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“Passion” is the word used by Middle Tennessee Director of Athletics Chris Massaro to describe Mark Owens, his award-winning associate athletic director and athletic communications director. While Owens was already hard at work when Massaro became the AD, it didn’t take Massaro long to realize what a special individual he had in Owens.
When asked what made Owens such a widely respected and successful member of the team, Massaro quickly noted that it was his passion for all aspects of his work.
“Mark has a passion for everything, for doing the job well, for the university that he represents. He has a passion for people and a passion for all of our athletics as a whole,” said Massaro. “He’s a guy that loves what he does and it shows, and that is what makes him so good.
“The other thing about Mark is his ability to train people, and as an athletic director, I’ve never had issues coming out of our athletic communications office. It is always well
represented. His staff and his students are always well trained and professional.”
Massaro pointed out that Owens also does a tremendous job of gathering his group and making them excel, “and that is a great comfort, not only to me as AD, but also to Dr. McPhee as president of MTSU.”
“There is great university trust in everything that Mark Owens does here at Middle Tennessee,” continued Massaro. “He’s earned his stripes, and he does it every day, in everything he does”.
Massaro also mentioned what Owens does goes beyond the athletics department and the university.
“He has a state-wide reputation. In the Sun Belt, we had a strong conference-wide reputation and we are developing that in Conference USA as well. I take great joy in working with Mark.”
Whit Turnbow, associate athletic director and head men’s golf coach at Middle Tennessee, is another coach that has benefited from the expertise of Mark Owens.
“Mark is a pro. That is about as simple as I can make it,” declared Turnbow. “Everything he works on is done in a way that makes our university proud. His knowledge and understanding of our sport in particular is unparalleled. That is how he picked up the nickname ‘Earl Woods.’ We are so proud of his accomplishments.”
Many former staff members and student interns have gone on to careers in athletic communications, some of whom had no idea of making this a career path until they met and observed Mark Owens.
Travis Woods came to Middle Tennessee nearly four years ago, and is now the assistant athletic media relations director at the University of Charlotte. He will be handling media relations for their new football program when it starts up next fall.
“I enjoyed the nearly four years that I spent working with Mark and the Middle Tennessee staff. It was a position that challenged me daily and benefitted my career greatly,” declared Woods.
“I started with a ‘small school’ mindset because that is where I had most recently worked. I left with a ‘big school’ mentality because that is how Middle Tennessee operated. Everything was done first class and done right, with no shortcuts. For that, I am grateful and have carried that same attitude with me into my current position.”
Woods went on to say that he learned to challenge himself daily in this business and to never be complacent with results.
“There is always something to be learned, and oftentimes, the best ideas are often ‘outside the box,’” noted Woods. “Don’t be afraid to try something new. Mark was never afraid of change.”
Russell Luna is among a trio of former athletic media relations staff members or interns that left to take the top job at another school. Luna, who worked at Tennessee State University before returning to Middle Tennessee, also benefitted from having worked under Owens as a student worker.
“Mark has been a tremendous mentor to me as a student and now as a professional. He taught me the value of building relationships with the media. He also instilled his expectations to be an excellent writer and to promote our program on the national stage.
“I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to work for him over the past decade. In my opinion, he is the best in the business and a great asset to Middle Tennessee.
“Without his leadership, Middle Tennessee athletics would not have the national profile it has today.”
Owens is in his 16th year overseeing Middle Tennessee’s athletic communications office as an associate athletic director.
Since his arrival on campus in 1998, Owens has been instrumental in doubling the size of the athletic communications staff, improving the quality and quantity of the department’s publications, and overseeing the launch of the award-winning official athletics web site. The Tennessee Sports Writers Association voted Owens’ 2001 Blue Raider football media guide best in the state of Tennessee. In 2002, Owens engineered Middle Tennessee’s first-ever Heisman Trophy campaign with Dwone Hicks, an effort that garnered the university national attention. A total of 63 All-America honors have been given to student-athletes during Owens’ tenure at Middle Tennessee.
A 1989 graduate of Virginia Tech, Owens spent seven years at the University of Memphis as associate media relations director. He joined the Memphis staff in 1991 and handled the publicity and promotion of Tiger basketball while also assisting with football. In addition, Owens was responsible for the design and layout of football and basketball media guides that won numerous awards including two national honors. His 1994-95 guide was voted sixth best in the nation and the 1996 football guide was ranked 26th.
Owens, a native of Stuart, Va., was responsible for the promotional campaigns that landed All-America honors for Anfernee Hardaway, David Vaughn, Lorenzen Wright, and Cedric Henderson. His promotional penny design for Hardaway in 1993 earned national acclaim. Owens also helped promote Tech athletes Will Furrer (for academic All-America honors) and basketball standout Bimbo Coles.
Owens, who was the local media relations director for the 2006 Sun Belt Basketball Tournament, has also served as assistant media coordinator for three conference basketball tournaments and the 1997 NCAA Tournament.
A member of College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA), Owens served on the group’s radio and television liaison committee from 1997-98. He is a member of the university relations committee at Middle Tennessee and the athletic department’s scholarship committee.
In April of 2005, Owens was honored by the All-American Football Foundation with the Scoop Hudgins Outstanding Sports Information Director award.
Owens is married to the former Tara Young from Murfreesboro. Owens has a son, Tanner, who is 15 years old, and two stepdaughters, Leah and Ashley, and granddaughter Emalyn.