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Jerry Price – Princeton University, Senior Communications Advisor/Historian

CoSIDA 25-Year Award

by Craig Sachson, Columbia University Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics Director of Communications/former Assistant AD for Communications at Princeton

It’s a phrase heard over and over in the sports we cover: “It’s a copycat league.”
 
If Team A runs a certain system on its way to a championship, you can rest assured Teams B, C and D will have the same one in place next year. It’s natural, really; in life, you see what works and you try to emulate it.
 
Athletic communications can be a copycat field as well. How many of us got mailed a set of media guides 20 years ago and used at least one concept from the batch in their own next year? How many of us have seen something on social media this past year and tried to figure out how to make it work at our own schools?
 
Jerry Price led the Princeton Office of Athletic Communications for a quarter century with a slightly different philosophy. His belief was not to build off what happened in the past, but to figure out what should happen in the future.
 
Others often chose to follow the lead he set.
 
 
In nearly two decades of working for Jerry at Princeton, I watched him design an office to what he believed would matter most in the industry. I came from newspapers in the late 1990s, when the internet was more fascination than functional. The ability to write press releases and feature stories mattered more than anything.
 
That was far more true for the 20 years prior than it was for the 20 years to come.
 
Jerry, Princeton’s Senior Communications Advisor/Historian who is the contact for football and men’s lacrosse, is recipient of a 2020 CoSIDA 25-Year Award for his long-time commitment and dedication to the athletic communications profession.
 
The internet/multimedia era caused the field to change multiple times in rapid succession, and if you weren’t on top of it, you were going to get quickly left behind. Jerry realized this, and he kept tailoring the office around what he believed would best serve Princeton fans moving forward. He had a go-to question that those of us who worked there heard countless times.
 
More than anything else, Jerry has always been a writer first and foremost. It’s the remnants of the years he spent in the newspaper business. He excels at writing long, gripping feature stories, three of which have won CoSIDA Stabley Writing Contest “National Story of the Year” honors. His “TigerBlog” is now in its 11th year of bringing a different feel to Princeton Athletics in the form of a daily column, and he has not missed a workday in any of those 11 years.
 
His current role includes writing a book on the history of women’s athletics at Princeton, and this week, he officially published his first novel — which has nothing to do with athletics. The novel is entitled “With You” and looks like a great addition to your summer reading list.
 
“If you had to start this office from scratch, what would you do?”

Translation: Don’t do what you’ve always done, just because you’ve always done it.
 
That belief kept Princeton ahead of the curve.
 
In 2002, Princeton senior Ed Persia won a basketball game at Monmouth with an 80-foot buzzer-beater. I was the basketball SID that year, and I laughed at the highlight because I stood in shock at the press row table afterwards (fortunately I didn’t cheer … that was a Jerry Price no-no on press row).
 
I saw the highlight on SportsCenter, which may seem obvious now in the current digital age. In 2002, it only got to SportsCenter because Jerry understood how important it was for a school like Princeton to get national TV attention whenever possible. He drove the video clip to one of the regional network buildings, where they showed it on their own highlight packages and got it to SportsCenter.
 
Again, it seems so obvious today, but that just wasn’t the thought process then. It was the same seven years later, when Princeton became the first school in the Ivy League — and one of the first in the nation — to stop producing media guides. That was the basis of our field, so much so that Princeton’s most recent hire at the time, Kristy McNeil, was chosen largely based on her proficiency in design and desktop publishing.
 
In 2009, the internet had taken over. With limited staffing and 37 sports to oversee, Jerry decided it was time to focus on keeping our information fresh. When the first game is played, the media guide becomes outdated. He understood it well before the majority, myself included, did.
 
As our office developed, he found people whose strengths matched what he believed our small staff needed to succeed. Ben Badua created quality multimedia features; Warren Croxton had a knack for social media, etc. While Jerry set the direction for the office, he also listened and learned from those he brought on. The multimedia possibilities may not have been as natural to him as it was to a younger generation, but he knew he needed the skills to best promote Princeton athletics.
 
When Jerry was promoted to lead the office in 2002, his responsibilities included managing a set of employees while also being part of the Princeton’s senior leadership team. Much of the day-to-day responsibility that he enjoyed when he broke into the field had to be passed on to others.
 
Except for lacrosse. Good luck taking that away.
 
Jerry was there for all six of Princeton’s NCAA championships, including five as SID. He is a historian of the sport and a walking encyclopedia of Princeton lacrosse. He can tell stories from last year, last decade or last century and make you feel like you watched them yourself.
He strived to shine the best light on every player who wore the Princeton jersey, because they all mattered to him. Sure, the stories of Jon Hess or Michael Sowers may have captured more national attention, but Jerry took great pride to tell interesting stories of lesser-known players as well.
 
Championship or not, he cared for every player who wore the Orange and Black.
 
He does have two all-time favorite lacrosse players, though.
 
In my earliest days, I remember Jerry bringing his young children, Greg and Annie, to watch lacrosse games and hopefully develop the same passion for the sport that he had. They would start in the press box, and eventually end on the field, sometimes as ball kids, sometimes just hanging out after the game. Either way Jerry made sure they were part of a world he enjoyed so much.
 
That passion certainly passed on to the next generation.
 
Greg earned four varsity letters as a goalie at Sacred Heart and was named to the NEC All-Rookie Team. Annie will enter her senior year on the Princeton women’s team in 2021.

As much as Jerry loved being a college lacrosse SID, being a college lacrosse parent brings him immeasurable joy.
 
Jerry’s value in expanding the global exposure of Princeton athletics (and the Ivy League) should not be underestimated. He cared about doing the best for the people he led, and for the people we served. I’m proud of what Princeton accomplished under Jerry’s lead, and I’m thrilled to see him receive this deserved CoSIDA honor.