College Sports Information Directors of America

Related Content
• 2021 Special Awards Announcements and Features
• 2020 Special Awards Announcements and Features
• #CoSIDA21 Virtual Convention Home
• Past Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award Recipients

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Special note: Due to the cancelation of the in-person 2020 and 2021 conventions, our CoSIDA Special Awards winners from those two years are being honored online this year. Leading up to our 2021 June Convention, we will honor many of them via video tributes and interviews. Along with video interviews, you also will find links to the recipients' feature stories and photo galleries.

An interview with the 2021 and 2020 Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award Recipients

Inteview with Ira Thor – New Jersey City University Senior Director of University Communications and Media Relations / CoSIDA Professional Development & Education Committee

• See below to read more about 2021 winner Jim Carr of the NAIA
• Click here for a feature on 2020 winner Malcolm Moran of IUPUI and the USBWA 

Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award
Presented to an individual who, or an organization which, has made a lasting contribution to intercollegiate athletics, has demonstrated a long and consistent commitment to excellence and has been a loyal supporter of CoSIDA and its mission. Voted on by the CoSIDA Board only when worthy candidates are nominated.
 



Jim Carr – NAIA, President and CEO

2021 Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award

by Jay Stancil – Union College (Ky.) Director of Strategic Sports Communications
 
A seat at the table. To be heard. To be considered a valuable member of an organization.

These are the aspirations of persons wanting to make a difference. To achieve such a status requires hard work, dedication, and a resume of exemplary work. It also helps to have an ally.

Fortunately for sports information directors in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (the NAIA), they have such an ally in Jim Carr, the President and CEO of the national association.

Carr has long championed the value and importance of athletic communications within the NAIA ranks, and due to these efforts, he is the 2021 recipient of the Keith Jackson Eternal Flame award from the College Sports Information Directors of America association (CoSIDA).
 

“I cannot think of anyone who has advocated more for the SID/communications position at the NAIA level than Jim Carr,” said Cindy Potter, CoSIDA First Vice President from NAIA institution Columbia College.

“He has truly remained steadfast in his support and has been vocal at the Council of Presidents and National Administrative Council levels of the NAIA when it comes to institutions recognizing how vital and significant the position is. Jim’s promotion of CoSIDA is just as significant, making him the perfect choice for the 2021 Keith Jackson Award.”

Named after longtime ABC broadcaster and media Hall of Famer Keith Jackson, who was known as the “voice of college football,” the Keith Jackson Award recognizes individuals for their lasting contributions to intercollegiate athletics and for being a loyal supporter of CoSIDA and its mission. Past recipients include Pat Summit, the legendary University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach who died in 2016, and ESPN broadcaster and former college head coach Dick Vitale, NCAA Division III Interim Vice President Louise McCleary and Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff.

Carr has been with the NAIA since 1998, assuming the role of President and CEO in 2006. Before joining the NAIA, he completed his J.D. at Duke University in 1994 and then practiced law with the firm of Maynard, Cooper and Gale, P.C. in Birmingham, AL (from 1994-1998) in the areas of public finance, corporate and intellectual property. Carr also worked in collegiate athletics development and served as Director of Licensing at UNLV from 1989-1991. 

Since taking over the NAIA helm, Carr has worked hard to help elevate the profile of sports information directors within the NAIA.

“We started working on this shortly after the financial crises in 2008 and 2009 as many were cutting the position and resources,” Carr explained. “It might be a very different job than an athletic trainer, but (sports communications) is a very important need as well to tell the story and advance the institution. SIDs provide some pretty core needs and requirements the NAIA needs as well. It was a little bit selfish as well, but we need reliable statistics, we need to make sure the scores are reported, assist in the rankings and selection of national championships. Sports information directors play a huge role in that.”

Not long after taking over as President and CEO, Carr met with members of the NAIA-SIDA Board of Directors at the 2006 NAIA Football Championship game to address concerns regarding the state of athletic communications within the Association.

Soon thereafter, the NAIA and the NAIA-SIDA began working on two important projects: the SID White Paper and getting SID representation on the National Administrative Council (NAC), which is one of the two governing bodies in the NAIA.

In 2011, the measure was approved for an SID to serve on the NAC. The SID White Paper took longer to see come to fruition. However, the NAIA Council of Presidents approved it in the fall of 2015, which strongly recommended that all new members of the Association have a full-time sports information director.

To say that neither of these would have been approved without the backing and support of Carr is an understatement.

“SIDs are critically important to advancing and promoting not only the athletic department but the institution as well,” Carr said. “I feel very strongly to talk to the (college) presidents who are in my sphere of influence to say this.

“When you think about the work of the NAC,” Carr continued, “it's all about competition for the most part and the pathway to national championships. There were decisions being made, and we obviously need the perspective of sports information directors who didn't have a seat at the table. To have an expert in the room was very important, and it's something that other NAC members appreciate.”
 
Carr’s leadership has been a beacon of light and serves as evidence as to why he is deserving of this honor.

The Keith Jackson Award is the most recent accolade for Carr. He was elected to his alma mater Millsaps College’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011 after a standout college basketball career.  In 1990 he earned an M.S. in sports management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and was named Alumnus of the Year in 2009. Carr received an honorary doctorate from Webber International University in 2014.