John Currie’s apprenticeship at Tennessee has paid off. He will be the next athletic director at Kansas State University.
Currie, men’s executive associate athletic director, has been AD Mike Hamilton’s top aide for the past several years.
A press conference will be held Monday at Kansas State to introduce Currie as the successor to Bob Krause, who resigned March 31 after less than a year on the job.
“My wife and I are tremendously excited to be joining the Kansas State family,’’ Currie said Thursday night.
“And we are unbelievably grateful to the Tennessee family for all that we’ve been able to be a part of the past 10 years.’’
Currie, a 1993 graduate of Wake Forest, came to UT in 1997. He returned to Wake Forest for two years, then came back to UT in 2000. He helps supervise development, marketing, ticketing and men’s basketball. He also earned a masters degree in sports management at UT.
He has been a finalist for AD positions at Duke, Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee State.
Incoming Kansas State president Kirk Schulz, like Currie, has SEC ties. Schulz was at Mississippi State before being tabbed to take over at Kansas State.
Other AD candidates who were mentioned at various times are Mark Boehm, executive associate AD at Nebraska, and Jeff Schemmel, athletic director at San Diego State. Both are KSU alumni.
Krause had replaced Tim Weiser, who resigned in early 2008 to join the Big 12 office.
The campus in Manhattan, Kan., has 23,000 students and competes in the Big 12 North Division.
The school recently brought 69-year-old Bill Snyder out of retirement for a second term as football coach. The Wildcats went 5-7 last year under Ron Prince, who was fired.
Men’s basketball went 22-12 under Frank Martin and played in the NIT. Women’s basketball finished 25-8 and went out in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
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Comments » 15
vol_chaz writes:
Ok, i'll say it.. Perhaps a spot just opened for big phil
UTandETSUfan writes:
Maybe FCS, but I don't see any Bowl Subdivision team willing to give a 60-some year old washed up coach a second chance.
givehim6 writes:
So if UT and K ST. were to play in a bowl game who would Curie pull for?
newtonrail writes:
No, aside from all the obvious reasons, why he wouldn't; these are " Bean Counter" jobs. Especially, Currie's job was.
rockytopfrog writes:
He's an arse. Good riddance.
Go Vols!
powert#205805 writes:
You are correct sir!
Glad they have him and we are rid of him.
He was one of those people that would have a tough time finding someone to urinate on him if he caught fire.
CoverOrange writes:
Marie. It would be radiating!
BhamVol writes:
I'm sure it would be KSU. He is not a Tennessee guy. It was just a job along the way to his next stop, which appears to be the middle of nowhere, aka Manhatten, Kansas.
Goodbye and don't let the door hit you on the way out.
I hope Hamilton can find a UT guy to fill this position and some outside interloper.
GO VOLS!
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
We may be "in the middle of nowhere", but we will be a serious contender in women and men's basketball this year and in football in the next few years now that we have Snyder back...as long as he doesn't have a heart attack on the field. Still pulling for the Lady Vols...
Volunatic writes:
Congratulations, Mr. Currie. Best of luck to you in your new position (except, of course, when K State plays the Vols in anything).
Volunatic writes:
I've been through Manhattan, KS. It seemed like a pretty nice college town.
I don't understand the vitriol toward the guy-- he is taking a big promotion in his career field. If K-State were to offer more than UT is paying, Mike Hamilton (another non-UT guy) would have jumped at the chance, also.
NeylandWest writes:
I met John and his wife a year or so ago and while I don't know him personally, I did get a chance to speak with him at length. He was a class act and a great guy.
Best of luck, John!!!
Volunatic writes:
Schnellenberger has a job in Division 1A er... I mean "FBS" (FAU). He's older than Phil. Same goes for George O'Leary (UCF).
Yes, that probably means Phil would be stuck with a Sun Belt gig, but if it was one of the florida or Louisiana Sun Belt schools, a good recruiter like Fulmer could do pretty well, and certainly by the standards that those Sun Belt schools expect.
dma38256#264746 writes:
Funny how anyone who leaves UT becomes an automatic "arse."
Volunatic writes:
Kind of sad, really. It's a promotion-- he can't be faulted for accepting a promotion, at least not by a reasonable person.
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