Workers who helped launch FSU sports reconnect: 'We were – and are – truly family'

When Florida State athletics burst on the scene nationally in the late 1980s, thanks in large part to coach Bobby Bowden’s football team, another team off the field played a key role in the Seminoles’ success.

Sports Information.

“It was the very, very best of times, a time when you could not wait to go to work every single day,” said Donna Turner, currently the Associate Athletic Director at Northern Illinois University and an FSU graduate.

“It was the best work environment I have ever been a part of because we were – and are – truly family.”

While FSU continues to rely on a talented sports information office that works with the media and university to promote team accomplishments – No. 10 FSU football is set to open its season against Georgia Tech in Ireland - former Seminoles primarily in sports information and marketing from decades ago recently traveled to Tallahassee from around the country for a reunion.

Former Florida State sports information, marketing employees reunite

Orchestrated by Wayne Hogan, the program’s former sports information director and interim athletic director who enjoyed a successful career in athletics administration, the weekend was affectionally coined “Hogan’s Heroes.”

The itinerary included a reception and a campus/athletic facility tour. Hogan also surprised returnees and arranged a round table discussion filled with familiar faces from their time at FSU. The group included Charlie Ward, Pat Kennedy, Chip Baker, Gene Deckerhoff, Bernie Waxman, Sue Hall and Jim Crosby and reminisced about their recollections of the 1980s and 1990s.

For some, it was the first time they had returned to FSU since they worked in an athletics center that looked nothing like the new version in the north end of Doak Campbell Stadium.

Despite the years apart, the group immediately reconnected and celebrated the past and present.

“I often refer back to my time at Florida State as a student assistant in the sports information office as time spent building the foundation of my career,” said Jessica Reo, currently Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director/Senior Women's Administrator at Temple and an FSU graduate.

“Wayne and the people he hired weren’t afraid to correct you when you were wrong and hug you as you walked out the door. I learned that an environment that is supportive and not always perfect is a place to grow and thrive and I have searched for such an environment to work in since. It’s very elusive and difficult to build because trust can be hard to come by at times – but when you do have it, boy is it amazing. And that’s what Wayne built.

“We are all friends for life – and this reunion proved that.”

The more than 50 returnees included Sheldon Bream of Bream Speaker Management, LLC; Bob Kormondy, a cameraman with NBC Sports; Bob Burda, Chief Administrative Officer & Special Projects of the Big 12 Conference; Mark Zeigler, a senior lecturer and director of first year experience programs in Business Career Services at FSU's College of Business; Melanie McCullough, Director of Communications at the American Cancer Society; and Dan Pearson, Hogan's predecessor at FSU.

"Seeing so many of our SID team members have such fond memories and appreciation for time spent here after 30 and 40 years says it all," said Hogan, retired from athletics administration but owner and CEO at Mango Media Management, LLC. in Madeira Beach.

"I am so proud of every one of them. These people were so young and hungry then and were willing to learn on the fly. They used that foundation to create extraordinary success from coast to coast."

Many were part of the Seminoles’ unprecedent performance under Bowden in the 1990s. FSU football won national championships in 1993 and 1999 and finished No. 2 twice and No. 3 five times over the course of 14 seasons from 1987-2000.

Turner, in the early 1990s, was the football contact for Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward. Ward joked the two spent so much time together that “people thought we were dating.” And, to this day, Ward, media shy at FSU, often wonders of the identity (still undisclosed) of the person from FSU athletics who visited his parents' home in Thomasville, Georgia, prior to the 1993 season. The three discussed the positive impact Ward could make in interviews and press conferences.

FSU athletics' past and present reconnect during 'Hogan's Heroes' reunion

Rob Wilson, in his 17th year as Associate Director of Athletics for Communications and his 37th as a member of the FSU athletics staff, recalled those days when the sports information office mailed the weekly football release to the media each Monday. Wilson often walked across the street from the athletics center to the football dormitory (Burt Reynolds Hall) on Sunday mornings to gather quotes from players on upcoming opponents.

“It was such an incredible time with Seminole athletics as our sports were just exploding on the scene, “ Wilson said of FSU's media relations operations in the 80s and 90s that was nationally acclaimed by the sports media.

“To match that with such a wonderful group of people made it truly special, but it was the people who made the job so rewarding. We were allowed to be innovative and try unique things which made FSU fun for the press to work with as well. No social media made it heaven as well. I know the motto of one very prominent program was ‘we don’t want to be first, and we don’t want to be last.’

“We were never afraid to be first.”

Bob Thomas had a unique view from both sides of the fence.

He was FSU’s beat writer for the Florida Times-Union from 1995-2008 and then joined the FSU sports information office from 2009-2020 as an Associate Sports Information Director. Thomas was also the football contact during Bowden’s final season in 2009, forced into retirement at the age of 80.

“From my first game covering the program – the 1989 opener against Southern Miss at Jacksonville – through my years on the beat, I never ran across a more accommodating sports information staff,” Thomas said. “They treated everyone with respect and a willingness to assist. In many ways they were an extension of Coach Bowden’s personality, warm and welcoming.

"The newspaper industry was changing when I joined the staff in 2009, but the environment that Wayne and Rob had created was important to continue. It was FSU’s identity, and I was proud to be a part of it."

Chuck Walsh, in his 25th year at FSU and his 16th as the Deputy Director of Sports Information after serving for nine years as an Associate Director of Sports Information, credited the group for helping shape his career.

“The professionals who were on campus for the Hogan’s Heroes celebration are all pioneers in the sports information industry,” Walsh said.

“Many of them have been, and will always be, mentors for me during my career. The many aspects of sports public relations they taught me then are still relevant in today’s world which changes daily. Our job is no longer just helping fill column inches on the pages of newspaper; it’s helping populate the 24-hour news cycle that dominates our world on so many social media platforms.

"With that being said, the student-athletes and coaches are still, and will always be, the reason to do what I do every day.”

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State sports reunion celebrates those behind the scenes