Wake Forest is set to hire John Currie as athletic director, replacing longtime AD Ron Wellman, who is retiring, sources confirmed to ESPN.
The Athletic first reported the athletic director change. An official announcement is expected later Sunday.
Currie, a Wake Forest alumnus, served as athletic director at Kansas State from 2009 to 2017 and then at Tennessee until he was let go in December 2017 amid a controversial football coaching search. Tennessee was set to hire Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano as coach but reversed course following a backlash from fans. Tennessee paid Currie $2.5 million as part of a separation agreement reached in March 2018.
Wellman is the ACC’s longest-tenured athletic director, leading Wake Forest’s department since October 1992. Currie began his administrative career as an assistant athletic director under Wellman at Wake Forest. He then spent 12 years in Tennessee’s athletic department before taking the top job at Kansas State.
Currie spent the past year as a consultant and taught in Columbia University’s sport management program. He inherits a Wake Forest program that has had recent success in football (three consecutive bowl wins) but has slipped in men’s basketball (one NCAA tournament appearance since 2010).