the season. Recruiting had bottomed out in a big way for the Wildcats and it was time for a change, but how does one go about showing the door to a man who built the program?

Somehow Taylor had the answer, as he was able to make the departure as clean as possible, but also made a difficult decision that was needed. He then followed it up with a hire that at first many people were against. How could Chris Klieman work in the Big 12?

That question has been answered with a guy that knew from the get-go that "football is football," as Klieman has compiled a 30-19 record at K-State and just four years in has won a Big 12 Championship and is getting ready for the Wildcats' first appearance in the rebranded New Year's Six bowl games.

Klieman also just signed the best recruiting class since 2004 for the Wildcats and has at least two players, that he recruited, that will be Ring of Honor players with Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Deuce Vaughn.

Then hit COVID, something that was unrelated to athletics but had a major impact in the finances and the way games got played. Taylor came through during that period, having such a well ran and well-stocked athletic department with money and personnel, that K-State came out of COVID in a much better spot than many others.

Another nod to Taylor's department is that they never had to keep fans out of venues, even if it took reduced capacity.

While COVID was going on, K-State was in the middle of their second straight losing season on the basketball court with Bruce Weber. Weber got one more year, but as fan support continued to shrivel and excuses continued to grow for Weber, Taylor stepped in and sent Weber packing after his loss in the Big 12 Tournament to West Virginia.

It could be argued that the hire Taylor made after Weber, was more important than Klieman after Snyder. Fan support had not dried up in football and there are a lot of bright football minds out there. In basketball though, this program needed a serious shot in the arm, finding a coach that knew how to play the game of college basketball in 2022 but also had the energy to unite a fanbase again.

After some looking into Brad Underwood's situation at Illinois, a move that would have likely done those things mentioned above, Taylor found the right man for the job.

Jerome Tang's hiring as K-State's newest basketball coach was another big move by Taylor. The hire brought in a man that had helped build Baylor from a train wreck to national champion. Tang also had the connections to get an elite staff assembled in Manhattan to not just recruit at a high level for the future, but also get a strong assortment of transfers in to replenish an empty roster that could compete in year one in the Big 12.

K-State Athletics continues to have a bright future because of all the individuals that lead each program at the university, and those that work under them. But the man who made it all happen is Gene Taylor and the gifts he delivered.