In need of some advice.

[Steve Marik]

So I just turned 26 and I've been working at a small daily newspaper in Nebraska. Before this job, I was working at a weekly -- that one was my first job out of college.

I really want to be a college football beat writer. I'm obsessed with the sport and think I'd be very good at it. I don't think it'd really be "work" for me.

Anyway, I've been covering high school sports ever since college, but I feel I'm at the point in my life where I want to try finding a beat writer job.

Any advice for me? I'm single and very willing to relocate.

 

[Riptide]

You've got the basics of a good cover letter there. Start building a network of sports editors by sending out resumes and clips to all the papers and markets that interest you. Then work that network with regular follow-ups.

 

[TyWebb]

Now I never was a college football beat writer, so take any advice I have with a grain of salt, but I had the same goal and made it pretty close before ultimately deciding to leave the business. Two things come to mind:

1. When I was working at a weekly and a smaller daily, I created opportunities for myself to do stories around college football through the local players I covered. That meant recruiting stories and "local guy at the next level" stories. This got me around the beat I wanted to cover a lot, got me familiar with the people involved and gave me an idea of what it takes. I was even able to cover a bowl game or two because a kid from a high school I covered was playing in it. Obviously, this is dependent on the kids you are covering, but you just need to be on the lookout for these kinds of experiences.

2. I took a job as a prep sports writer at a paper located in a big SEC town. In the fall, when I wasn't covering high school football, I was helping out with the paper's coverage of the local SEC team. This ended up being a good half-step toward that goal. I was in the press box for all home games, went to practices, got to know SIDs and developed a good list of bylines covering college football.

So to pretty much summarize, it may be tough going straight from where you are to where you want to be. Look for the smaller steps in between that will inch you closer to the job you want.

Good luck.

 

[JohnHammond]

The fact you don't consider college beat writing duties to be "work" is troubling, as in you don't know what you would be getting into.

 

[Steve Marik]

Now I never was a college football beat writer, so take any advice I have with a grain of salt, but I had the same goal and made it pretty close before ultimately deciding to leave the business. Two things come to mind:

1. When I was working at a weekly and a smaller daily, I created opportunities for myself to do stories around college football through the local players I covered. That meant recruiting stories and "local guy at the next level" stories. This got me around the beat I wanted to cover a lot, got me familiar with the people involved and gave me an idea of what it takes. I was even able to cover a bowl game or two because a kid from a high school I covered was playing in it. Obviously, this is dependent on the kids you are covering, but you just need to be on the lookout for these kinds of experiences.

2. I took a job as a prep sports writer at a paper located in a big SEC town. In the fall, when I wasn't covering high school football, I was helping out with the paper's coverage of the local SEC team. This ended up being a good half-step toward that goal. I was in the press box for all home games, went to practices, got to know SIDs and developed a good list of bylines covering college football.

So to pretty much summarize, it may be tough going straight from where you are to where you want to be. Look for the smaller steps in between that will inch you closer to the job you want.

Good luck.

Thanks to the response.

During my time at my weekly, I actually did have a couple local players on the university's football team. I got to go to a few games and spend my time in the press box, just like you said.

And maybe I'll just say, "fvck it" and send my resumes to all the places I see needing a high school reporter in spots where helping out on college coverage is possible.

 

[JohnHammond]

Almost anyone can write a gamer and a feature. What can you do on a beat that is better than other candidates (more of a rhetorical question)?

 

[BTExpress]

Having to start making phone calls at 11 p.m. because "Twitter says State U. coach was fired" and having your vacation interrupted by the same kind of tweet is most certainly "work" and the kind I do not find the least bit desirable.

 

[Steve Marik]

Almost anyone can write a gamer and a feature. What can you do on a beat that is better than other candidates (more of a rhetorical question)?

I'm a freaking likable person, man. Really likable. I'm a great talker, I'm good looking and I'm still kind of young which helps me relate to players so they're more willing to open up in interviews. I understand how to talk to coaches, too (although I've only done so with small-time high school coaches, so I may be stretching that a bit).
Most importantly, in my opinion, I love college football more than most. I love learning the Xs and Os of the game and I still find myself watching games I didn't catch live on YouTube from last season. I want to be "the guy" people look at to find out something about their team.

 

[Steve Marik]

Having to start making phone calls at 11 p.m. because "Twitter says State U. coach was fired" and having your vacation interrupted by the same kind of tweet is most certainly "work" and the kind I do not find the least bit desirable.

That's just something I'll learn to put up with, I guess. I don't go to bed at 11 p.m. anyway :D

 

[Justin_Rice]

Get out while you're still young.

 

[Double Down]

I'm a freaking likable person, man. Really likable. I'm a great talker, I'm good looking and I'm still kind of young which helps me relate to players so they're more willing to open up in interviews.

 

[Ace]

My general advice to folks in your situation, even if they are not young, good loking and likable is to show what you can do.

It's hard to prove that you can cover a college beat when you haven't covered a college beat. So as a sports editor, I would want to know if you can break news and cover a beat seriously and with some effort and imagination.

Can you dig into a program, develop sources, cover the good and bad?

So even if you are just covering high schools, if you have a story on a coach getting hired/fired that beats the competition, that would help.

If you had an investigative story on local high schools using old, unsafe helmets or not providing water at practice or whatever, that would help.

If you had a story that breaks down unique practice drills or a unique plays/ofense that a team uses, that would help.

If you had an in-depth piece on recruiting in your area, that would help.

What would not impress me is that you write pretty good gamers, advances and features, love sports and have always wanted to be a college beat writer, because every person who applies for the job would fit that mold.

And you have to show more than that to get the interview stage to prove how young, good-looking and likable you really are.

 

[User 11148]

It's hard to prove that you can cover a college beat when you haven't covered a college beat. So as a sports editor, I would want to know if you can break news and cover a beat seriously and with some effort and imagination.

Can you dig into a program, develop sources, cover the good and bad?

So even if you are just covering high schools, if you have a story on a coach getting hired/fired that beats the competition, that would help.

If you had an investigative story on local high schools using old, unsafe helmets or not providing water at practice or whatever, that would help.

If you had a story that breaks down unique practice drills or a unique plays/ofense that a team uses, that would help.

If you had an in-depth piece on recruiting in your area, that would help.

What would not impress me is that you write pretty good gamers, advances and features, love sports and have always wanted to be a college beat writer, because every person who applies for the job would fit that mold.

Steve, the above is really good advice/direction. It has been a looooooooooooooong time since I was in your shoes (in fact, you weren't around when I was in your shoes), but from Ace's post it's clear that not all that much has changed.

When I was doing preps and yearning for a college beat, I was drawn primarily to the stuff you seem to be drawn to -- the press conferences, the Saturdays in the press box, etc. It didn't occur to me, however, that that was the easiest part of the gig. What you actually get paid for (poorly, but them's the breaks) is the stuff to which Ace refers.

Unlike several who advise you to give it up, I won't do that. Life's too short to spend your days wondering "What if?" If you want to give the college beat thing a try, I think you absolutely should give it your best shot. But keep in mind that @Ace is giving you some damn good information about what a best shot actually involves.

 

[TyWebb]

I'm a freaking likable person, man. Really likable. I'm a great talker, I'm good looking and I'm still kind of young which helps me relate to players so they're more willing to open up in interviews.

I couldn't tell if you were joking or not when you wrote this, but it seems like you are serious. You'll realize the things you listed above, while nice, won't matter much as you progress in your career. Your byline has no age, personality or chiseled jawline.

As Ace said, it is about the work you generate. It is about showing that you can spot a potential story, ask the right questions to the right people and hustle to get it done. And the only way to show that is to have the clips to back it up.

Also, take a look inside a college football press box. You'll see looks and personality don't count for much.

(I kid, I kid)

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

If you are young, single, willing to travel and work cheap, start applying... You should have no trouble finding a college football beat.
That doesn't mean you'll be covering Alabama for the Tuscaloosa News. But there's no reason to think you can't latch onto a beat for a small school or minor-to-mid-major D-I program.

Especially if you are as good-looking as you say. ;)

 

[Steve Marik]

My general advice to folks in your situation, even if they are not young, good loking and likable is to show what you can do.

It's hard to prove that you can cover a college beat when you haven't covered a college beat. So as a sports editor, I would want to know if you can break news and cover a beat seriously and with some effort and imagination.

Can you dig into a program, develop sources, cover the good and bad?

So even if you are just covering high schools, if you have a story on a coach getting hired/fired that beats the competition, that would help.

If you had an investigative story on local high schools using old, unsafe helmets or not providing water at practice or whatever, that would help.

If you had a story that breaks down unique practice drills or a unique plays/ofense that a team uses, that would help.

If you had an in-depth piece on recruiting in your area, that would help.

What would not impress me is that you write pretty good gamers, advances and features, love sports and have always wanted to be a college beat writer, because every person who applies for the job would fit that mold.

And you have to show more than that to get the interview stage to prove how young, good-looking and likable you really are.

Thank you so much for this!

I was also very much kidding with the whole good-looking thing. It was meant for people to laugh at.

Anyway, I have one more question: Have you ever been in the position of being at a very small daily and feeling like you can't upset anyone with what you write about? Mainly because it's such a small community and paper that if you were to break something (like something negative) it'll cause more harm to yourself than be viewed as good journalism?

Thanks again for your advice.

 

[Steve Marik]

I couldn't tell if you were joking or not when you wrote this, but it seems like you are serious. You'll realize the things you listed above, while nice, won't matter much as you progress in your career. Your byline has no age, personality or chiseled jawline.

As Ace said, it is about the work you generate. It is about showing that you can spot a potential story, ask the right questions to the right people and hustle to get it done. And the only way to show that is to have the clips to back it up.

Also, take a look inside a college football press box. You'll see looks and personality don't count for much.

(I kid, I kid)

Haha, don't worry. I was very much joking. It was meant as something to get people to laugh. I definitely will take Ace's advice. Good stuff in there.

 

[JohnHammond]

Thank you so much for this!

I was also very much kidding with the whole good-looking thing. It was meant for people to laugh at.

Anyway, I have one more question: Have you ever been in the position of being at a very small daily and feeling like you can't upset anyone with what you write about? Mainly because it's such a small community and paper that if you were to break something (like something negative) it'll cause more harm to yourself than be viewed as good journalism?

Thanks again for your advice.

That happens at larger papers and national outlets. Write a story that pisses someone off and you could lose ACCESS!!

 

[Ace]

Thank you so much for this!

I was also very much kidding with the whole good-looking thing. It was meant for people to laugh at.

Anyway, I have one more question: Have you ever been in the position of being at a very small daily and feeling like you can't upset anyone with what you write about? Mainly because it's such a small community and paper that if you were to break something (like something negative) it'll cause more harm to yourself than be viewed as good journalism?

Thanks again for your advice.

As stated by J_Ham, people get mad even at big papers. You cannot be afraid to upset people -- readers, fans, coaches, players. You aren't doing your job if you don't look under the rocks.

Now, that doesn't mean that you have to blame Johnny Juke for the Podunk Plodders' loss in your story because he fumbled in the fourth quarter.

But if you get a tip that Beloved Coach is pocketing money from the boosters or making kids practice on days they aren't allowed to or whatever, you can't be afraid to look into it and print it if true.

If that pisses people off, tell them that they should be mad at the coach, not you.

You can be friendly with the coaches, but you aren't their friend. You may hve to **** them off from time to time.

People are always mad at the local paper, by the way.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Have you ever been in the position of being at a very small daily and feeling like you can't upset anyone with what you write about? Mainly because it's such a small community and paper that if you were to break something (like something negative) it'll cause more harm to yourself than be viewed as good journalism?

Can't because it'll cause more harm to you? Or can't because it'll cause more harm to the publisher?

If it's the former, suck it up. It's part of the job. Someone will always be angry with you over something you write. Or don't write.

If it's the latter, you work for someone who doesn't understand what journalism is.