College Sports Information Directors of America

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Jeff Febus – Calvin College, Sports Information Coordinator
2019 CoSIDA 25-Year Award recipient

by Phil de Haan, de Haan Communications LLC

To visit Calvin sports information director Jeff Febus in his office is to see in microcosm what a quarter century of sports information work looks like.
 
The evidence of Febus’s many labors and his busy life is everywhere. It's in the boxes stacked here and the notepads stacked there. It's in the old stats ready at a moment's notice as the answer to a visitor's question (and despite appearances, Febus knows where everything is!), and it's in the new stats from a recent game being used to bolster nominations for conference player of the week honors. It's in the awards scattered here and there, in the extra clothing stashed away in case Michigan's weather suddenly turns inclement in the spring, and it's most certainly in the myriad pictures of his family: his wife Julie (a former Calvin basketball star) and their sons Jarrett and Justin. Indeed, all of it, in one small room in Calvin's Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex, is evidence of a life in full.
 
And of it all, Febus, in his sometimes digressing way, says the following of 25 years in the SID game, "When I look back on it, it sometimes doesn't seem like 25 years. On the other hand, my students always tell me I tell stories, I've got a memory, and I tell them about how when I started we were still FAXing, and using the old (Radio Shack) TRS-80 to transmit to newspapers, and calling in scores, the older way we did things. And they look at me like I'm from another planet. So when I go back and tell those stories, yeah, it does seem like 25 years!"
 
Febus came into the world of sports information a year before Calvin launched a website and long before social media and like all SIDs who began in the early to mid 1990s. As a 2019 CoSIDA 25-Year Award recipient for his distinguished career and commitment to the athletic communications profession, he has had to adapt and adjust in the ways he communicates on behalf of his college.
 
 
A 1992 graduate of Calvin, Febus was a communications major and minored in journalism. As a student, he was nurturing a reputation as Mr. Calvin, an omnipresent figure on the school's sports scene who not only wrote for Chimes, the student newspaper, but also was a singular presence with the on-campus, closed-circuit TV station where he fulfilled a multitude of tasks. There, he did everything from cutting video to handling play-by-play duties for a plethora of sports, including the men's basketball team's run to the 1992 national title, at the time the college's first in any team sport.
 
After earning a master's degree in journalism and mass communication from Drake University in 1994, Febus was lured back to his alma mater by then-SID Phil de Haan, who was moving into the vacant role of Calvin's media relations director. He returned for the 1994-95 academic year and since has put an indelible stamp on the position in his own inimitable way, earning high praise along the way from a variety of audiences, including Calvin's coaches.
 
Long-time Calvin women's volleyball coach Dr. Amber Warners says the man most on campus simply call "Feebs" is both devoted and passionate. In describing him she points out a number of traits that are key to being a successful SID. 
 
"He's a multi-tasker," she says, "gifted at writing, handling numbers and remembering facts." 
 
And, she says, who Febus is goes even deeper than writing, 'rithmetic and remembering. It's also, or perhaps especially, in the many ways that he shows he cares.
 
"He cares deeply about Calvin Athletics," Warners concluded, "and he also is always ready to help the coaches in any way he can even though he is incredibly understaffed."
 
Calvin athletic director Dr. Jim Timmer has an even-longer association with Febus. The two met when they were 9 or 10 years old and elementary school friends and then attended Grand Rapids Christian and Calvin at the same time. In 2003, Timmer returned to his alma mater to renew acquaintances with Febus, this time in a professional capacity.
 
Now, 40 years later, he doesn't hesitate when asked to describe his long-time friend.
 
"Loyal," Timmer says. "Great work ethic. Principled."
 
Timmer also appreciates all that Febus offers Calvin as an SID.
 
"He is honestly the best," Timmer says. "The combination of his skills, passion, student-worker development and institutional memory – just outstanding."
 
In addition to the accolades from his colleagues, Febus also has won awards from both the CoSIDA and the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), Calvin's long-time conference and also America's oldest collegiate conference (founded in 1888). He's not much for awards, but the one he appreciates the most also says a lot about his relational nature. It's the MIAA's Robin Hartman Writing Award, which he has won twice, most recently in 2018. The award is named for the late Robin Hartman, and during Hartman's tenure as Albion College SID, Febus and Hartman grew close. Febus still consider Hartman an influential mentor in his SID journey.
 
He also considers himself fortunate to have chosen the career path he's been on for 25 years now. 
 
"It can be a hard job," Febus states. "It keeps you hopping and sometimes you don't have a lot of time to just sit and reflect. But I do still enjoy it. I really like my colleagues. I am very passionate about the mission of the college, I still enjoy sports and competition and I have a very supportive wife who not only understands athletics but also understands and supports Calvin. We'll see what the next 25 years brings." 
 
Those at Calvin expect the next quarter century will be a lot like the last: a rare combination of talent, hard work, dedication and passion for the job. When asked, on a scale of 1-10, how much Febus loves Calvin, Warners and Timmer both gave the same answer: 11.
 
So, 25 years later the SID is an 11. What more could you ask for?