Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman is set to retire, John Currie to be his replacement

According to a report from David Glenn, Wake Forest athletics director Ron Wellman is set to retire. After 27 years at Wake Forest, Wellman will be replaced by Wake Forest alum John Currie. The decision will be announced soon at a press conference — perhaps as soon as Monday, per Les Johns.

Currie has been the director of athletics at two other Power Five programs: Kansas State (2009-17) and Tennessee (2017). He will become the sixth athletics director in Wake Forest history.

Wellman arrived at Wake Forest in 1992 — when he replaced Gene Hooks, who served in that role for nearly 30 years (1964-92). Currie was actually in undergrad at Wake Forest when Wellman was hired; up graduation in 1993, he worked for both the Deacon Club and went on to become the assistant athletic director at Wake Forest.

After his initial stint at Wake Forest, Currie left for Tennessee in 1997. In Knoxville, Currie served a variety of athletic administrative rules — until 2009 when he was hired to be Kansas State’s AD.

In February of 2017, he left Manhattan to return to Tennessee. His return trip to Knoxville was short lived, though. Currie spent less than one calendar year as Tennessee’s AD; after a sputtering coaching search to replace Butch Jones, Currie and the university decided to part ways.

 

More on Ron Wellman

Under Wellman’s guidance, Wake Forest saw several impactful hires in Winston-Salem, including the legendary Skip Prosser, Jim Grobe and Dave Clawson. Wellman is, for now at least, the longest-tenured director of athletics in the country.

With Grobe and Wellman, Wake Forest football achieved seemingly unbelievable heights — winning the ACC in 2006 and playing in the 2007 Orange Bowl.

In 2007-08, Wellman was named by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal as the Athletic Director of the year.