Ken Tyler became the Director of Athletics at West Virginia Wesleyan College in July of 2008. He oversees the largest Athletic Department in the state of West Virginia with over 500 student-athletes and 19 varsity sports.

Highlights of Tyler’s tenure at Wesleyan

• Swept the President’s and Commissioner’s Cups for overall athletic excellence in the WVIAC each year of his tenure.
• Hired coaches in football, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer, volleyball, swimming, tennis, and golf.
• Added the sport of of women’s lacrosse and created the position of Director of Compliance and Academic Services.
• Facility improvements for department offices, stadium, arena, locker rooms, and baseball, softball, and soccer fields. Created a student-athlete lounge and academic support area.
• Created a Strategic Plan for Athletics and crafted Wesleyan’s first-ever Gender Equity Plan. Added three female positions to the department. Added full-time assistant coach positions for team sports.
• Launched a new athletics web site, wesleyanbobcats.com
• The football team improved from 1-10 during Tyler’s first year to 9-2 in 2010 and 2011, including going undefeated at home both seasons.
• The men’s basketball team went from eight wins in 2010 to 19 wins and the NCAA Tournament in 2011, the second biggest turnaround in Division-II.
• A 25-passanger bus with professional driver replaced coach-driven 15-passanger vans.
• Instituted twice yearly mandatory institutional drug-testing for randomly selected student-athletes.  

With Tyler at the helm, Wesleyan has won 22 WVIAC championships. The 2009-2010 athletic season was one of the best in school history, as Wesleyan won a combined 11 regular and postseason WVIAC championships and saw seven teams make NCAA postseason appearances. The 2010-11 season was highlighted by an Elite Eight appearance by the men's soccer team, WVIAC Championships in women's soccer, softball, men's tennis, and men's track, a 9-2 record in football, Wesleyan's second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in men's basketball. The Bobcats finished #76 nationally in the Division II Learfield Director's Cup standings, the best finish in school history and tops in the WVIAC

In 2010-11 Wesleyan finished fifth in the nation in student-athletes recognized on the Academic Honor Roll of the Division II Athletic Directors Association. The Bobcats have also been extremely active in community engagement activities.

Tyler serves on the Division II Athletic Directors Association (ADA) Board of Directors as the WVIAC representative. He is also the Atlantic Region Chair on the Division II National Men's Basketball Committee.

Tyler is one of the youngest Director of Athletics in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  Tyler is currently vice-chair of WVIAC athletic directors and serves as chair of the WVIAC Basketball Tournament Comittee. He arrived at Wesleyan after a seven-year stay at Shepherd University, where he served as Head Men’s Basketball Coach and Assistant Athletic Director.

Prior to his time at Shepherd, Tyler spent six years at Albright (PA) College, serving as the Head Men’s Basketball coach and Assistant Director of Athletics.  He also had one-year stints as assistant men’s basketball coach at East Stroudsburg University(PA), Roanoke (VA) College and the James Madison University under legendary coach "Lefty Driesell" .

During his six year career at Albright, Tyler compiled a record of 87-64, averaging over 17 wins a year over the last four seasons.  At Shepherd, he went 106-93 for an overall career record of 193-157.  In the seven years prior to Tyler’s arrival, Shepherd won a total of 72 games, marking a 34 game improvement under his direction.  Academically, his teams had a 95% graduation rate for seniors. Tyler began his coaching career as a high school coach in Virginia's ultra-competitive Peninsula District, becoming the youngest AAA head coach in the state when he was hired at Gloucester.

Tyler has had several former players and assistants who have gone on to have successful careers in coaching.  The list includes Justin Namolik (Head Coach, Shepherd University), Marcus Kahn (Head Coach, Cabrini College), Andy Burkholder (Assistant Coach, American International College), Gene McAteer (Head Coach, Bridgewater Raritan HS), Tim Redding (Head Coach, Reading HS), Danly Shank (Head Coach, Shalom Christian Academy), Chad Myers (Head Coach, Massanutten Military Academy), Fred Lymous Assistant Coach, Washington Adventist) and Duncan Williams (Assistant Coach, Alderson-Broaddus).

Tyler coached five players who went on to play professionally -- Dwight Davis (South America), Mark Moritz (Cyprus, France), Terence Skyrm (Israel, Germany), Matt Slaninka (China, USBL), and Darren Stackhouse (Germany).

An aggressive and successful fund raiser, Tyler spearheaded a $300,000 campaign to renovate the Butcher Athletic Center at Shepherd and a $500,000 renovation to the Bollman Center at Albright.  Renovations included new seating (chairback), scoreboards, scorer’s tables, lighting, sound systems, and flooring. Tyler also initiated a $1 million project to install Field Turf in Shepherd's Ram Stadium. At Wesleyan, he has launched the Corporate Partner Program, the Letterman's Club, and the Hank Ellis Golf Classic, raising over $75,000 annually for Wesleyan athletics. Tyler was an active board member in the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, serving as campaign chairman from 2006-08 and raising over $3 million.

A native of Jefferson County, he earned a bachelor of arts in history, and a master’s degree in education from The College of William and Mary. He was a guard on the basketball team at Division 1 William and Mary, where he played against all-time greats Len Bias and David Robinson.

Tyler is an avid reader and a Civil War enthusiast. He and his wife Dawn have two children, son Jordan (14) and daughter Logan (10).  Dawn is a member of the Education faculty at Wesleyan.