Tyler Whitcomb Named Kuyper College's Next Athletic Director

Kuyper College has named Tyler Whitcomb as its next Athletic Director, effective July 1.

Whitcomb, who has served the College in multiple roles, including assistant men’s basketball coach, adjunct professor, admissions counselor, and most recently as KuyperWorks Specialist, will succeed Gary Bailey, who is retiring after building Kuyper’s athletics program from the ground up.

Kuyper Academic Dean Tim Detwiler, to whom Kuyper’s AD reports, said the appointment of Whitcomb marks a significant moment for the Kuyper Cougars, a transition from one chapter of faithful leadership to another, with a familiar face at the helm.

“Tyler brings marketplace experience, leadership skills, and a commitment to Kuyper College’s mission to the position,” Detwiler said. “We look forward to the impact he will have on our campus community as he assumes this role July 1.”

The Kuyper AD role encompasses not just everything he has done at Kuyper, but also the experiences he had had during a career in athletics that spans more than two decades across the professional, collegiate, and high school ranks.

When Kuyper reinstated intercollegiate athletics and joined the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA), Bailey was hired in October 2022, a year before varsity play began, to lead the effort. Whitcomb hopes to stand on the firm foundation Bailey established and bring his own skills and experience to the position.

“My background is a unique mix of entrepreneurship, sports management, teaching, and leadership,” he said. “One of my biggest strengths is networking and relationship-building, which fits perfectly with the AD position. I love athletics and feel I can best serve Kuyper as the AD. In addition, I’m very connected in the athletics space and know how to look at it through a business lens which will help us make good decisions that can continue to build the program up.”

Whitcomb, who holds a B.A. in Sports/Recreation Management from Concordia University of Chicago, is a former pro team owner, a 2006 International Basketball League Executive of the Year, a recognized “40 Under 40” business leader in Grand Rapids, and a Registered Athletic Administrator through the Indianapolis-based National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He also has almost a decade of prior AD experience at the high school level, having served in that capacity at West Michigan Aviation Academy, Martin High School, and Howe Military Academy.

And since the fall of 2022, Whitcomb has been making a difference on the Kuyper campus, first as head coach of the College’s developmental men’s basketball teams and then in a variety of other positions for the College, all of which have allowed him to get to know faculty, staff, and students in the classrooms, the gym, the library, the cafeteria and more.

His most recent role as KuyperWorks Specialist, a position he stepped into in the summer of 2025, gave him an even broader view of what makes Kuyper unique. Building off-campus work partnerships, connecting students to career opportunities, and serving in admissions deepened his understanding of the Kuyper Work College model and its connection to student formation. He also secured a new partnership with Sports Business Ventures, giving Kuyper’s Sports Management students access to a global library of executive interviews and industry resources.

Whitcomb, who will continue to teach in the College’s Sports Management program, said he views athletics not as separate from the College’s academic and spiritual mission, but as one of its most powerful expressions.

For more information about Kuyper Athletics, visit kuypercougars.com.