College Sports Information Directors of America

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Mike Tuberosa – Drexel University, Associate Athletics Director for Communications

CoSIDA 25-Year Award

by Britt Faulstick, Drexel University Assistant Director, Media Relations, University Communications

All of the best teams have less-heralded players that are essential to their success. The A.C. Greens and Chase Utleys that can manage all the personalities and bring the team together. Mike Tuberosa has been that “glue guy” for 25 years in this business.
 
Mike — known to his friends as “Tubes” — has had what he’d call a “solid” 25 years in sports information. He trained in Syracuse University’s prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He learned the business as a volunteer at George Washington, under Brad Bower and Betsy Barrett; and then became Jim Mauro’s graduate assistant at Niagara. Tuberosa got his first full-time opportunity in sports information at LeMoyne, where he worked for legendary coach and athletics director Dick Rockwell, from 1995-99. He then served as Georgetown’s SID under Bill Shapland for two years before starting his current post at Drexel in 2001.
 
He’s held leadership positions in local and regional professional associations, headed up communications for five NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships, and worked his way into a role as a sport administrator. Though his most impressive achievement is undoubtedly Team Tuberosa — Mike’s family of four led by his amazing wife of nearly 24 years, Jennifer.
  
 
Throughout his career Mike has pulled together teams that prided themselves in working hard and taking on new challenges.

When he arrived at Drexel, Mike joined a program that held the distinction of being the “other” Div. I team in Philadelphia — not part of the legendary Big Five. The school had also just joined the Colonial Athletic Association when the conference was near the epicenter of Bracket-Busting, mid-major madness. As a Boston sports fan in the pre-2004 era, his worldview fit perfectly with Drexel’s reputation as a city and conference outsider fighting for respect.
 
Tuberosa steadily built Drexel’s Sports Information Office into a team that took on the hardworking underdog persona of the teams it promoted. Whether it was full-time employees, graduate assistants, work-studies, or co-op students, everyone felt like an essential part of a team that was going to help push Drexel into the spotlight.
 
On the playing field the upstart Dragons put together some impressive wins against national powers and compiled seasons that stand the test of time. And, fittingly perhaps, they also suffered tough losses and snubs that will always be remembered.
 
Seasons like that can grind down any team — the true test of a glue guy.
 
Mike always made it clear that being a professional and getting the job done was the top priority. But after the interviews were finished, stats delivered and stories filed there was always time to debrief get out the frustration.
 
As most SIDs during his era, Mike was charged with helping his department to modernize its website — again, and again — shift from print to digital media guides, keep live stats alive on game day and social media active every day.
 
During this time, I remember how careful Mike was to ensure that any new change we considered could be implemented fairly across all of our sports and that we could do it in a way that wouldn’t overload his staff.
 

“He always had our backs,” said Shawn Sweeney, who worked with Mike as a graduate assistant from 2004-06. “SIDs constantly have more and more duties pushed onto them because they're the ones that can handle it, but Tubes was always great about sticking up for his staff when it came to this. He knew the long hours and tireless dedication that he got from his crew and was very protective of us.”

 
Anyone who has worked for Mike will have stories about his loyalty to employees, his sense of fairness and his willingness to do the same work that he asks them to do.
 
“I don't think I've ever encountered a boss that cared more about his people. He cares about Drexel and the coaches and student-athletes for sure, but above all he cares about those of us on his staff,” said Sam Angell, associate director of athletics communications at Drexel from 2011-19. “Tubes built a family of staff members who have instant bonds even if they worked for him in different decades.”
 
The glue guy has a real talent for strengthening those bonds even as “his people” move on from the sports information team.
 
Mike’s former employee “tree” includes people who work in university communications and institutional advancement, communications and social media directors, public relations and marketing professionals, school administrators, an Olympic hopeful and successful business leaders and entrepreneurs.
 
All of them would attest to the mentor and friend he continues to be.
 
"Tubes cares deeply for his team members and does everything within his power to ensure their growth and success,” said Molly Sweeney, who was a student worker and assistant director of athletics communications from 2008-17, and is now assistant director for development at Drexel. “During my time as an SID I learned the etiquette of the business from watching him in action. When I later decided I wanted to switch career paths, he was the first to offer advice and pick up the phone to share his connections.”
 
Part of an SID’s job is managing details — be it schedules, stats or printer paper. To me, the thing that sets Mike apart is the way he manages the details that matter in life.
 
Whether it’s a little thing, like a call on a random Tuesday just to catch up, or a text when your team had a big win (or, if you’re a Yankees fan like me, a big loss); or a big thing like raising thousands of dollars for Children’s Hospital of Boston to run the Boston Marathon in honor of a friend’s daughter who’d been through so much there; Mike finds a way to show people he cares about them.
 
Mike might not have the rings or trophies, but his time in this business has brought people together and made those around him better. That’s a legacy any glue guy can be proud of.