By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
For Atmore native Scottie Rodgers, the hits just keep on coming. Or, more accurately, the honors keep piling up.
Officials of College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced late last week that the Atmore native is scheduled for June induction into the professional organization’s Hall of Fame. Less than a week later, they announced he has also been selected as this year’s winner of the prestigious Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award.
Barb Kowal, CSC’s Director of Professional Development & Operations, said the award is presented annually by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) to an individual who is “a pioneer in the field of athletic communications who has mentored and helped improve the level of diversity within College Sports Communicators.”
CoSIDA’s board of directors approved unanimously in March 2014 the naming of the award in honor of Haverbeck, who passed away January 6, 2014. She was associate sports information director at Penn State University from 1974-1999 and a long-time advocate for women sports and women in the athletics communication profession. She also became, in 2001, the first recipient of the Trailblazer honor.
Rodgers is currently the Cotton Bowl’s Vice President of Communications, a job that entails overseeing the media operations for the annual Cotton Bowl Classic football game, press box operations for all college games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and other duties.
The dual honoree was no stranger to the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association (CBAA) when he joined its staff fulltime in 2020, having been a part of the game’s media operations volunteer staff for the last 21 games and serving as a team media liaison for the previous 17 Classics.
Rodgers assumed the communications responsibilities held by his mentor, Charlie Fiss, when Fisk took over the role of historian.
“It is hard to put into words what it means to me to be the newest member of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association family,” he said upon his hiring. “I am honored to follow in the footsteps of a mentor and friend in Charlie Fiss. I take the torch from Charlie with pride and excitement to build upon the foundation he forged for many Cotton Bowl Classics to come.”
The Atmore man’s climb up the ladder of success in his profession was paved with hard work and dedication and includes service on numerous CSC or CoSIDA committees. Rodgers has been involved with CoSIDA since 1996, currently serving on its Diversity and Inclusion Committee, as well as several other committees.
Immediately prior to joining CBAA, Rodgers served as Associate Commissioner, Strategic Communications for the Sun Belt Conference. Before then, he was Associate Director of Athletics, Strategic Communications for Tulane University.
Rodgers joined Tulane’s staff eight years (2008-16) as the Associate Executive Director, Communications and External Relations at The Ivy League office. In that post, he led the overall communications strategy for all 33 Ivy League sports and 15 championship events. He was also responsible for oversight of all external relations areas, including television, marketing and sponsorships, merchandising, licensing and branding as a member of the senior management team.
His resume also includes more than two years at CBS Sports Digital as a senior director of university relations, five years at the NCAA National Office as assistant (and later associate) director for the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Immediately after graduating from the University of Alabama in 1995, he worked in various administrative capacities at the Southeastern Conference Office.
Throughout his career, Rodgers has also found time to work various NCAA championship events, including 15 NCAA Men’s Final Fours; eight NCAA Women’s Final Fours; and four College Football Playoff National Championship games. His commitment to all sports is evident in the three years he served on the NCAA Division I Women’s Rowing Committee.
When Rodgers was hired for his current position, CBAA President-CEO Rick Baker noted that the organization’s new vice president has shown a passion for his work at every job he has held.
“Scottie’s resume speaks for itself, but when you get to know him, you quickly understand the passion he has for what he does,” Baker said after announcing that Rodgers had joined CBAA on a fulltime basis. “Based on our long history with Scottie, I can’t think of a better person to follow Charlie Fiss, who has done such a remarkable job for our organization.”
His selection — in the same year — as a Hall of Fame inductee and a Trailblazer Award winner is a validation of that statement and officially puts Rodgers among the top rungs of his chosen profession’s ladder of success.