Utah State's Athletic Media Relations Office Named Among the Nation’s Best

Utah State University's Athletic Media Relations Office has been named a “Super 11” sports information department by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). The announcement was made Monday, May 7.

The honor, which is in its third year of existence, recognizes the best 11 departments in the nation for the 2011 football season.

Other schools recognized along with Utah State include Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Southern California, Syracuse and Western Kentucky.

“There are many truly outstanding sports information departments across college football,” said Tim Griffin, the FWAA’s 2010 president and chairman of the Super 11 selection committee for a third-straight season. “But we at the FWAA felt it was very important to honor those we thought were the best of the best — including some we’ve honored in our two previous years who are consistently exemplary above and beyond the call of duty.”

Criteria in determining the winners not only included how press boxes/operations were run, but the quality and timeliness of information provided, the amount of information presented and appropriately updated on websites, personal responsiveness to media inquiries as well as the accessibility of players, head and assistant coaches. The ratings also took into consideration the departments that went the extra mile in servicing the media.

“These awards show which sports information departments — as judged by a veteran group of FWAA writers — service the media in the best way for a particular year,” said FWAA executive director Steve Richardson. “We salute these schools and the ones in the past who have been selected to this group.”

In January 2009, at its board meeting, theFWAA formed the first Super 11 committee. The concept is supported by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), many of whom are members of the FWAA.

The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,200 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game day operations, major awards, a national poll and its annual All-America team.

Related links:

USU Athletics

Football Writers Association of America

Contact: Doug Hoffman, assistant athletics director for media relations, (435) 797-3714, doug.hoffman@usu.edu