College Sports Information Directors of America

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• Past Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients

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Dave Williford – University of Oregon, Executive Assistant Athletic Director for Media Services (Retired)

CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award

by Tim Tessalone – University of Southern California, Consultant and Sports Information Director (retired)/CoSIDA Special Awards Committee

Even in retirement, it’s likely that most of the apparel in the closets and drawers of 2022 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Dave Williford features a Nike swoosh.

When you worked 33 years in the sports information office at the University of Oregon, aka the “laboratory” of the famous shoe and clothing manufacturer in nearby Beaverton, it’s a good bet that your apparel sports the Nike logo … and likely in a wide hue of neon colors.
 
“Yes, I still have a lot of my Oregon stuff, but less and less of it still fits,” Williford laughed. “Oregon’s recent success has been due in large part to the generosity of Nike and (co-founder) Phil Knight. All of us who worked there were very fortunate to enjoy that relationship.”
 
Williford once helped out USA Track & Field at an indoor track meet in Portland, where his USATF-supplied outfit was provided by the governing body’s sponsor, Nike competitor adidas.
 
“Wouldn’t you know it, I came face-to-face with Phil Knight at the meet, wearing adidas gear,” said Williford. “We both laughed; he understood.”
 

Williford began as an assistant sports information director at Oregon in 1985, then became co-Sports Information Director in 1996. He added head SID and Assistant Athletic Director titles a year later and then was promoted to Executive Assistant Athletic Director for Media Services before retiring in the summer of 2017.
 
Three Duck sports that he worked directly with rose to national prominence during his tenure:  football, women’s basketball and track and field. Williford coordinated media efforts at 18 football bowl games (including a pair of national championship appearances and three Rose Bowls). He also publicized three Heisman Trophy finalists, including 2014 Heisman winner Marcus Mariota.
 
Williford also was a media coordinator at two U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene and a pair of NCAA men’s basketball first/second round tournaments.
 
For the totality of his distinguished publicity efforts for Oregon’s 20 sports, Williford was presented in 2017 with the athletic department’s “Order of the O,” which goes to “individuals who have gone above and beyond in their services to the university and its student-athletes.”
 
During his tenure, Oregon athletics became a major force on the national scene.
 
“It was gratifying to participate in the progress that Oregon made as our teams got better and received more attention,” Williford noted. “I feel fortunate to have worked at Oregon at the time I did. And working with the student-athletes kept me young, or at least younger.”
 
Williford came to Oregon with a strong background as a communications professional.
 
The Kansas graduate served two years (1977-78) as an assistant director for public relations at Culver-Stockton College, then spent six years (1979-84) at Drake, the first three as assistant SID and the final three as head sports information director.
 
It was at Drake that he experienced some big-time events that would prepare him well for his Oregon days. Not only did he work the world-renowned Drake Relays, but the Bulldog football team posted upset wins at Kansas State and twice at Colorado.
 
And, Williford was a master at his craft.
 
“The sports information director is an umpire, you’re never going to make everybody happy,” he told the Duck Pod podcast in 2017. “You’re in the middle. I always felt it was my job to facilitate, the best I could, relationships and interactions between the news media, administrators, coaches and athletes.”
 
He said he believed his job was to “give (those groups) a voice that might have gone unheard.”
 
After retiring, Williford remained in Springfield, the next town over from Eugene. He still attends many Oregon sports events yet says, “But now when the game is over, I get to leave.” He continues to serve on the Oregon Hall of Fame committee.
 
Retirement allows him to spend time as a dutiful grandfather to his two young grandkids, although he notes that there are times he would “rather be working - sometimes that’s much easier than being a grandpa!”
 
He also has time to reflect on his career that culminated with his Lifetime Achievement Award from CoSIDA.
 
“When I began my journey in sports information years ago, I never envisioned the ride ending like this,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my family and the people I worked with who went beyond the call of duty in their jobs.”
 
When CoSIDA notified Williford that he was a Lifetime Achievement Award winner, he initially was taken aback.
 
“I half-read the email because I thought it had been mistakenly sent to me,” he said. “I didn’t take it seriously at first. When I realized it was real, it was unbelievable, almost surreal. I am humbled to be in a class with some of the profession’s icons and to be recognized.”
 
Dave Williford, you are one of those icons, too … whether or not you are wearing apparel with that iconic Nike logo.