Todd Vatter named JU Director of Athletic Media Relations

Jacksonville Director of Athletics Brad Edwards has announced the hiring of Todd Vatter as the Director of Athletic Media Relations.  Vatter comes to JU following a five-and-a-half year stint at Kent State where he served as the main media relations spokesperson for the athletics department of the Mid-American Conference member.

“Todd has over 11 years of public relations experience covering Division I collegiate athletics and has been a part of promoting several nationally ranked programs at Kent State,” said Edwards.  “His NCAA championship background will be an invaluable resource for the athletic programs here at JU.  We are excited to welcome him and his family to Jacksonville.”

Vatter took direction of the Golden Flashes’ Athletic Communications & Broadcasting departments in December 2011.  In the past year he oversaw the publication of Kent State baseball’s 2012 College World Series appearance, a fifth-place NCAA Championship finish for men’s golf and a top 25 BCS ranking for football.  

As a member of the athletic department’s senior staff he helped assist in the formulation and execution of internal and external communication efforts of the department.

Among his administrative duties, Vatter served as the media primary contact for men’s basketball during five postseason appearances (2008 NCAA, 2009 CIT, 2010 & 2011 NIT, 2012 CIT) and a top 25 national ranking in 2008.  He also was directly responsible for the promotion of the Golden Flashes’ nationally ranked men’s golf program, which had four top 20 and two top 10 national finishes during his tenure.

Prior to Kent State, Vatter was the Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y. where he was the primary media coordinator for Wagner’s 22 Division I sports including working as the main contact for both football and men’s basketball. At Wagner his duties included the production of all athletic related publications.

Vatter was an Assistant Sports Information Director at Marist College during the 2001-02 season and interned with the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colo. during the summer of 2001.  

The Columbus, Ohio, product is a 2001 graduate of Shawnee State University and was a two-year letter winner in both basketball and cross-country.  At Shawnee State he received NAIA Scholar-Athlete Honors in basketball for the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons, becoming the first two-time recipient in program history.

A sports management major at Shawnee State, he began his public relations career working in the sports information office for three years as a student assistant and is still a member of the Hall of Fame Committee at SSU.

Vatter received his MBA from Wagner in the spring of 2005.