College Sports Information Directors of America

Chris Syme, former Montana State athletic communications professional, served as CoSIDA's New Media Committee chair for four years (2009-2013). She now heads a strategic communications agency in Bozeman, Montana. CKSyme Media Group specializes in social media strategies and training with a crisis/reputation expertise. Her new book, Practice Safe Social: How to Use Social Media Responsibly to Protect Your Reputation and Build Loyalty, is available now at Amazon.com.

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University of Illinois senior quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase will have to play his last home game without his father in the stands. According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, Scheelhaase’s father, Nathan Creer, got into a tussle with University Police at the last home football game Saturday. A resulting arrest got Creer banned from campus facilities for a year, including his son’s Senior Day game. Scheelhasse faced the media on Tuesday after practice (as usual) and the matter was brought up.

Some schools would have withheld the young man from the regular Tuesday media interviews, but Scheelhasse showed up and fielded questions about the situation like a pro, speaking of the strong support he has from the University of Illinois community and teammates. Starting at about the six-minute mark in this YouTube video of the interview.

It is clear that this young man has integrity and decorum. He was polite and well-spoken. Instead of referring to the incident and how disappointed he was, his focus was on the task at hand—the next game.

In the same game, senior wide receiver Ryan Lankford suffered a career-ending shoulder injury. When he went in front of the media, he was equally as composed and straight forward about the end of his collegiate career. Lankford said after he found out he was finished, he had done some thinking about the “bigger picture and realized this happened for a reason.” Yet, he wasn’t shy about admitting how devastating the news was. His interview can be seen here.

According to Ben Taylor, Assistant Director of Media Services, players are somewhat prepped for these kinds of situations. But Taylor admitted, “I wish we could take more credit for how they handled things, but they’re both really good, smart, savvy guys.”

The truth is, we have a lot of smart, savvy young men playing college football. They simply show up at practice everyday, work hard, and when adversity rears its ugly head, they make a course correction, and get back on the horse of life. I tip my hat to these young men who have microphones thrust in their faces regularly, and angry fans on Twitter telling them they’re no good.

Taylor said the Illinois student-athletes do receive some media training, but you can’t train this kind of character. It’s part of their DNA.

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