Related Content
• 2023 Special Awards Announcements and Features
• #CSCUnite23 Convention Home
• Past Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients
Eric McDowell – The Eric Idea Agency / 2014-15 CSC President
CSC Lifetime Achievement Award
by Dan O’Connell – Towson University (retired)
Eric McDowell, one of the honorees of a 2023 CSC Lifetime Achievement Award, has been a prominent member of the organization since he became a sports information director when he was an undergraduate at the University of New Haven in his junior year. Peter Vanderveer was the SID and Eric had been his student assistant. When Vanderveer left, Athletic Director Joe Machnik named Eric as the SID … and it went very well.
After he graduated from New Haven, Eric became the assistant sports information director at New Hampshire for head SID Mike Bruckner. During his time at UNH, he served as the publicity director for the Yankee Conference, a prestigious football conference consisting of NCAA Division I-AA schools in the East.
When Bruckner left UNH for a position at Muhlenberg College, Eric was promoted to be the sports information director at New Hampshire.
A lifelong New Englander who grew up on Cape Cod (in Dennis, Massachusetts), Eric made a cross-country move when he was named athletic communications leader at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a school with potential that was moving to NCAA Division I status.
Eric McDowell with his wife, Jennifer and daughter, Sara, on a cruise ship.
In 1999, Eric made a different kind of move as he became the director of media relations of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. That was the season that a Warrior player choked the coach and Eric had to deal with that infamous situation. However, Eric learned what it’s like to work in professional sports before he was let go after one season when ownership changed.
The Golden State experience taught Eric an important lesson. It taught him that he belonged in college. He returned to New England after he was named the SID at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He later went to Union College in Schenectady, New York for his final college athletic professional experience.
McDowell settled in at Union and enjoyed a very successful tenure. One highlight was serving as the head media relations contact of Union’s 2014 NCAA Division I national championship ice hockey team.
During that time, he became very involved in the workings of CSC (then CoSIDA). He joined many convention panels and joined many volunteer committees.
McDowell, who retired from Union in 2018, runs his own business these days, specializing in public relations, event management and website content. It is appropriately called the “The Eric Idea Agency.”
It is a very appropriate name since he demonstrated his imagination and thinking outside-the-box during his years with CSC.
"Eric created a number of outstanding programming ideas which were well-received,” recalls Dennis O’Donnell, the recently retired SID at the University of Rochester and a CSC Hall of Famer. O’Donnell served as one of the programming leaders for the convention for several years, and often encouraged Eric to come up with ideas for creative panels.
"Eric did several versions of his CSC Game Show Network, imitating on The Price is Right and Family Feud,” O’Donnell added. “We never got around to one I wanted to try — 'are you smarter than an assistant coach?'.
"His clever and outstanding programming ideas were well received,” O’Donnell said. “In Calgary, he ran his most ambitious panel yet. He was the writer and creator of the press conference panel. He set up press conferences that featured about a dozen SID’s, role-playing, and they were set up with planned pitfalls for the moderators and the speakers. It was spontaneous and people played their roles terrifically! After each session, Eric analyzed it and pointed out what went wrong.”
The press conferences included one with an A.D., slick head coach and an old-time head coach, where the school tried to convince that the old-time coach had retired on his own (with 499 career wins). Then there was a press conference where the school president and a very nervous A.D. were announcing that the school was dropping football. Finally, there was an NCAA Tournament post-game press conference (with all the actual NCAA signage) where the coach who was being interviewed felt his team lost because of bad officiating.
O’Donnell added, “These presentations were usually scheduled after lunch to bring the membership back into the learning curve. They were all well attended and well-received."
As a member of the CSC Board, Eric became a very visible member of the volunteer leadership group.
He initiated and implemented the list of CSC Hall of Famers and Academic All-America® to be displayed at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis. He also served on the search committee for the new position of Executive Director.
Named to the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in in 2009, McDowell was also named as the winner of the Warren Berg Award in 2016, an award presented to the top college division SID in the organization. Eric was also the charter chair of the College Division Management Advisory Committee.
Eventually, he moved into the role of CSC President for the 2014-15 academic year. As president, he was the first one to visit the NCAA staff, the CIS headquarters in Canada and the NAIA headquarters in Kansas City. He made a huge effort to recruit NAIA schools, Canadian schools and junior colleges to the organization.
One of the ways he accomplished this was that, during his presidency, the Academic All-America® program was expanded, a move which has had a dramatic effect on participation.
After the end of his presidency, McDowell still kept very active in the organization with the establishment of CoSIDA U committee (now CSC U) and program, a way for students and young professionals to become members of the profession. In 2018, right before the annual convention, McDowell organized the first CoSIDA U camp, held in person, in Annapolis, Maryland.
Yet, the thing that Eric liked the most about being an SID was the interactions he had with student-athletes. Nothing made him happier than helping one of his student-athletes receive a national award or get any type of recognition.
In 2017, Union College volleyball player Katherine Moeller took the time to salute Eric.
She wrote, “Eric has been the rock of the Union College athletics department. I was lucky enough to participate in Union’s work-study program and was placed in the gym. Coincidentally, Eric’s office was next to my coach’s office, so I have gotten to know him very deeply throughout my four years at Union. Whether it is on the sidelines or at off-season charity events, Eric is the most animated person in the room. I know I speak for many in Union Athletics when I say I have never met someone who loves their job more than Eric McDowell.
“A good word to describe Eric is involved. He has aided multiple assistants in collecting statistics, writing articles, and truly caring for each athlete individually on a personal level,” Moeller continued. “Whenever I was named to a particular award, I would receive personal congratulatory emails from him before I even knew I had gotten the award myself.
One of my fondest memories of graduation weekend was at the senior letter ceremony when Eric spoke in front of all student-athletes and their families. Being the creative and unique person he is, he put together a lengthy poem, which told the stories of the most successful teams and senior athletes of the year using everyone’s names. What made this more special was that when Eric mentioned an athlete by name, he looked for their face in the crowd to make sure he saw them.“
Now that he is no longer a SID, Eric can spend more time with his wife Jennifer and 11-year-old daughter Sara.
However, he still keeps a hand in the profession, helping out at local schools when the need arises. In March for example, McDonnell served as the press conference moderator at the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball regional tournament in Albany, New York.
For his devotion, passion and dedication to CSC, McDowell is an outstanding representative to receive the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Gallery: (4-7-2023) Eric McDowell, Lifetime Achievement