Currie's eight-month tenure as Tennesse AD ended with public criticism over a football coaching searchGETTY IMAGES
Former Kansas State and Tennessee AD John Currie "will succeed" retiring Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman, effective May 1, according to a front-page piece by Conor O'Neill of the WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL. The 70-year-old Wellman is in his 27th year as Wake Forest AD, and between his tenure and that of Gene Hooks, Currie will be only the third man in that role since '64. Wellman, who was named SBJ's AD of the Year in '08, will "retire as the longest-tenured" AD in the country. Currie, a '93 Wake Forest graduate, was Kansas State AD for eight years before going to Tennessee to become AD in April '17. But that "amounted to an eight-month tenure that ended with a football coaching search that played out in public view over a span that lasted less than a week." For the past 15 months, Currie has "taught a masters-level sports administration class" at Columbia Univ. (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 3/4). In Greensboro, Ed Hardin writes Currie "understands the culture at Wake Forest and the ACC and where the school fits in the national picture." Wake Forest is "among the smallest schools competing" in D-I athletics, and competing in revenue sports has "always been the biggest test." Wellman built Wake Forest into a "model for competing nationally while maintaining academic standards." But Wake Forest men's basketball has not had a winning record in the ACC since '10, and Currie will be "facing a smoldering fan base that wants basketball success now, not later" (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 3/4).
WON'T SOON BE FORGOTTEN: In Raleigh, Luke DeCock notes Wellman in the last few years "has put just about every program on campus on solid footing despite the painful struggles in men’s basketball, with new facilities for football, basketball, baseball and other sports; an energized core donor base; the stabilization of the football team under Dave Clawson; and non-revenue powerhouses continuing to challenge for NCAA titles in golf, tennis, soccer and field hockey." Wake Forest is "seeing the benefits of 27 years of Wellman’s careful, considerate leadership" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 3/4). THE ATHLETIC's David Glenn cited a source as saying that the "timing is right" for Wellman to step down. The source said, "Ron has done amazing things for this university, in many ways, and his track record over almost three decades deserves a tremendous amount of respect." Glenn wrote Wellman led Wake Forest to some "amazing athletic heights." At times, Wellman was "lauded around the country as one of the best in his profession." In the '06-07 academic year, Wake Forest finished No. 23 in the all-sports Directors Cup, a "phenomenal accomplishment for a school with one of the smallest athletic department budgets in any of the major conferences" (THEATHLETIC.com, 3/2).
