For the latest scoop on ETSU athletics, Simon Gray is the man to see.
Gray is the interim director of the department of athletic media relations, which until recently was called the sports information department.
Gray, who is in his second year at ETSU, moved up from his assistant sports information director’s position he held last year.
“I started out at the University of Richmond,” Gray said. “I was a student assistant for four years. After that I went to Boston College for a year and worked as an intern. After that I met David Lang, who was at the University of Maine at the time. He came down here to ETSU to be the sports information director, and he needed an assistant down here so he hired me.”
Gray took the top position after just one-year when Lang left to become the director of public relations for Trans-America racing series.
Gray hopes he can stay here for a while. “I’ve just moved into this spot,” he said. “It’s a one-year deal on an interim basis where I can prove myself. In a year they will open up the search again and hopefully I will have a good shot at it.”
Gray can usually be seen at ETSU athletic events with a smile on his face. If it seems like he enjoys his job, it’s because he does.
“I figure why go through life without smiling,” Gray said. “You can be just as happy as you can be mad. As far as the job goes, I really do enjoy it. Ever since I was young I was always keeping stats or making up leagues, or making up teams. I’m perfectly cut out for this.”
Like any job, things can get rough. But the positives do outweigh the negatives.
“The hours get a little long and tedious at times,” Gray said. “But I love dealing with the student athletes and I love dealing with every member of the media. I don’t mind coming to work everyday, in fact I kind of enjoy getting up and getting after it.”
What also makes Gray’s job so enjoyable is working with a group of young and energetic assistants. Matt Snellings is the assistant to Gray, while K.C. Culler is an intern working in the department this school year.
“Snellings came on board this year,” Gray said. “He went to school here, then worked as intern for the Southern Conference for eight months. He’s been great for us. He loves ETSU, knows a lot about it, so he is real knowledgeable.
“K.C. went to Western Carolina and is finishing his schoolwork here. He is going to stay on for the spring semester to help us out and get some more experience and some more sports information work. They’re a real fun group that does high quality work.”
The addition of an intern has help alleviate some the workload that Gray had to do last year.
“It was tough last year with David and I,” Gray said. “We had two people for 14 sports and that’s kind of tough, especially when football and men’s basketball demands so much attention. I was kind of left with all the other sports that we treat just as importantly as football and men’s basketball.
Gray has enjoyed the opportunity to make trips to attend games against opponents like the University of Tennessee and some top-notch Big East conference schools.
“I’ve gotten to see NCAA tournaments for basketball and NCAA champions for soccer and field hockey,” he said. “Not taking anything away from Richmond and East Tennessee State, but it’s always fun to see the bigger programs. But there’s really not much difference between what we do and what they do.”
Another thing Gray is trying to do is to get more fan support for the Bucs.
“It’s an ongoing process,” he said. “I think the better coverage we have with the media, the more coverage we get, the more exposure the community has to ETSU athletics. We’re really going to try to get the athletes back into the community because that’s our product. We’re selling the student athlete.”
In Gray’s position, he has to deal with media almost all the time. It is something he enjoys.
“If you don’t like that part there’s really no reason for being in the business,” he said. “These are the people you are dealing with on a daily basis. Without the media, I don’t have a job. That’s who I’m here to serve.

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