PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Dan O’Connell, who has more than 30 years vested in the sports information profession, has been named the recipient of the 2008 Lester Jordan Award by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The award is presented to an individual (or company) for exemplary service to CoSIDA's Academic All-America Award program and the promotion of the ideals of being a student-athlete.
An active member of the CoSIDA who received his 25-year award from the organization in 2005, O’Connell is one of the longest-tenured members of the prestigious Academic All-America ® Committee. He joined the committee in 1987 and has been a National Coordinator for the last five years.
A native of Fairfield, Connecticut, he is a 1976 graduate of Loyola College. While attending Loyola, he got his start in the SID business because the school did not have a professional filling the role. As a junior and senior, he served in the position of Assistant SID.
After graduating from Loyola in 1976 with a degree in English, he was named as the SID at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, a position he held for two years. In 1979, when Towson University became a NCAA Division I member institution, he joined the staff as the Associate Sports Information Director, a position he holds today.
A very active member of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association (ECAC-SIDA), he attended his first workshop at Cape Cod in 1979. In 1989, he was the Workshop Host when it was held in Baltimore. Last year, he served as a member of the Workshop Committee when it returned to Baltimore.
In addition to serving on numerous panels over the years, he recently completed an eight-year term as a member of the ECAC-SIDA Board. O’Connell served as the ECAC-SIDA President during the 2005-06 year when the organization held a very successful workshop in Oneonta, N.Y. As the first vice-president, he also played an important role in the ECAC-SIDA 50th anniversary workshop in 2005. This June, he will be recognized as the winner of the ECAC-SIDA Irving T. Marsh Award for the University Division.
In addition to his duties at Towson, where he also serves on the school’s athletic hall of fame selection committee, he spent eight seasons as the statistician for Ravens Radio and traveled to Super Bowl XXXV for the Ravens’ win over the Giants. For the last two years, he has been part of the National Football League’s official statistical crew for all of the Baltimore Ravens home games. He also served as the head statistician for the Canadian Football League during the two years that the CFL fielded a team in Baltimore (1994, 1995).
O’Connell started in the sports media field at a very young age. While he was a student in high school, he was a sports reporter for The Fairfield Citizen. He also did some reporting work for The Bridgeport Post-Telegram.
He is the father of two daughters. His oldest daughter, Erin, is a graduate of the University of Maryland Law School and works as an attorney. His youngest daughter, Maureen, is a junior at Towson University where she is a student worker in the Athletic Media Relations Office.
View Past Lester Jordan Award Winners