Two first-time winners and nine previous ones comprise the 14th Super 11 Awards, which the Football Writers Association of America presents annually to the best performing College Sports Communicators departments in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The awards announced this week are for the 2022 season.

This year’s winners were the 11 best performing sports information/publicity departments in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision from the past year. Each was deemed to have had excellent accessibility during the week of the game and after the game–with a program’s players, coaches and assistant coaches – along with the other listed criteria on Page 21 of the 2022-23 FWAA Directory.

As for the 2022 CSC department awards, Clemson and Colorado each collected a 10th award and Nebraska a ninth. Navy won for the sixth time, Kansas State and Pitt each a fifth time and South Carolina, UAB and West Virginia each a second time. WVU has won the award twice in the past three years (2020, 2022).

WVU’s football communications unit is led by Mike Montoro, primary contact, and Michael Fragale, senior associate director of athletics communications, who have been overseeing the publicity for WVU football since 2007.

“We are proud to have received this recognition for the second time in the past three years,” Montoro said. “A lot of people are part of this honor. Coach Neal Brown, the coaching staff and the student-athletes should also get credit for this honor and distinction. Coach Brown understands what goes into publicizing a Power 5 football program and allows the media to have the needed access to the program, the players and the coaching staff so they can cover the team properly. It takes a lot of people doing their job efficiently for everything to be done the right way. Credit also needs to be given to the WVU Athletics External Team, which does an outstanding job as well.”

The first-time recipients in the 2022 Super 11 award, which dates back to the 2009 season, are BYU and TCU. Seven of the 10 FBS Conferences and one Independent are represented among the 11 winners this season.

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 his or her job. 

In addition, the FWAA is presenting a Super 11 Coach of the Year Award to Sonny Dykes of TCU, who won most of the FBS national coach of the year honors, including the FWAA’s Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year and Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach awards. Dykes, who granted outstanding access to his program during the 2022 season, is the fifth head coach to win this award since its inception during the 2018 season.

FWAA Executive Director Steve Richardson said, “TCU Coach Sonny Dykes winning the Super 11 Coach Award is significant. It clearly shows a coach can give good access to his program and win big even in his first year at the school. Coaches don’t have to isolate their players from the media in order to play for the national championship. Clemson has shown that as well.”

In January 2009, the FWAA formed the first Super 11 Committee. The concept is supported by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA). The FWAA has now awarded Super 11 to 79 different programs over the years.

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, including an annual FWAA All-America Team. For more information about the FWAA and its program and initiatives, Contact Executive Director Steve Richardson at 214-870-6516 or tiger@fwaa.com.

2022 FWAA Super 11 Honorees

BYU
Clemson
Colorado
Kansas State
Navy
Nebraska
Pittsburgh
South Carolina
TCU
UAB
West Virginia