Maryville College Assistant Athletics Director for Communications John Painter formally announced his retirement in the Fall of 2024, concluding a hall of fame career spanning thirty six years with stops at Auburn, the NCAA, Tennessee, and Colgate. His time at Maryville marked a fitting and final stop for his distinguished career, as he returned to his Tennessee roots.

"For the past four years, it has been nothing but great times in the office," Maryville College Head Men's Basketball Coach Raul Placeres said. "JP (Painter) continuously poured into our program, guys, and staff, and it's been an honor getting to work beside him."

Discovering a Passion
Painter first discovered his passion for a career in sports working for The Daily Herald, the local newspaper in his hometown of Columbia, Tennessee.

"One day, I noticed that my neighbor's name was on the paper, and I thought that was pretty cool," Painter said. "The next year he came to me and said, 'I can't do that job anymore, are you interested?' So, boom, I started keeping the stats for the Pop Warner football games."

From there, Painter's role at the paper continued to grow, with long-time sports editor Marion Wilhoit noticing his potential.

"Wilhoit thought what I was doing was cool and asked if I wanted to do other sports like junior high basketball and football games," Painter said. "So that's really how I got into doing the stats part. Then he let me start writing some game stories which was fun."



Painter accomplished all of this while still in high school. When it came time for college, he almost pursued a career as an umpire, but after a couple of rough games, He decided otherwise.

"I had those rough couple of games and decided I wasn't ready yet, so I went back to college and fell in love with Sports Information." Painter said.

Painter would go on to graduate from the University of Tennessee. From there, he had stops at Auburn and the NCAA before returning to Tennessee as the primary contact for Vol Football.

Painter worked for eleven years at Tennessee, spanning the end of the Fulmer years through Kiffin, before he got his big break at Colgate University.

Colgate announced Painter as their Sports Information Director in 2012, a role he would serve in for nine years.
"Colgate was my first time in charge of the office," Painter said. "I learned a lot and made some mistakes, but we had a blast."



Homecoming
After 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic Painter knew it was time to come home.
Painter's return to Maryville, where he made his home during his years with Tennessee, was written in the stars.

"Right after I decided to leave Colgate, the Maryville job opened up," Painter said. "If I come back a year earlier or a year later, it would not have been here for me."  

Painter would spend his last four years at Maryville alluding to the recent Maryville College Athletics Awards Banquet that he too was graduating.

The Painter era at Maryville College saw the Scots win seven Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) regular-season championships. His tenure also witnessed the Scots football team capture the 2024 USA South Championship, a run he covered through their second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. During Painter's time, the Scots also played host to six conference tournaments—two in basketball, two in track & field, and two in baseball—with Painter playing a vital role in each of them.



Building a Legacy
Throughout his career, Painter served as a mentor to many—whether through direct supervision or simply by crossing paths during his various career stops.

"There are people who have worked for me that now work at: Missouri, Penn State, ESPN, and Virginia Tech," Painter said. "All these great people, they were stars, and they are still stars."

Two of those stars are Paige Ward and Tyler Williams-Bell. Painter met Ward during her time at Huntingdon College, a fellow member of the Scots' conference, the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS). She now serves as the Sports Information Director at Berry College.

"John has had a profound personal and professional impact on my life," Ward said. "He was the one who encouraged me to enter this profession and has supported me at every stage of the journey. Whether it was explaining how to upload a roster or helping me make sense of a baseball book at 2:00 AM, John was always there, eager to help and clearly passionate about what he did."



Williams-Bell, the Associate Commissioner of the CCS, echoed that sentiment.

"From the moment I began working in Division III, John has been a constant source of wisdom, support, and inspiration—not just for me, but for so many across our conference," Williams-Bell said. "His generosity in sharing knowledge, his eagerness to both teach and learn, and his incredible stories from his time in athletic communications have left a lasting mark on us all."
 
CSC Hall of Fame
Painter caps out his career as one of the newest inductees into College Sports Communicators (CSC) Hall of Fame. In addition to this honor, he was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement award. Painter was one of six inductees who will be honored at the annual CSC convention this summer in Orlando.

"JP (Painter) isn't just one of the greats—in my eyes, he is the great," Maryville College Head Softball Coach Jill Moore said. "His impact on me goes deeper than he'll ever know, and getting the chance to know and work with him has truly been one of the greatest highlights of my career."

As he enters retirement, Painter plans to spend his newly found time traveling the world with his wife Mary Margaret, while also still finding time to fuel his passion as a historian for the Scots.

Be sure to catch the latest Tartan Talk episode, where Painter shares stories from his career and reflects on his time at Maryville College, releasing Monday.