College Sports Information Directors of America

Zach Dirlam is in his fourth year as Assistant Director of Communications at the University of Florida. Dirlam is a multi-year winner of national and district honors in the Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest, most recently earning the 2018-19 CoSIDA national award for event coverage with his profile of heptathlete Amanda Froeynes. In the summer of 2018, he was recognized by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as the Division I recipient of the Excellence in Communications Award for the 2018 track and field season.

 

 
We are asking each Recognition Week featured member to provide a professional development tip to share with the membership. What is yours?
The biggest piece of advice I can give to anyone in this industry – especially to people just getting into the field – is to diversify your skillset as much as possible. The combination of good fortune and a wide array of skills I developed working across several different sports as a Division III student work at Albion College, then as a Division II assistant at Grand Valley State University got me to where I am today at Florida. My “big break” came in fall 2016, when I was in my second year as a communications assistant. The primary volleyball contact left in the middle of the season, and I was the best fit on our staff to assume primary contact duties for the rest of the season. I took full advantage of the opportunity, and I eventually earned the Assistant Director of Communications gig.
 
Track and field has been the only constant during my time at Florida, but my responsibilities during the fall have changed every year. I did volleyball for a season, was a secondary football contact last year, and became the interim primary football contact and primary baseball contact this month. Those have all been great opportunities to advance my career and grow personally, but none of them would have been possible if I did not develop the skills necessary to handle those jobs. I’ve always had the mentality that I want to be able to do my own job at a high level and, if called upon, handle whoever’s job is directly ahead of mine.
 
What is one communication/social/PR tool you could not live without and why?
The tool I could not live without are social media analytics. Those numbers inform every decision I make when it comes to developing content plans and collaborating with content creators attached to my primary sports. I don’t worry so much about directly comparing our numbers to the competition, although I do admit to being an intense competitor and would love to lead the nation in engagement rate and impressions. What I really focus on is ensuring the content we produce engages with our followers and generates growth for our accounts. I worry about our audience first and foremost, not everyone else’s.
 
You were the 2018-19 CoSIDA Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest national winner for event coverage and you’ve earned many such Stabley Writing honors, district and national, in past years. What did that honor mean to you? What tips would you give someone who is looking to do a feature piece on a student-athlete?
It was a tremendous honor. It’s always gratifying to be recognized by my peers, especially when it comes to feature writing because that is what got my foot into so many doors early in my career. Having said all that, I don’t write to win awards. I write because I enjoy telling stories.
 
My biggest tips for anyone writing feature stories would be to find a human interest storyline and really dive into it, make the subject as relatable to a reader as possible, look for unique ways to tell the subject’s story, and think critically about how and when to deliver key information to the reader. 
 
The most important piece of advice I can give, though, is that telling a great story starts with great interviewing. It doesn’t matter how good of a writer you are, if don’t get interesting information from your subject and sources (choosing those are equally important), it’s incredibly hard to tell a great story. It’s essential to research and prepare for interviews, but listening carefully during interviews is paramount. Some of the best stories I’ve discovered did not come from questions I’d scripted before prior to the interview. I always go into an interview with a handful of questions on my notepad, but the bulk of what I ask comes from naturally having a conversation with whomever I’m interviewing. Approaching interviews like they’re conversations will yield better results far more often than not.

 

 
Did/do you have any key mentors or people who deeply influenced who you are, what you believe in, and what you're committed to in your work and life? 
This will sound completely cliché, but everyone I’ve worked with in my career has influenced how I operate today. That’s everyone from my co-workers, to coaches of my primary sports through the years, to my counterparts and colleagues at other schools and organizations. I’m constantly observing and learning from how everyone goes about their business. Even if it’s the tiniest thing, I try to learn something new every day I go to the office or an event. 
 
The person who’s had the biggest impact on my career, though, is Bobby Lee at Albion College. A couple months before freshman orientation, a family member told me I should look into being an SID. I had no idea what that acronym stood for and had no idea athletic communications / media relations / sports information even existed. I looked at some staff directories of colleges in my area, and I remembered Bobby’s name from high school football game recaps in my local newspaper. I called him up and had him explain the gig to me. 
 
By complete happenstance at my orientation, I ran into Bobby and told him I’d be interested in broadcasting and writing at Albion. He had me send over my Bleacher Report profile (it was the wild west back in those days, so I was basically a self-taught writer with an e-mail address, which was all you needed to have an account), and a couple days later he told me I could basically be as involved with his work as I wanted to be. I broadcasted football and basketball games for three years, learned StatCrew my senior year, and wrote recaps and feature stories throughout my four years there. Without Bobby, his mentorship, and all the opportunities he gave me, I have no idea if I’d even be in this industry. I’ll never be able to thank him enough for everything he’s done for me.

 

 
What might someone be surprised to know about you?
It’s certainly not a surprise to people who know me, but for those who don’t - I am an avid fan of movies. I had MoviePass until it turned into a disaster, and I have a monthly subscription plan for the theater chain in Gainesville. I love looking for movies in the sale bins at Best Buy, and it’s even more fun at secondhand places where you can get used Blu-Rays and DVDs super cheap. I try and go see all the Oscar movies every year. And I like talking about movies similarly to the way I talk about sports. Acting careers are oftentimes just as, if not more fascinating than athletes’ careers. 
 
Two of the best movie experiences I’ve had recently - getting to see The Shining and Alien in a movie theater. Seeing those classics on a big screen with a full crowd of people took the viewing experience to a completely different level than just watching them at home. They’re bringing The Godfather, Part II back this month, and I’m pretty stoked for that.
 
What have been the most memorable and/or rewarding moments of your career?
There have been too many to pick just one. I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the best programs in the country every year for the last seven years. Since taking my internship at Grand Valley State, I’ve worked with at least one team that’s one a national championship all six years. Grand Valley State women’s soccer won two in a row – with two different head coaches – and Florida track and field won either the indoor or outdoor national title each of my four years with the program.
 
And, it was pretty special to get to go to the 2017 College World Series as a member of our baseball content team (that was Florida’s first-ever national title). I’ll never forget those two weeks in Omaha. We’ll have to see if baseball can keep my personal streak alive this spring. 
 
If I had to pick one, though, watching Grant Holloway win his sixth national title and break an ancient collegiate record in the 110-meter hurdles was one of the most incredible things I’ve witnessed. I’d seen Grant endure just about everything a teenager and 20-something could go through in my three years working with him. There was a lot of outside noise going into that race about whether or not he would even win the title, and to see him rise to the occasion and finish his career perfect at the NCAA meets was truly special. I remember having to corral him and get him through the mixed zone, and before I could do any of that he gave me a hug and told me he appreciated me. That is something that will stick with me forever.

 

 
How do you have fun at work?
I don’t get too stressed at work. But I do have a Blu-Ray player hooked up to the TV in my office, so there is always something playing while I’m working. It’s always a movie or TV show I’ve seen repeatedly so I can tune it out and do whatever I need to do. I’m someone who operates best with a little background noise.
 
Who is the most important person at work you talk to during your day?
The most important person I talk to at work during the day is Will Pantages, Assistant Director of Digital Content (for football). Unfortunately, I won’t be able to have those conversations with him anymore because he’s moving on to a new opportunity and I’m thrilled for him. Will and I both came from Division III schools, so we have a lot of the same values. Will is one of the best people I’ve ever seen do this job, though, so I’m always following his lead and trying to learn anything I can from him even though we are the same age. I would not look at anything the way I do today without those daily interactions with Will. The office won’t be the same without him.
 
I see on your bio that you are a foodie and a traveler. Where has been your favorite place to travel and what was the best food you ate while there?
My favorite place in the world (that I’ve been to) is Amsterdam. It’s such a beautiful city, and it’s almost impossible to get lost because you can just follow the canals. There is a lot of history there, too. The museums are incredible. The best food item I had there was bitterballen, which is a deep fried meatball served with mustard for dipping. It made for great pub food when my brother and I were there during the World Cup in the summer of 2018.