Mentoring Aspiring Sports Professionals

I’m very fortunate to have worked at several blue-chip brands and on some incredible events in my sports career. Landing a job in sports can be really difficult, and then once you get there, the grind really begins. I know the challenges and lifestyle quite well, so I try to help aspiring young professionals or anyone who wants to work in sports (typically in content production, marketing, or sportswriting lanes, but I’m open to discussing any goals) by passing on as much advice and mentorship as I can. Not a week goes by in which I don’t talk to a young candidate or candidates about skills they should develop, steps they can take to increase their chances at landing jobs, or how they can give themselves a better chance to succeed.

If you’d like to connect, please reach out to me here.

In my time at FOX Sports, I was also involved with a couple other coaching and mentorship initiatives to help give feedback and opportunities to college students through the FOX Sports University program:

FOX Sports University Courses

Each semester, FOX Sports University partners with a number of schools across the country and assigns them a topical semester-long project, such as creating marketing plans for the Super Bowl, World Series, or other signature FOX event. Throughout the course, FOX Sports employees check in to provide feedback in their specific areas (PR, Digital, Linear Production, Sales, etc.) to help educate students on what life “in the field” is like.

An example — I had the chance to visit Butler University as part of the FOX Sports U program to watch students present on their Fall project: creating a hypothetical 360-degree campaign to market the 2019 Women’s World Cup. They put a ton of thought and effort into their projects, coming up with video ad spots for linear and digital, custom graphics for every platform, creating plans for on-site stunt activations in nine U.S. cities, integration with FOX TV shows and upcoming movies, and so much more, all unified with a consistent campaign look and feel.

Many FOX Sports University students have moved on to jobs at major networks, professional teams (including Josh Hart who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers), and other incredible opportunities. We also hired a number of these students for our own team at FOX Sports Digital.

This was one of my favorite programs to participate in, and I stepped out of each and every classroom amazed at the brilliant minds that will eventually be the leaders of sports media.

FOX Field Pass

Each week of the college football season, FOX Sports brought incredible sideline access to fans through unique FOX Sports University partnerships with schools. Students were paid and given real on-the-field experience capturing content for use on official FOX Sports digital and social platforms. That captured content was sent back to my team of professional producers in Los Angeles, who added graphics and turned dozens of individual clips into a cohesive narrative around some of the sport’s biggest matchups. The best of the best clips were even integrated into TV broadcasts in near real-time on FOX, FS1, and FS2.

In addition to preparing students for what to expect and how to approach their time and work on the sideline, I was in constant communication with them throughout the games, offering live feedback and tips on best shot angles, framing, and other opportunities to improve. This direct experience working with aspiring producers also created a strong pool of talent for us to source for future internship and employment opportunities.

Check out Instagram Stories Highlights versions of FOX Field Pass for Michigan-Ohio State and Texas-Oklahoma.

Job Shadowing

In addition to the opportunities above, students who were part of the FOX Sports U program would occasionally get the chance to come out to our LA and NYC studios to shadow various departments to see their potential future jobs in action.