He’s the AD that just keeps on giving.
When Syracuse Orange athletic director John Wildhack was hired last year, we had a feeling it could afford some extra benefits to SU with regard to ESPN. We saw that in action right away with the famed locker room speech, and it’s continued since. Dino Babers is a favorite of the college football staff in Bristol, and Jim Boeheim can wind up on any program he wants (was always the case, however).
The payoff continued this week, it would appear, when the Orange were front-and-center in ESPN’s latest advertising spot counting down to the start of the season.
28 days until football!! pic.twitter.com/dMW0FiqMqZ
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) August 3, 2017
It’s unlikely any of this happens without Wildhack at the helm.
After a decade of having Daryl Gross very up front with his efforts to further the program (and himself), it’s refreshing to see Wildhack working in the background to potentially larger success. He gets the way the media game is played. He gets Syracuse. He understands that perception can be shifted in subtle ways like national exposure for a likeable coach. Or commercial spots associating the program with everything we love about college football.
Wildhack’s been a key figure in the ACC Network preparations as well. And all told, his arrival couldn’t have come at a better time for the Orange. With the potential to increase revenues from the conference-specific channel, Dome renovations and a promising football program rebirth all on the horizon, he’s positioned Syracuse strategically off the field. In theory, at least, that makes it a whole lot easier to find success on it.
