WRENTHAM, Mass. – Gary Brown is trading in his Harvard crimson for Warrior green and yellow.

Brown, who was hired as the new King Philip athletic director in March, officially takes over for a retiring Steve Schairer on July 1st.

The 42-year-old Franklin resident spent the last nine years in the athletics department at Harvard, most recently as Associate Director of Athletics. Prior to that, Brown was an assistant coach for MIT’s men’s soccer team for four years.

Now, Brown is looking forward to getting back to the high school level, and King Philip looks to be the perfect fit.

“I was looking for a school that really valued academics and athletics, and academics is the priority,” Brown said. “I was relatively selective, I wanted a place that had a balance of academic and athletics, and had an administrative that put the students first. I connected very well with administration, the teachers and the coaches that were apart of the interview process.

“Every time I went there, it just felt so right.”

Prior to his work at the collegiate level, Brown – a Millis High graduate and Springfield College alum – spent eight years as the director of operations for the Bay State games. He handled all aspects of the tournament, including the hiring of coaches, coordinating officials and medical personnel, as well as handling the booking and set up of facilities for the Bay State games.

“To me, athletics are an extension of the classroom,” Brown said. “It’s about the life lessons that sports can teach you. And how you deal with adversity and how thats translates into life later on.

“At the college level, you have established young adults. I wanted to have a larger impact on student development and teaching life lessons. I think athletics can really help shape individuals, and I’m very excited to be apart of the KP community.”

Schairer is retiring after holding the AD position for a decade at King Philip. In the past six years, King Philip has won six state titles – softball with three and boys swimming, girls track and football each won one. A new turf field was also installed on the campus of King Philip just over a year ago.

“Steve Schairer has been unbelievably helpful during the transition period,” Brown said. “I’m familiar with the Hockomock League and how competitive it is. I’ve already attended an AD meeting and I’m looking forward to working with all of them.”