College Sports Communicators
College Sports Communicators is the premier membership association for all strategic, creative and digital professionals working in intercollegiate athletics across all levels for colleges, universities and conferences across the United States and Canada.
CSC provides year-round leadership, community, professional development/education, recognition and advocacy for its 4,400 members.
Founded in 1957 as the College Sports Information Directors of America, the organization rebranded in 2022 to position itself as a more inclusive organization for communicators in all types of roles and to lead an industry change where strategic and creative professionals are more aligned.
CSC’s signature work includes the annual CSC Unite convention each June and the administration of the prestigious Academic All-America® program and Hall of Fame. Since 1952, more than 42,000 of the world’s most elite student-athletes have been recognized with Academic All-America status in all sports.
College Sports Communicators
Vital Keys to Team Building | Jimmy Stanton | CSC Voices, Beyond the Scoreboard
CSC Voices, Beyond the Scoreboard host: Trip Durham, 2D Consulting, LLC
Guest: Jimmy Stanton, University of Oregon Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications
In this Beyond the Scoreboard podcast, Jimmy Stanton, Senior Associate Athletics Director of Communications at the University of Oregon, shared insights on leadership, career advice, and the evolving landscape of college athletics and how a college sports communicator and creative can stand out. Stanton emphasized the importance of direct, positive communication during challenges and the value of planning for success, both by teams (your colleagues and you) and by the individual. His blueprint for success includes stressing the significance of adapting to new trends and maintaining high performance, in order to manage up and provide consistent value to colleagues and senior administrators.
In his current role at Oregon since June 2017, Stanton is responsible for the communications, marketing, creative services/digital media and broadcasting areas. He also works closely with Oregon Sports Properties, the multimedia rightsholder for Oregon Athletics.
Stanton highlighted his experiences at the collegiate, NFL and MLB levels. His work has included time with the Houston Astros and Tennessee Titans in the professional media relations ranks, and collegiately at the University of Tennessee and at the American Football Coaches Association.
This conversation with host Trip Durham includes:
- Lessons learned from planning for success/planning for every eventuality while serving as Houston Astros media relations director, regardless of the team performance, team challenges and team record. How he puts this type of planning into practice today at Oregon.
- The journey of being in pro and college sports and from great leaders and elite performers, despite Stanton thinking he would be a “career lifer” with one main spot in his career.
- Time management, travel, productivity and how “the most successful people are the ones who can really prioritize what’s important and filter out the noise a little bit.”
- Importance of navigating relationships and investing in the people you work with.
- As a native of Texas, Stanton take a personal pivot and talks all things barbeque and his native roots.
- The roles of being a traditional communicator and those who are the creatives on the Oregon digital and social staff as we all manage and navigate the shifting sands in college athletics.
- Managing up is a key trait for communicators who want to elevate their worth and value and distinguish themselves in senior leadership.
- The importance of when working with senior administrators, a sports communicator needs to show their worth.
- The importance of enjoying the competitions, the event itself, the game atmosphere and the “moments…”