photo by: Courtesy photo

A contributed photo of Dr. Bernie Kish, who was a lecturer in Sport Management in the School of Education at the University of Kansas for 15 years. After this semester was complete, Kish announced that he was going to retire from KU.

Bernie Kish may not be a coach or an athletic director, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been a fixture in the University of Kansas’ sports culture over the past decade and a half.

For the last 15 years, Kish has been a sports management lecturer, and some of the students he’s mentored now work with pro sports teams. He’s taught many Kansas student-athletes and was close with many of the school’s coaches.

And on Dec. 14, he decided to call it a career — announcing his retirement via the KU Sports Management Twitter account — and got plenty of well-wishes from his friends and former students.

“If there is a better college town in America, I don’t know what it is,” Kish said. “The atmosphere that the chancellors have created here at KU, the three chancellors that I served under, they just set a tone that you want to come to work every day. It is like it isn’t work.”

Since his announcement, Kish has received plenty of emails, phone calls and texts from those who had the opportunity to learn from him. Justin Stucky, who is now a scout for the Dallas Cowboys, thanked him for being a great mentor, as did Heath Peterson, the president of the KU Alumni Association, and Megan Mackey, who is the senior manager of corporate partnerships with the Kansas City Royals.

“I’ve been humbled and overwhelmed by the number of notes and cards that I’ve received from my students that I’ve had for the last 15 years,” Kish said. “It’s been very humbling, but also very gratifying.”

Kish said he prides himself on his strong relationships with his students. He makes a point to meet with every student each semester to get a better understanding of their goals and who they are, and he devotes some time during the last class of each semester to give students some advice for their futures. (This fall, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kish put together a seven-minute speech on video that he sent to his students.)

“Eddie Robinson, the great Grambling coach, said, ‘I don’t think you can be a great coach unless you love them,'” Kish said. “I don’t think you can be a good teacher unless you truly care about your students.”

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Teaching has always been Kish’s dream, but he took a much longer route to get there than most educators. And that path included a stint in the military that was longer than the time he spent lecturing at KU.

Kish had a lengthy career as a U.S. Army officer. He spent over 29 years in the military, eventually rising to the rank of full colonel, and he did tours in Vietnam, Cambodia and West Germany.

“I went into the Army thinking I was going to coach and teach after my three years (were up),” Kish said. “I really enjoyed my time in the military, and my closest friends are still (people) that I served with.”

When Kish’s military career ended, then-KU Athletic Director Bob Frederick recruited him to work in the university’s athletic department from 1992 until 1995. Kish credits a lot of his success at KU to Frederick’s help.

“The reason for it is the late Dr. Frederick,” Kish said. “I owe everything to that man. I don’t think we’ve ever had a better athletic director. He was highly respected and a coaches’ AD. He was just a wonderful, wonderful man.”

Kish then went to South Bend, Ind., to serve as the first executive director of the College Football Hall of Fame. But when he got the opportunity to teach at KU in 2005, he jumped at the chance to return to Lawrence.

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As one might expect from someone who’s taught many KU student-athletes, Kish is an avid supporter of KU Athletics. He’s become close with the coaching staff for the KU swim and dive team, the volleyball program and the baseball squad, but his favorite memory involving KU sports involves former football coach Mark Mangino.

In 2008, when the Kansas football team defeated Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium, Kish wasn’t able to make the trip, but he made sure to greet the team when they returned to Lawrence. Mangino was the first one off the bus, and he exchanged a few words with Kish about the game.

“He said, ‘You like that, Bernie?'” Kish said. “I said, ‘Yes I sure did, Coach.'”

Kish also said he was “delighted” to watch the Kansas volleyball team make a trip to the Final Four in 2015.

But his fondest memories at KU over the last decade-plus have usually involved his students. Kish has won some accolades for his teaching, including the KU H.O.P.E. (Honor for the Outstanding Progressive Educator) Award in 2012.

“Coaches win championships because they have great players, ” Kish said. “I think professors win teaching awards because they have had terrific students.”