CJC Sports Director to Retire After Nearly 27 Years at the College
Steve Russell, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Sports Director for ESPN Gainesville and WUFT-TV has announced he will be retiring at the end of 2024 after nearly 27 years at the College.
A UFCJC Broadcasting alumnus, Russell has been broadcasting his Sportscene radio show since 1998, Gainesville’s longest-running sports talk show. In addition to his duties as sports director, Russell also works for the University Athletic Association and IMG as one of the radio voices for Gator baseball broadcasts. He has also worked play-by-play and as a color analyst for Gator volleyball, women’s basketball and softball.
Russell said some of his proudest accomplishments include:
- Mentoring and helping students get work in the industry, including broadcasting, working for a sports team or doing work behind the scenes in production, editing or writing. His mentees over the years include Laura Rutledge (NFL Live, SEC Nation on ESPN), Kristina Pink (FOX Sports NFL sideline reporter), Erin Andrews (FOX Sports NFL sideline and feature reporter), Reva Labbe Kingsbury (ESPN social media manager), Chris Kirschner (New York Yankees beat reporter for The Athletic), and Trevor Sikkema (NFL Draft Analyst-Pro Football Focus).
- Working with colleagues in the Innovation News Center to grow ESPN immersion experiences, including the Intro to ESPN class, which provides experience covering high school sports teams; ESPN Gainesivlle, which provides on-air skills to do sportscasts and write stories for a radio station website; and ESPN Gainesville 2, which allows students to cover Gator sports teams, including writing web stories, live tweeting the game and doing interviews with athletes and coaches.
- Working with television sports students to help them gain skills, including live, on-air sports talent for WUFT’s “First at Five” weekday newscasts. He also introduced the “Sports in 60” course, where students learn the basics of putting together a sportscast that serves as a prerequisite to going on air during the “First at Five” newscast.
Russell’s impact on his students has been recognized by their family members. In 2020, the family of the late Robby Curry, a person with disabilities and one of Russell’s students, created the Robert Curry and Steve Russell Scholarship for CJC students who are registered with UF’s Disability Resource Center, with a preference for students who want to pursue sports journalism.
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Posted: October 11, 2024
Category: College News, Sports, Sports Media Alumni
Tagged as: Steve Russell
