College Sports Information Directors of America

“I was particularly impressed with the (SIDEARM Sports) Leadership Forum at this past June’s convention. I felt the smaller groups provided for interactive panels with strategic discussions that were extremely relevant, insightful and very current with the issues we are facing today … In my case, it’s not always learning something that is new. Many of the topics I understand, and have dealt with many issues discussed, but it’s so good to have that reminder and see how others deal with same topics and to check yourself on what you are doing. You try to glean best practices from what people are doing. That’s the value of CoSIDA’s professional development initiatives.”
- Bill Stevens

 
We caught up with Bill Stevens on a very early Sunday morning when he arrived in his office in Pullman, Washington to work on all matters football for the Top 10 Cougars football team. Stevens, currently the Washington State Associate AD of Athletic Communications, arrived back at his alma mater in 2005 as an assistant director and was promoted to director of the department two years later. Below, he talks about the excitement in the Pullman community around football, the importance of professional development and why he is such an advocate of the CoSIDA Leadership Forum, managing expectations and building a quality staff.

What’s one trend in athletic communications that you are a fan of?
That we continue to put out great content about our student-athletes. Today, that takes on different forms, using short form video and moving away from long-form features, but as a profession we do a great job on telling the student-athlete stories. We need to use the most effective forms to tell these stories and always adapt to the new technologies.

What’s the Washington State project or campaign that you’re proudest of? Why?
This is not a project per se. One of the things that we take pride in, which started in the years under (former CoSIDA president and CoSIDA Hall of Famer) Rob Common’s guidance, is putting quite a few student assistants into the profession. It’s a testament to Rod and his assistants over the years who have mentored quite a few young people into the business. I can go back to mid-80s with me being one of them. I wasn’t the first and I’m not the last. Thinking quickly about past students or interns who continued in the field, there’s Marlene Navor (College of Charleston Director of Athletic Communications); Joe Nickell (Boise State Assistant AD/Media Relations); Jessica Holmes, who has returned to WSU as one of our assistant directors; Ashley Walker (Washington assistant director of athletic communications); and Mike Walsh, now Idaho’s Associate Athletic Director/Communications, Marketing & Tickets. Greg Walker, current Oregon associate director of athletic communications, was a student assistant and then an assistant director here.
 

You attended the 2018 Convention after a convention absence of a few years, and took part in the SIDEARM Sports Leadership Forum. What was your reaction to that programming, and how would you encourage others to participate?
There is much to be gained from the event and I thank the CoSIDA Board of Directors along with the countless volunteers who put on such a fantastic event.

From reuniting with friends, meeting new ones and sharing ideas during the sessions, it was a great four days that proved tremendously beneficial. I was particularly impressed with the (SIDEARM Sports) Leadership Forum at this past June’s convention. I felt the smaller groups provided for interactive panels with strategic discussions that were extremely relevant, insightful and very current with the issues we are facing today.

 In my case, it’s not always learning something that is new. Many of the topics I understand and have dealt with many issues discussed, but it’s so good to have that reminder and see how others deal with same topics and to check yourself on what you are doing. You try to glean best practices from what people are doing. That’s the value of CoSIDA’s professional development initiatives.

Sum up your time at Washington State, your alma mater.
No question I’m a Cougar for life! I had four tremendous years as a Washington State undergraduate. I’m originally from Uba City, in northern California.

I was recruited to play tennis and was a student assistant for our former SID Rod Commons. I also met my wife Joni on campus. I worked in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings and wrote for College Tennis Weekly to start. When we had the opportunity to come back to Pullman with our young family in 2005, we jumped on it. Pullman is a great environment to raise a family, a great college town. I came back to work with Rod and the rest is history.

We love being here. Both our boys graduated from Washington State. Nick was a sports management major. Jake majored in international business and is getting his masters in econonics. He works for the Cougar Athletic Fund. Again, people around Pullman and on campus are second to none. I’m very fortunate to be in the spot I am in and the support of people like Rod and our former AD, Jim Sterk, who originally hired me.

Talk a bit about how you coordinate work during the crossover seasons and manage expectations of administrators and coaches, especially with the national surge of your football team this year.
It is all hands on deck here! One of our fall sports is in the NCAAs, football is 9-1 and we are in the heart of the CFP rankings at No. 8. It’s tremendously exciting. Volleyball is a Top 20 program and getting ready for postseason. The basketball and swimming programs are starting. I have myself and 4 full-timers on staff. Not a large team, so wherever help is needed, people are stepping up and getting it done. We’ve had transitions with the new AD and a new administration team, and are down a couple people on our athletic department staff, so one of my staff members currently oversees all the departmental social media work right now.

The way to move through crossover season is to have the philosophy of “next person up – whatever it takes”. Selflessness. All in all, it’s been a fun fall and exciting to watch and be a part of.

Speaking of staffs - what do you look for in building an athletic communications staff?
We want people who are hard-working and who want to be part of a team. There’s so much crossover of seasons these days, and I know most staffs could use one or two more people, but most need more supporting resources to do so. So, to combat that, you need selfless, team-oriented people on board who want the same goals – tell the stories of university personal and put them in the best possible light.

I also train and look for staff members who understand the important of having strong working relationships with senior staff and the AD – and, in turn, those who have the respect of senior administrators. Each communications staff member knows what our overall goals are and they should be willing to be a sounding board and offer up suggestions. It takes time to build that respect and to build that trust but in the end, we need to provide strategy and leadership in the communications area to our administration. We get guidance from them on how they want to implement that and go from there. Every member of our communications staff has to play a role in this.

ESPN’s GameDay came to Pullman earlier this year. You also have a wonderful tradition of having the Washington State flag prominently displayed during the GameDay telecasts – with over 200 consecutive appearances on the show. Talk about that “tradition.”
In fact, counting this past weekend at Boston College, we have had 220 straight appearances of waving the WSU flag on GameDay- it’s unreal. Such a tribute! The game day flag appearing every week is the work of an old Washington State donor group – the Ol’ Crimson. That’s what they’ve named the flag, too. We have such a dedicated fan base that there is always someone in the GameDay crowd available to wave the flag every week. 

When GameDay came to Pullman, the fire marshal estimated the crowd at 25,000. Being on the West Coast proved to be a time challenge; we got out there at 2 a.m., West Coast time, and when I arrived there already were thousands of people finding their way onto the set. It was a very early and festive morning! A few years ago, we hosted GameDay and they drove the equipment trucks from Missoula (Mont.), about five hours away. People were following the truck’s progress two hours out from Pullman. Seventy-five miles out, people were lined up on the highway; as they passed through downtown Pullman, there were 2,500 people waiting – for the trucks – as they rolled in. What a tremendous experience.

Working with Coach Mike Leach ….
I think lots of people saw Coach Leach putting on a mustache during postgame this weekend. Our quarterback, Gardner Minshew, whose mustache is gaining notoriety, handed him the fake mustache to put on – he’s a great kid, really enjoying the season. He just went up to Coach and it was good TV. Coach Leach is great to work with. He is always thinking, and understands the media side of things. He was in radio and in TV become he came here. He knows what the media is looking for and what’s required. He gets it.

What do you do outside the office? Hobbies and interests?
Ah, I look to maintain sanity and balance. You’ve caught me (and everyone) at a time were it’s full-go each and every day with not much down time. I truly enjoy my down time playing tennis. My former WSU tennis coach Rex Davis is still in town, and I take every opportunity to play with him. We play in a tennis league, Rex, I and his son. Rex is 87 and still plays every day! The opportunity to play with him once a week is awesome. It’s quite a thrill. He had a huge impact in my life and jump-started my opportunities here.