Inside Ed Kull’s strategy and mindset as he looks to lead St. John’s athletic resurgence

Ed Kull is all smiles as he returns to St. John’s Tuesday, officially introduced as Red Storm athletic director. (Photo by Jaden Daly/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — Ed Kull walked into a department with an antiquated school of thought four years ago when he returned to the world of college athletics as the athletic director at Fordham, a university heralded for its national reputation and New York location, but seemingly unable to get out of its own way administratively.

In four short years, Kull did Herculean work at Rose Hill, revolutionizing the long-moribund Fordham athletic program with a fresh, modern thought process and commitment to overcome a handicap. His hires of Kyle Neptune and Keith Urgo, the latter of whom guided the Rams to their first 20-win season in over three decades, and tireless fundraising — Kull generated $7.6 million in the previous fiscal year alone — brought Fordham back into conversations it would traditionally be laughed out of.

Kull is now tasked with doing something similar on the other side of the Whitestone Bridge, introduced Tuesday as the next athletic director at St. John’s, where his career began in 2003 as a graduate assistant, resumed once more in 2011 after a detour outside the industry, and now begins anew in a time where the landscape of college athletics is as fluid as ever before.

As for the man who awakened the proverbial sleeping giant when he replaced David Roach at Fordham in 2020? That experience gives him a unique perspective as he embarks upon his newest challenge.

“It definitely opened my eyes in terms of strategy, approach, and the ability of what’s possible,” Kull said of his tenure in the Bronx. “There was always this feeling that it could not be done at Fordham, right? They’re not serious about basketball, they can’t win there, the gym question came up frequently in terms of us playing in that facility. It just makes me bullish on this stock and bullish on this opportunity, in terms of what these basketball programs can mean to this university. And that’s not lip service. That’s truly a strategy and approach, and a direct commitment that needs to take place here.”

Perhaps it is fitting that St. John’s, in some instances, is essentially a larger version of the canvas on which Fordham operates. On the big-picture level, both are Catholic institutions with similar faith-rooted ideologies and mindsets. But a look under the microscope reveals St. John’s has the same issues of facility criticisms — the state of Carnesecca Arena is a frequent concern among fans and boosters — and particularly, a dormant alumni base stuck in the past with no desire to adapt to the current state of affairs. Hiring Kull, a reputed people person with a knack for engaging anyone and everyone with his affability and devotion to getting things done, will help on that front. And in light of the recent House settlement on NIL and whatever guidelines may soon ensue with regard to student-athlete compensation, the need to become more profitable becomes even more urgent.

“There’s no way around it,” Kull conceded, not avoiding the elephant in the room. “The statement has always been, ‘we need to raise more money, we need to sell more tickets.’ We need to do more fundraising, more than ever. With the House settlement, the revenue sharing, that investment in athletics is going to grow more and more, no matter what level it ends up being, no matter what the judge ends up ruling on. Revenue generation’s going to be everything, and how do we be creative in terms of additional sponsorships, branding opportunities? I don’t see NIL going away, even with the House settlement.”

And in setting up a point of attack, the first thing that is needed is a realistic plan to combat the deficits St. John’s currently faces. Kull’s addition to a leadership front that already has Rev. Brian Shanley’s commitment and Rick Pitino’s motivation to win big one more time at the highest level driving it checks another box, but the need to think outside of the norm becomes a requirement across the board.

“People will give and donate to something they believe in,” Kull discussed. “They’ll see a return on investment with people that they can trust and have passion for. That’s the alignment here, top to bottom. St. John’s is serious, they’re committed, and that’s going to generate more interest with donors.”

“I think the non-traditional approach and the business mindset is everything right now in terms of opportunities, whether that be NIL, selling sponsorships, branding opportunities, licensing, social media use or different things digitally. We’ve gotta be as creative and outside the box as possible, and I think that’s not just a St. John’s thing, that’s the entire NCAA and all colleges right now in terms of how they prepare for the future. Are they in, or are they going to be out?”

Kull spoke openly of how much St. John’s paved the road for his career, and his longstanding connections to university powerbrokers will help him, in his own words, hit the ground running. If his experience at Fordham could be summarized in a single bullet on his resume, it would be refueling the flame to do spearhead a similar transformation in Queens.

“Anybody who’s either been an alum or a fan of St. John’s, or worked here, there’s always been this feeling of unfulfilled potential,” Kull proposed. “The time is right. I couldn’t be more inspired and motivated to come back to my alma mater and help lead through the challenges of what the future of the NCAA’s going to be. Now is the time, and now we make sure we’re maximizing and bringing St. John’s to its full potential.”

Ed Kull’s return further signifies St. John’s renewed commitment to athletic success

Ed Kull, twice a former St. John’s employee both in and out of athletics, has returned a third time, replacing Mike Cragg as Red Storm’s athletic director. (Photo by Fordham University Athletics)

When St. John’s announced its need for an athletic director after sacking Mike Cragg three months ago, one name stood head and shoulders above the candidate pool.

Ed Kull had the inside track from his two previous stints at St. John’s, one in the athletic marketing office before returning years later to work in institutional advancement, but the Middle Village native’s candidacy was bolstered more by the actions on his resume than the names of his employers. A natural fundraiser with an unparalleled sense of business savvy and exceptional people skills, Kull’s impending hire was seen more as a question of when it would be consummated, rather than the if that has seemed to plague the corner of Union and Utopia in recent decades.

Wednesday marked a second homecoming for Kull, who was reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel to have accepted St. John’s offer to make him the Red Storm’s next athletic director. The hire reaffirms the university’s long-dormant competitive fire and commitment to winning on and off the playing surface, a flame stoked and rekindled three years ago when Rev. Brian Shanley was hired as president, bringing with him a reputation of not only caring about college athletics, but ensuring its prominence on campus and devoting whatever resources were necessary for success.

Shanley’s first major act came 18 months ago, when he acted almost unilaterally to hire Rick Pitino as men’s basketball coach after Mike Anderson was fired. His second comes this week with the hire of Kull, whose four-year tenure at Fordham transcended expectations and instilled belief in a moribund department. Kull will now look to do the same in a landscape where his institutional knowledge will be key to helping an operation long viewed as a mom-and-pop store finally get with the times and take its rightful place at an ever-changing table.

At only 43 years old, Kull brings an infusion of youth to a staid outfit that had been complacent on several fronts, and with it the requirement of thinking outside the box to get things done. He also brings an enthusiasm to grow his new department and not look at it as a stepping stone to something greater. His ubiquitous presence at athletic events and on social media will also bolster a department that has struggled with its branding and promotion in recent years.

At Fordham, Kull spearheaded fundraising in excess of $10 million for student-athletes, a figure that becomes bolder when one remembers Fordham had never invested that heavily in athletics under either of his predecessors, Dave Roach or Frank McLaughlin. Perhaps Kull’s most revered skill is his knack for negotiating corporate sponsorships, an asset honed when working under Mike Repole — more on him later — at Vitamin Water after he left St. John’s for the first time in the late 2000s. It was Kull who was responsible for the marketing of Vitamin Water and Powerade before his return to the university spectrum, where he then inked St. John’s contract with Under Armour and orchestrated a similar agreement between Fordham and Nike three years ago. And as a former student-athlete himself, a catcher on Stony Brook’s baseball team two decades ago, Kull better than anyone knows the pressure and tight balancing act that comes with managing sports and the classroom, and will work to make sure academic advisement and whatever other necessary amenities the players he now oversees need will be tended to in short order.

Finally, there is his relationship with Mike Repole, the primary benefactor among St. John’s booster base, the thoroughbred owner who essentially bankrolls the university’s NIL war chest, which Kull himself will also enhance through his own connections and willingness to engage powerbrokers and lead by example where others in his position appeared in over their heads. Kull and Repole have a longstanding personal and professional relationship, so the famous scorched earth interview the latter gave to Mike Francesa in 2019, where Repole expressed his distaste for what his alma mater had become, will likely not be revisited. However, one comment Repole made in that WFAN back-and-forth does bear repeating.

“At the end of the day,” Repole told Francesa five years ago when referencing the men’s basketball program, “this sport is the front porch of your house. We have a pretty ugly front porch right now. The inside of the house probably looks like crap.”

Since then, the remodeling and renovations have been extensive. Shanley was the first major improvement, and his take-charge leadership ultimately led to Pitino taking over the position once held by Lou Carnesecca, inspiring fans young and old to once again dream big with a program that once stood toe to toe with the titans of the sport. Today, Ed Kull’s tenure as athletic director will take the dinosaurs still stuck in 1985 and bring them back to life, with the confidence and swagger to be steadfast in their convictions and the expectation of being victorious in each of their endeavors.

Ironically, “expect to win” had been a slogan of the Mike Cragg era, sometimes mocked and largely dismissed. At St. John’s today, it now becomes a way of life.