College Sports Information Directors of America

This feature is one of the many profiles we are doing to showcase our diverse CoSIDA membership during 2016 CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week. To see all the feature stories leading up to - and during - CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week, please click HERE.

OUR STORIES

Clint Burgi
Utah Valley University Associate AD/Communications and Marketing
 
by Barb Kowal, CoSIDA Director of Professional Development and External Relations      
CoSIDA Week Committee member

Burgi has led the athletic communications efforts at Western Athletic Conference member Utah Valley since 2004. He now also heads the marketing department in his role as Associate AD/Communications and Marketing and also serves as the sport administrator for the Wolverine women's golf program.

As a department director, Burgi has been singled out by former graduate assistants and student workers as a wonderful mentor and teacher.

Former Utah Valley assistant SID Lorie (Hoffman) Garnett who is now a graduate assistant at the University of Nebraska, notes that Burgi's loyalty, mentorship and ability to problem-solve help make him the adminstrator he is.

"Utah Valley boasts a progressive and talented athletic communications and marketing departments that can be attributed to the creativity, loyalty and skills of Clint Burgi," she noted. "Clint taught me what it means to truly be loyal to your organization, how to rise to the demands of your role and to believe in the greater cause of collegiate athletics. His leadership and practical skills make him a great administrator and he continues to adapt to his ever-changing role at UVU. What truly sets him apart are his natural abilities to problem-solve in any situation and to teach others how to live up to the standards of excellence." 

Read more about Burgi as he talks about his time at Utah Valley.

You’ve spent the last 12 years at Utah Valley with an evolving role from SID, to assistant AD for sports information and now you serve as Associate AD for communications and marketing. What are your daily responsibilities and duties now?
Burgi: My career here has evolved along with the school’s growth as an athletic program. When I got here we were in year two of a six-year provisional period before becoming a full-fledged Division I program. At the time were still called Utah Valley State College. We’ve come a long way since then. We’ve had multiple teams go to NCAA tournaments, have had All-Americans in basketball, baseball, track and wrestling. Our 2012 baseball team won 32 straight games and had a player in Goose Kallunki who was a consensus All-American. So my growth in the

profession has paralleled Utah Valley University’s growth as an NCAA Division I school.

I now balance my responsibilities as an SID for men’s soccer and baseball, while overseeing our video production, game operations and marketing staffs. Last year I also became a sport administrator for women’s golf. So I have my hand in nearly everything externally here in UVU athletics.

You’ve observed the world of athletics from both the media perspective and the athletic administration perspective. How did your previous job at Salt Lake City’s ABC TV station help prepare you for a role in athletics communications? What were/are your takeaways after serving as a media member, and how has that experience helped you work with the media today?

Burgi: One of the biggest things I was able to take with me was just how television media works, and particularly the sports department. Cramming everything into a two-minute segment, on deadline and in that environment was a lot of fun. I was still a student when I worked there on the production crew but soaked up as much as I could. I was in the sports office and helping at Utah Jazz and Utah football games as much as they’d let me.

I also learned what was useful and what wasn’t to the media in a market like ours. We’re competing in a medium-sized market with schools much more established —BYU is six miles away, Utah is 40—and with fan bases

that will take generations for us to equal, so we pick and choose how and when we reach out to media. We also have a second-year basketball coach in Mark Pope who has done wonders for us on campus and in the community and is superb with the local media.  

Former interns and student assistants are quick to point out how much they enjoyed working with you and for you, and appreciated your ability to manage the staff and mentor them. Can you talk about one aspect of our profession which probably doesn’t get as much attention – or discussion as it should – the ability to manage, coordinate and build a communications staff? What makes a successful one?
Burgi: My management style is to find a person’s strengths and let them run with those. I absolutely refuse to micromanage because I want people to make decisions for themselves, right or wrong. If it’s vital enough for me to get involved I will, but otherwise I believe that the best way for my staff to learn is to take ownership in what they’re doing and not to rely on me to make a call they are capable of making on their own. It helps to have a great staff too. I’ve been lucky to get the people I have in this office and we work really well together and complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I’ve become close friends with nearly everyone who I’ve hired, even those who have left for bigger and better things, like Lorie Garnett (now at graduate school at Nebraska).  
 
You’ve been singled out as a great mentor. We all have those who we look to, or looked to, to serve as mentors. Who are some of yours?
Burgi: It’s been a little different for me because I entered this profession at Utah Valley close to the same time that Steve Schaack (now an Assistant AD at Idaho State) did. He and I really leaned on each other because neither of us had any real SID experience. He came from the newspaper side of things and so we had to figure everything as SIDs the best we could. I mentioned early how lucky I’ve been to get certain people and one of those is my current assistant, Jason Erickson, who spent several years in the WAC office.
 
What’s your expert advice for someone who is new to the athletics communications field? What skills should they have, and how should they approach the demanding job?
Burgi: I tell students and those trying to get into the profession to get their feet wet any way they can. Through an unpaid internship for school credit or just volunteering to write stories or work events, any experience you can take with you on a job interview is extremely valuable. There are so many skills that are valuable to the everyday job outside of just being able to write a press release. People should learn as much about InDesign and Photoshop and how to take a picture as they do about how to write a game recap.

I’ve had several people come to me asking this same question and one in particular has really been a superstar as he’s gone on. Kellen Hiser, now an SID at Tennessee, walked into my office with no experience and volunteered until we could hire him part-time, then eventually became full-time. We figured out a way to create a position for him. He recently finished graduate school in Knoxville and I believe he’ll be an AD at some point in his career. He may be my boss one day. Another person who comes to mind is a current assistant of mine, James Warnick. He walked into my office one day as a communications student wanting to do some play-by-play and he’s turned that into a full-time job and is very good at what he does.
 
As an athletics communicator, how do you measure success in your job? What is the most gratifying part of your position?
Burgi: We all know how thankless this profession can be, but I’ve also been lucky to work with people like Jared Sumsion (Senior Associate AD at UVU) who take notice of the things we do in our office. Ultimately, I judge myself pretty harshly and if I can be satisfied with the job I’ve done I look at that as a success.

The most gratifying part of my job is sharing in the success of the student-athletes and coaches. Watching our baseball team dogpile after a conference championship or our men’s soccer team get to the NCAA Tournament in just its second season have been career highlights and things I’ll never forget. I’ve been able to visit Japan and China and have been all over this country because of this job. Ultimately, the most gratifying and successful part of my “job” is that it doesn’t feel like a job, it’s just part of what I enjoy doing.

As a professional with three children - when you disengage from Utah Valley responsibilities, what do you enjoy doing in your down time? Specifically, do you get to go to your beloved San Francisco Giants games?
Burgi: It’s hard to disengage to be honest but there are times when—and I’ve had to learn some things the hard way—that I have to shut it off and focus on my kids. I do love my Giants and try to either see them in spring training or during the regular season—or both—as much as possible. I’ve taught my children to cheer for them too and was able to take them to AT&T Park in 2015. My twin boys (Carter and Kenji) were eight when we went and they recall pretty much every detail including the score and when Hunter Pence hit a grand slam off of Cole Hamels.

How important to you is the work-life integration and what advice would you give young SIDs who might be struggling with this?
Burgi: It’s tough. Like I said earlier I’ve learned a lot of things the hard way but there came a point in my career where I decided that I HAD to turn the job off. On non-game days I leave the office by 6 p.m. and I make time during the day to take my kids to school and attend their school functions. I’ve been lucky to work for great athletic directors (Mike Jacobsen and Vince Otoupal) who’ve allowed me that freedom too. I’m still trying to figure out a lot of things, i.e. my personal health, but as long as my kids feel like their dad is present and involved, I’m happy. They are now at the age where they come to games and help me run stats or do whatever is needed.
 
Professionally, what do you see yourself doing in the future?
Burgi: I love where I’m at. I grew up here in Orem, Utah—and I love Utah Valley University. I work with great people and enjoy coming to the office every day. I also like the current balance of being an SID and an administrator at the same time, so it’s hard to see myself anywhere but where I am right now. But I want to continue to see UVU grow and continue the path of success we’ve been on.
 
Personally I want to find that work-life balance that’s so much harder to reach than it seems. Being a good father and taking care of myself are the two biggest priorities in my life and that won’t ever change.