July 29, 2008
By Greg Kincaid, Penn State Athletic Communications Student Assistant
The clock counts down to 0:00 on an autumn football Saturday. The Nittany Lions head back to the locker room victorious. As the Penn State faithful files out of Beaver Stadium, most of the 107,000 people are done for the day, looking to relax and hit the post-game tailgates. But for one man, the final countdown on the scoreboard is a sign that chaos has just begun.
Penn State Football Sports Information Director (SID) Jeff Nelson is the man behind the scenes that many people do not know about. Nelson is in his 15th year with Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics, all as the SID for head coach Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions football team. The three-hour game may be one of the few times that Nelson gets to relax.
Once the clock hits zero at home or on the road, Nelson and his staff are off to work. Once the game concludes, Nelson shifts his attention towards the press conference with Coach Paterno and the media. After Paterno is finished speaking with the media, Nelson brings select players into the media room for questioning. Following that, the staff heads back to the press box to posts quotes, photos, and a post-game release to the website. After a long football Saturday, the staff leaves and heads home to relax for the rest of the night.
"Once you get into the season, you kind of get into a routine," says Nelson. "It's kind of like going to school. After you go to school for a week, you get yourself into a routine."
During the season, not including football Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are the busiest days of the week for the football SID. Beginning on Sunday, he is responsible for preparing the next set of game notes for the upcoming game. In addition, he is usually in contact with the television producer who will be carrying the next game. The producer from the station, which is usually ESPN, ABC, or the newly added Big Ten Network, usually requests interviews by Monday with players and coaches from Nelson. From there, it is Nelson's job to set up the interviews with the producer prior to Saturday kickoff. On Tuesdays, Coach Paterno and a few selected players have their weekly press conference with the media at Beaver Stadium.
Wednesdays are usually Nelson's "catch-up day" to take care of any side material that has to be completed.
Once Thursday rolls around, things begin to pick up again for Nelson, especially for a home game. For home games, Thursdays are usually the typical day where he will do walk-through tours with television. Friday afternoons are one of the busiest days for him as well, as he will usually have a final walk through with television crews and meet the late requests of the media. The highlight event that occurs on Friday night is the media relations pre-home game dinners.
Penn State has held this tradition for quite some time now. This reception usually takes place at the Nittany Lion Inn, which is located on the University Park campus. Invitees to the dinner include media and administration from the visiting school, bowl game representatives, any national media, and all the local beat writers that cover Penn State Football. Although the spotlight for this dinner has faded a bit, Nelson feels that it is still a great tradition to keep around.
"We are one of the few schools that still have a function on Friday nights," said Nelson. "It's not as big as it used to be, but we're still trying to hold on to that tradition."
Dealing With Media
Nelson believes that dealing with the media and getting people the material they need is the most difficult part of being the Penn State football SID. Penn State football has one of the largest traveling media contingents in the Big Ten Conference and in the nation. To date, 17 total newspapers cover the Nittany Lions football team on a regular basis. In total, these newspapers have a combined three million subscribers, not including online readers.
With such a large working media covering Penn State football, Nelson pointed out that it is crucial to have a good relationship with these reporters. He added that trustworthiness is the key in this profession, if the school wants to have a good working relationship with the press. In the end, he feels that the reporters are all very important to the football program.
"You want to get to the point where there could be some trust," said Nelson. "When things come up, I feel comfortable enough where I can go to somebody in the media and say, `Listen, here's the deal. I will give you a few things on background. You can't use it, but it will help you understand the situation a little bit better.'"
In 15 years at Penn State, Nelson feels that the media demand has grown with the change in technology over the last 10 years.
"The two biggest changes are the internet and how news cycles have changed," said Nelson. "You no longer have your six and 11 o'clock news, as well as just the newspaper that arrives in the morning."
Through years, Nelson has seen a change in dynamics because something that occurs in major news, within minutes can be posted on a website. Search engines then could pick up these stories when people perform a search. This has caused reporters to be more demanding, so they can rush to be the first one to get the breaking news on the internet.
A changing media landscape had led to benefits for Penn State Athletics, according to Nelson. The recent addition of the Big Ten Network (BTN) has been significant to the football program and all of Penn State Athletics. The BTN, which was launched in August of 2007, is the first ever sports network to primarily focus on one collegiate conference that is broadly distributed. In the network's first season, not as many people were able to see games on the channel because Comcast, the main cable carrier in Pennsylvania, did not have a deal with the BTN.
However, on June 19, news broke that Comcast Cable and the BTN reached an agreement, which will allow most people in Pennsylvania to see Penn State athletic games and events beginning this fall.
"The Comcast deal is going to be tremendous for distribution and exposure of all of our programs," said Nelson. "From a recruiting standpoint, it is going to be very beneficial for our coaches to be able to talk to potential student athletes and say, `Hey listen, you're guaranteed to be on the Big Ten Network an x number of times this year. Your parents, your families, and your friends will be guaranteed to see you play on TV or on webcast on the Big Ten Network site.'
In the end, Nelson feels that even though the media has become more demanding, it has not affected their relationship with the school at all
"We are fortunate that the vast majority of the media that covers Penn State Football are very respectful to Coach Paterno and what he has built for 43 years," said Nelson.
Nelson cannot complain one bit about his job. He said that dealing with the legal off-field issues are not the most enjoying thing, but it's part of his job. In addition, his relationship with Coach Paterno is great, as they are in contact with each other a few times a week.
But it's not an easy job for Nelson. From the 12 post-game press conferences he organizes each season, to his stacks of old media guides, press releases, trophies, and game notes in his office, it is quite obvious what his everyday life at work is like. In the end, Nelson likes every bit of it
"Good news or bad news, you do your job, and it's an opportunity where you have to be professional and maintain your credibility," says Nelson. "The vast majority of the news with Penn State football has been good."