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By Kevin McKinney, University of Wyoming Senior Associate AD for External Operations
For Tim Harkins, it was a challenging, frightening, yet exciting decision.
Leaving one profession that is comfortable to dive into another with all of its uncertainty is not easy, especially when one has a wife and a three-year old daughter to think about. But that’s what Harkins did. A 1983 graduate of the University of Kansas with a double major in journalism and accounting, Harkins had been in the banking business in Colorado for five years. But he really wasn’t happy in that world.
Nearly 30 years later he is happy in his second profession. Serving as associate athletics director for media relations at Wyoming, he is a proud grandfather (daughter Tess has a seven-year old son, Hayden), and proud to be in collegiate athletics as
a sports information director. He is celebrating his 25th year in the profession at the University of Wyoming
“Five years in the banking business was enough for me,” Harkins says. “I knew I wanted something else, and felt it was collegiate athletics,”
And he did something about it.
Harkins went to Gary Ozzello, long-time SID at Colorado State University, and asked if he could volunteer
in Gary’s office.
“I visited with Gary and asked him if a local businessman, who eventually wanted to get into college athletics, could volunteer in the CSU athletics department,” Harkins explained. “He was terrific and said he could use the help. My assignment was to run the post-game interview room for football and help out at men’s and women’s basketball games. That allowed me to get my foot in the door.”
Ozzello advised Harkins to obtain a graduate degree in athletic administration and pursue his dream.
So as a 27-year-old bread-winner, Harkins quit the banking business and moved his family to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he worked on his master’s in athletic administration. While there, he interned for Don Tomkalski in the Tulsa sports information office.
“I was married with a three-year-old daughter. At the time I felt I had to do it,” Harkins said. “I knew that if I didn’t do it then, I never would.”
Harkins earned his master’s from Tulsa, and in the fall of 1990, took a position at the University of Utah, splitting his one-year internship with SIDs Bruce Woodbury and Liz Abel, and marketing director Marc Amicone. He really enjoyed his time in athletic media relations, and felt that was the direction he wanted to go.
“My experiences at all three schools was invaluable, and I thank Gary, Don, Bruce, Liz and Marc for all they did for me,” says Harkins. “They got me going into the professional direction that made me the happiest.”
In 1991, Harkins was hired at the University of Wyoming as the assistant SID and the rest, as they say, is history. When SID Kevin McKinney moved to another position in the department in 2007, Harkins was named the Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations, Public Relations and Broadcasting.
“I can’t thank Kevin (McKinney) enough for the opportunity he gave me all those years ago,” said Harkins. “It began a great working relationship and a great friendship, and it brought me to a place that has become my home for over 20 years.
“I still like working with the kids. I really enjoy that. They keep me young. After all these years the business is still very exciting to me because it’s constantly changing.
“The profession is very special. I think SID’s are unique. We work together possibly more than any other area of an athletics department. We exchange information and work closely with each other on a weekly basis. It’s a special level of professional interaction and camaraderie.”
According to Harkins, just about every person in the SID business will tell you it’s only drawback is the time away from family.
“At some point it comes down to staying in the profession and understanding the time commitment or going a different direction,” Harkins says. “The profession
has been good to me, and I’m happy I stayed with it.”
Through his quarter century at Wyoming, Harkins has understandably experienced a great deal of change in the business, especially over the last 10 or 15 years. But he’s done a terrific job of accepting that and moving forward.
“As in anything, the business has changed,” he says, “and change is hard sometimes. I believe a person has to embrace change. Because of social media, SIDs have lost a little bit of our ability to determine when and how something is released. In this day and time, things get out there immediately. Student-athletes and even coaches make their own announcements often without really realizing it. We all work to minimize it, but to a degree we have to accept it.”
Harkins believes that the individuals in the various mediums with whom he works haven’t changed all that much.
“Most in the business are professional and have a great passion for what they do,” Harkins stated. “What has changed are the demands placed on them, especially the beat writers, because of social media. We have to understand they have had a lot more placed on their plates. They are in a transition phase like we are. We’ve all had to adapt. Everyone is being asked to do more. Writers, for example, are now asked to do video. It’s a much broader experience.”
Harkins is very proud of his UW staff and in a couple of instances, its longevity. Like him, office manager Diane Dodson also has been at Wyoming for 25 years, and women’s SID, Amy Dambro is in her 20th year.
“There aren’t too many SID offices, at least in our league (Mountain West), with much more longevity than we have,” Harkins says. “Most places change more frequently than we have. But sometimes people become connected to a certain place. Diane and Amy are Wyoming natives and alums. I have certainly become attached to this place.”
As with anyone who has been around a place as long as Harkins has, there are great memories.
“Our football win at Colorado State (arch rival) in 1996, was one of my greatest,” he says with a smile. “That victory put Wyoming in the inaugural Western Athletic Conference (UW’s conference at the time) championship game. We led the country in passing that season and were one of the most exciting offenses in college football.
“I think the 2002 basketball season also was special to me because the Cowboys were the regular-season champions and beat nationally ranked Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“Our football team’s 2004 win over heavily favored UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl was fun, as was the Cowgirls’ 2007 WNIT championship run. We got the opportunity to see a Cowgirl program grow on the floor and in terms of fan support. That program went from playing in front of a few hundred fans to a sold-out arena of 15,000 in the same season. It was remarkable and exciting.”
Of all the changes he’s experienced during his career to date, what does he miss the most? He’ll tell you the lack of personal contact with others in the business.
“We used to talk to one another a lot more, but as time demands have changed it has become much easier to email or text one another,” Harkins remarked. “There are still long-time friends in the business that I speak with on the phone, but that personal contact is not as frequent as it once was.
“With that said, I do still like the connection we have in our profession. Unlike some other areas in college athletics, we interact with each other in one form or another on a daily basis in media relations. That camaraderie is still present and makes our profession special.”
That ability to adjust to change has helped make Tim Harkins one of the best in his profession.