Josh Lively
Football
April 29, 2025
DALLAS – Tennessee earned a spot on the 2024 edition of the prestigious Super 11 Award, which is presented annually to the best performing College Sports Communicators departments in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision by the Football Writers Association of America.
This marked the second time (2016) UT has been recognized with the honor since it first began following the 2009 season. The staff was led by Associate Athletics Director of Strategic Communications Bill Martin and also included Sean Barows, Forest Jersey, Shane Switzer and Quinn Madden.
Martin, who has been a part of award-winning staffs four times throughout his career, along with the rest of the Tennessee Strategic Communications team takes great pride in providing a memorable experience for media members at Neyland Stadium. The Super 11 Award serves as a credit to all hard work and hospitality the crew offers throughout the football season, including game day operations to weekly preparations.
This year’s winners were deemed to have had excellent accessibility during the week of their games and after the game with a program’s players, coaches and coordinators/assistant coaches. FWAA members provided input during the season when press boxes were judged on how well they were run and maintained in terms of neutrality, pool reporters, noise level and accessibility to the press box that could affect a media person’s ability to do his or her job.
“Access is required to write the best examples of story-telling in our business,” 2025 FWAA President Bill Bender of The Sporting News said. “These departments set a standard with a friendly working relationship in an era where access is in some ways more difficult to come by. That professionalism helps create an environment where we can tell those behind-the-scenes stories about their players and coaches. We are grateful to these 11 schools for promoting that model.”
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and game-day operations while presenting awards and honors,…
This marked the second time (2016) UT has been recognized with the honor since it first began following the 2009 season. The staff was led by Associate Athletics Director of Strategic Communications Bill Martin and also included Sean Barows, Forest Jersey, Shane Switzer and Quinn Madden.
Martin, who has been a part of award-winning staffs four times throughout his career, along with the rest of the Tennessee Strategic Communications team takes great pride in providing a memorable experience for media members at Neyland Stadium. The Super 11 Award serves as a credit to all hard work and hospitality the crew offers throughout the football season, including game day operations to weekly preparations.
This year’s winners were deemed to have had excellent accessibility during the week of their games and after the game with a program’s players, coaches and coordinators/assistant coaches. FWAA members provided input during the season when press boxes were judged on how well they were run and maintained in terms of neutrality, pool reporters, noise level and accessibility to the press box that could affect a media person’s ability to do his or her job.
“Access is required to write the best examples of story-telling in our business,” 2025 FWAA President Bill Bender of The Sporting News said. “These departments set a standard with a friendly working relationship in an era where access is in some ways more difficult to come by. That professionalism helps create an environment where we can tell those behind-the-scenes stories about their players and coaches. We are grateful to these 11 schools for promoting that model.”
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and game-day operations while presenting awards and honors,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Tennessee Athletics…