Josh Furtado, a 2022 Ryle graduate, couldn’t be at his phone to respond to all the congratulatory texts after he was named the Raiders’ next athletic director at 4 p.m. on April 22.
As a relief pitcher for the Morehead State baseball team, he was sitting in the bullpen watching the Eagles pick up a win at Marshall University.
“My roommate (Ethan Davis) went five innings scoreless out of the bullpen, so he did a fantastic job of getting us out of there as quickly as possible,” Furtado said. “I get to my phone and it’s chaos in the bullpen. I’m on the bus answering as many texts as I can.”
At 22 years old, Furtado is the youngest athletic director in school history and among the youngest in Northern Kentucky history. He’s been on the job for just over three weeks but is diving in feet-first to make sure the students at the third-largest high school in Kentucky have the best experience possible.
Josh Furtado is already a lifelong supporter of Ryle athletics
Spend five minutes with Furtado and you’ll get a sense for his personality. He’s outgoing, professional, and extremely passionate about his community.
He grew up in Union, attending Mann Elementary School and Gray Middle School. He went to countless Ryle games as a kid, looking up to Tanner Morgan, Maddie Scherr, Vince Rankin and Lucy Trump. As a freshman, he watched the girls basketball team win a state championship and was in the same graduating class as Cole Thomas, one of just three Northern Kentucky wrestlers to win four state titles.
“People and athletes like that couldn’t have gotten me more excited to be a Ryle Raider. Then when I was a Ryle Raider, I think I took full advantage of the experience, going to all the games and supporting my teammates and peers in class,” Furtado said.
He played baseball at Ryle and was a student section leader for almost every other sport. During COVID, he worked as a student broadcaster, delivering games to fans who couldn’t be in the stands.
“You could tell that Josh was a leader in high school. You could tell that there was a passion for athletics and in everything he did, he put a lot of thought into,” Ryle principal Matt Shafer said.
When the job opened in March, Furtado reached out to Shafer to express his interest. Shafer could tell from his “wonderfully crafted email” that he was a serious candidate.
Communication has always been a strong point for Furtado. At this summer’s athletic department meeting, Shafer received positive feedback about Furtado’s communication, preparedness and passion from multiple coaches.
“The AD position is a pretty thankless job. With us having 31 individual sports, it’s a six-day-a-week job. When we were vetting candidates, we came together as a committee and said, ‘We can’t teach somebody to have a love for this place or to want to be here six nights a week or have that grit and grind and love for the community. That was one of the separators when we did ultimately decide on Josh,” Shafer said.
Furtado has his mom, Edie, to thank for putting him in position to come back to his alma mater. She sent him the job listing in the family group chat. Josh knew we was coming back to Northern Kentucky after graduation but was keeping his options open. His parents are overjoyed that he’s back in the region and that he’s giving back to Ryle.
Juggling college classes, baseball and preliminary job duties made for a busy few months this spring. For Furtado, that busy schedule was another feather in his cap and another bullet on his resume.
“It was a little surreal being on a bus for eight hours and answering emails, knowing that in about a month I’m going to be my school’s athletic director,” Furtado said.
Josh Furtado has plenty of resources to lean on in his first year as a professional
While Furtado may not have always envisioned himself in his current role, he first spoke it into existence as a student at Ryle. While having lunch with his friends, he made it known that he wanted to be an athletic director but thought he would have to climb the administrative ladder. That conversation may have only lasted a few minutes but he kept the goal in the back of his mind.
While studying general business management in college, he spent time with athletic director Dr. Holly Sheilley and associate director of athletics for compliance and sport administration Jeff Chaney during his freshman year at Transylvania, then worked with athletic director Kelly Wells while at Morehead State. Every day at Ryle, he’ll interact with Shafer, Jill Rosen and Tasha Tanner-Lovins, just in a different capacity as when he walked the hallways four years ago.
“What I told some of the coaches at the athletic meeting we had last week is there’s no totem pole here. Everyone who’s involved in athletics here is all on the same team. We’re all looking for the same goal, to put the student-athletes in the best position we can to succeed on the field and off the field,” Furtado said.
He’s gleaned advice from his fellow athletic directors in the district: Lance Melching at Boone County, Jim Hicks at Conner and Tyler Morgan at Cooper. While Ryle and Cooper are rivals, Furtado said his first correspondence with Morgan, who taught at Ryle for seven years, was trading transfer paperwork for several student-athletes. They also share common ground in that they are both first-year athletic directors.
Josh Furtado is ready for the fast-approaching fall sports season
Just like baseball players sweat every little detail when preparing the field for the next day’s practice or game, Furtado is taking a fine-tooth comb to every aspect of his job. With football season approaching, he’s finalizing every aspect of Friday nights, from announcements during timeouts to the dance team’s halftime performance.
“He’s very engaged as soon as you first meet him. The thing is, being a baseball player, he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty,” Shafer said.
In year one (and beyond), Furtado obviously wants to see the continued success of every athletic program. The football team has won 22 games in the last two years and was the 2024 Class 6A state runner-up. The boys basketball and softball teams were the Ninth Region runners-up. The volleyball team, led by Tanner-Lovins, has won six straight 33rd District titles. But perhaps more importantly, he wants to cultivate pride in Ryle academics, athletics and the arts, and hopes to grow the school’s footprint in Boone County.
“My time here at Ryle was so special and I really want every single student and every single parent who has an affiliation here with Ryle in these upcoming years to feel that, because it truly has changed my life and that’s why I’m back here,” Furtado said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Josh Furtado brings passion, familiarity as Ryle’s athletic director
Reporting by Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
