NDSU AD Taylor passed over for Kent St. gig

FARGO — North Dakota State athletic director Gene Taylor traveled to Bismarck on Wednesday – not Kent, Ohio.

Taylor was one of three finalists for the athletic director position at Kent State, but the school apparently went a different direction. Taylor, meanwhile, was on a bus as part of the athletic department’s annual “Bison Caravan.”

“That should tell you something,” Taylor said. “They have somebody on campus and I’m in Fargo.”

Taylor said he interviewed last week with school president Lester Lefton and he said the process went well. The attraction to Kent State, he said, is it’s a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision school that plays in the Mid-American Conference and the location is closer to family.

The Golden Flashes won the MAC regular-season men’s basketball title.

Taylor said two people recommended him for the position. He was not offered the position.

“When people recommend you for certain things, you always take a look at it,” Taylor said. “It’s a very solid program.”

The job will apparently go to University of South Dakota athletic director Joel Nielsen, who is expected to be named in a news conference this morning.

The other finalist was Tennessee Tech athletic director Mark Wilson. The position opened when Laing Kennedy announced his retirement effective June 30.

Lefton told the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper in December that the athletic director will have to know “the ins and outs” of college finances and cost containment measures.

“We’re a mid-major, we understand that,” he said. “But I also think this is a fantastic job. This is a plum. We are going to get great candidates.”

Taylor has been at NDSU since 2001. He previously was an assistant athletic director at Navy.

“It’s not like I’m unhappy here,” he said.

— Jeff Kolpack

Tags: college sports, sports, ndsu, taylor