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CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Lenny Reich – University of Mount Union, Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director
CoSIDA Hall of Fame Class of 2022
by Sam Atkinson – Gallaudet University, Associate Athletic Director for Communications
When you begin a career mentored by CoSIDA Hall of Famers and later work alongside CoSIDA Hall of Famers, it is only natural that years later you end up in the CoSIDA Hall of Fame. That is
Lenny Reich’s career in athletic communications in a nutshell.
Reich’s legendary career spans decades — from his whirlwind start at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania to stops at Centenary (N.J.) College, Gulf South Conference, Defiance College and Marian (Wis.) College — before he and his wife, Helen whom he met at Defiance, returned to the state of Ohio to settle down. Reich worked at Capital University from 2000-08 until he landed at University of Mount Union in 2008.
In June, Reich will be honored with a CoSIDA Hall of Fame honor and also will receive his 25-Year Award for the long-time service. He also earned CoSIDA’s Warren Berg Award in 2019, given annually to a college division member for outstanding contributions and who has brought prestige and dignity to the profession.
Lenny Reich with his wife Helen and daughter Caroline.
Reich’s career went to a different level as he promoted Mount Union teams which include national powerhouse programs in football and men’s track and field. The Mount Union football team appeared in the NCAA Division III championship game for eight consecutive years (2008-15) and made two more appearances in 2017-18, with the Purple Raiders lifted the walnut and bronze trophy four times during that stretch. In track and field, the Purple Raiders men’s track and field program won national outdoor titles 2014 and 2018 and pulled off the rare feat of sweeping the 2018 indoor and outdoor crowns.
"Lenny is a classic small college professional who manages to get the job done every time no matter what the circumstances. His work with the Mount Union football team should be a case study for any NCAA Division III SID who has a perennial national power,” noted CoSIDA Hall of Famer Dave Wrath (Class of 2003), who retired from Augustana (Ill.) College in 2021 after a 40-year career. “What should never get lost, however, is how well Lenny services all the sports on his campus. He is a standard bearer who has also been able to successfully juggle his work along with his family.”
Reich has worked with a college football legend in Mount Union football head coach Larry Kehres, who boasts the highest winning percentage in college football history (332-24-3, 92.9 percent), owns the most national titles (11) and most unbeaten seasons (21) of any college football coach in history. Kehres led Mount Union for 27 seasons (1986-2012) before turning the program reigns to his son, Vince who won titles in 2015 and 17 while the eldest Kehres served as the school’s Athletic Director from 1985-2020.
“Lenny is a legend already?,” exclaimed Kehres after being asked to describe Reich’s legendary career. After a light laugh, Kehres spoke glowingly about Reich, his work ethic and his dedication to the athletic communications field for a half-hour straight.
“I have worked with Lenny for everyday going on 14 years. Sometimes he would get overlooked but every day he gets the job done,” said Kehres, who was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017. “He has great patience and I’ve always admired that. To do the sports information job well, you need that. He has high goals for himself and his staff. He goes under- appreciated and so does everyone in the athletic communications field. I am thrilled that he is getting recognized by CoSIDA with his induction into the Hall of Fame.”
“I am not sure I would consider myself a legend but someone who has been around a long time. There has been a lot of people to help me along the way and I have wanted to help people along the way as well,” said Reich, when asked about his legendary career and Hall of Fame induction. “I definitely never thought about the CoSIDA Hall of Fame and was stunned when I got the call earlier this year. I have been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time with a lot of really good people around me along the way.”
Reich, who was elevated to Assistant Athletic Director in April 2012, was encouraged by Kehres to get involved in national service to CoSIDA, D3SIDA and NCAA Division III. He also served as D3SIDA president and long-time board member for that Division III SID group and has been on NCAA regional committees as well.
“When you get asked to help your professional organization, if someone thinks you can do it, it is selfish to not help,” said Kehres, who served as the President of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) in 2010. “Once you do it, you find it rewarding and the friends you get out of it are amazing. I knew what it meant to me from networking and friendships, I didn’t want him to miss out on that.”
“Larry was always my biggest advocate to get involved in those things. I don’t think I would be as involved in things without his support,” noted Reich, who is serving his third and final year as a CoSIDA Executive Board at-large representative. “Anytime I was asked to serve as a volunteer, I ran things by him and he was always encouraging and supportive.”
"The fact that Lenny is only the second-ever at-large representative on the CoSIDA Board to come from a non-Division I school is a testament to the respect he has in our profession,” said. He is trusted to see how decisions will affect the entire membership while staying true to his Division III roots. The role is only an extension of Lenny's leadership by example as we all look up to how he promotes Mount Union. He is simply one of the best,” said Great Northwest Athletic Conference Assistant Commissioner for Communications Blake Timm. Timm, a CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductee in 2020, is the other non-Division I person to be elected to the CoSIDA Board as an at-large representative.
“Over the years, I have watched Lenny develop into an amazing leader at his institution, for his conference and nationally with his committee work at CoSIDA and the NCAA on behalf of all Division III athletics communication professionals,” said NCAA Division III Vice President Louise McCleary. “Lenny’s commitment and passion to ensure a high- quality experience for student-athletes is evident in his daily work and committee service. Lenny is so deserving of this national recognition.”
Reich has spent the majority of his career working alongside several CoSIDA Hall of Famers in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) and with other longtime SIDs who became close friends and colleagues.
"Lenny has been a dear friend of mine for more than 20 years and is a great asset to the OAC and CoSIDA as a whole,” noted Ohio Northern University Director of Sports Information Tim Glon.
“He has taught dozens of young men and women how to be professionals in the world of sports information. He does everything with class, enthusiasm and optimism and I am thrilled for him and his family that he is receiving this much-deserved award. He is truly a giant in our field.”
The OAC is the third-oldest athletic conference, and Reich will become the third OAC SID to be inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame. He joins former Baldwin Wallace SID Kevin Ruple (Class of 2008) and the late Chris Wenzler (Class of 2021) from John Carroll.
“Kevin and Chris worked at one school their entire career. That is simply incredible,” Reich said. “The three of us worked closely together over the years. They were always generous with their time with me. I am very humble to be in the same category as those two.”
One of Reich’s treasured friendships in his career was the one he had with Wenzler, a titan and leader in the athletic communications field in his own right.
“Chris was a tremendous human being. I was glad he wanted to be my friend and vice versa. We had a lot of similarities as we were both raising families and his wife (Melissa) was from the same part of Pennsylvania (Erie) where I grew up. We had common backgrounds and interests and we viewed the athletic communications business through a similar prism,” said Reich.
Melissa Wenzler, Assistant Director of Enrollment at JCU, noted the long-time friendship between Reich and her late husband.
“It was a friendship that started right away. Both Chris and Lenny are consummate professionals. Whenever they visited the opposing school Chris made it comfortable for Lenny and vice versa. That professional relationship helped grow the friendship. There is no love lost between UMU and JCU but there is a true sense of camaraderie between the two,” she said. “Even though Chris was a little bit older than Lenny he never stopped learning from him. Lenny is a gem. He is the type of friend everyone should have in their corner.”
Reich was that friend and more to Chris, who passed on June 23, 2020, from a two-and-a-half year battle of multiple myeloma. Reich was a key communicator sharing updates on Chris’s journey with SID colleagues.
“Lenny was a godsend during that time. I knew how much CoSIDA meant to Chris and how proud he was to be a part of that community. Lenny kept everybody updated on Chris’s journey,” Wenzler stated.
When asked what it meant to see Chris and Lenny get inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in back-to-back years, Melissa was left speechless for a moment before sharing the following.
“It is pretty amazing. It makes me sad that Chris is not here to see it. They shared a passion for athletics and NCAA Division III. I know he would be Lenny’s biggest cheerleader as Lenny was Chris’s biggest cheerleader. Lenny called me after he received the news that about his Hall of Fame induction. That was very special that he thought to have me on the top of his list to contact. It is a honor that their names will be near each other in the Hall of Fame list.”
Reich had a similar sentiment when asked about this moment and being inducted so close to his dear late friend.
“The biggest thing I am taken with is that my name is going to be next to his in Indianapolis [the location of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame inside the NCAA Hall of Champions],” Reich noted, his voice trailing off filled with emotion.
Reich’s Hall of Fame career has been quite the journey with his wife Helen and daughter Caroline by his side. It’s a journey that has landed him, rightfully so, into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame where he belongs next to others who helped to shape and mold him into the person he is today.
Gallery: (5-10-2022) Lenny Reich - CoSIDA Hall of Fame