In 2025-26, Kevin Varnish begins his 30th year at Denison University, where he currently serves as the Director of Event Operations & Championships.
As the Director of Event Operations & Championships, Varnish provides oversight and coordination for the scheduling of all daily practices and contests for the Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation. His responsibilities also include scheduling recreational use, club sport use, intramural programming, and use by community and outside groups.
He coordinates and facilitates venue set-up and teardown for all events occurring in athletics facilities, creating detailed setup and teardown procedures and how-to guides, and submitting work orders to support event needs.
Varnish oversees game day operations for football and all home athletics events. He is responsible for scheduling and training game managers for all home athletic contests, including postseason events, and often serves as a game manager as needed.
In his role as NCAC and NCAA Site Director/Tournament Director, Varnish serves as the primary championships director for all NCAC and NCAA championship events, except Swimming & Diving. He communicates with coaches, participating institutions, NCAA and/or NCAC staff, and University personnel to coordinate the conduct of championships. He also prepares, submits, and reconciles NCAA Championship Site bids.
He is responsible for creating and implementing the gameday experience for all sports in alignment with the principles of “Gameday the D3 Way.” This includes collaborating with head coaches, Student Life, and other campus organizations to promote and enhance gameday events. In coordination with each head coach, key home games are selected to be “emphasized” from a fan engagement standpoint, and innovative gameday promotions, events, and activities are developed and executed.
Varnish manages the BSN equipment and apparel contract in collaboration with the equipment manager, maintaining detailed inventory records on BSN rebate and promotional purchases and usage.
He directly supervises, hires, and schedules part-time facilities staff and student workers to support event operations and championship management.
Prior to coming to Denison, Varnish served as an assistant to the director of athletics at Columbus State from 1988 to 1995. He was the department's athletic recruiting coordinator and assistant sports information director, and he managed daily operations of Columbus State's recreation facilities. Varnish also taught in the sports and fitness management program and served as an assistant varsity track coach for seven years and assistant football coach for three years at Reynoldsburg City Schools.
Varnish holds a Bachelor of Science in Education (1989) and a Master of Arts in Sports Administration from The Ohio State University (1994).
