For the past eight years Penn State alumnus Tony Mancuso has
worked for the university’s athletic department. He helped grow the online
presence for athletics and largely drove the use of video.
His feature stories and multimedia work provided behind-the-scenes
access to big moments for the most high-profile teams and offered glimpses at
the interesting and passionate personalities who drove all of Penn State’s 31
varsity sports teams.
Honestly, Mancuso was a behind-the-scenes force himself -- taking
an opportunity for what was ostensibly a content creation and writing job and
making it bigger and better. He was a member of the team, but he made the team
better.
He experimented and taught himself video skills to
complement his strong writing. He became the go-to man for compelling online
content as Penn State worked to tell its own story and deliver information
directly to fans. He was invariably a good-news guy, which coaches and
student-athletes appreciated and which had to make his always busy, tug-me-in-every-possible-direction
position enjoyable.
By his own count, Mancuso covered Penn State events in 26
states and two countries. There were games, practices, Coaches Caravans, other
special events and so much more.
Mancuso also managed a group of student writers that
regularly populated the Nittany Lion All-Sports Blog, which can be found at
GoPSUsports.com online. When he started, there were five student writers and
that group grew to a dozen the past few years.
Plus, Mancuso, at a time when the athletic department was
enduring terrible turmoil, seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
He was almost always right there beside Bill O’Brien when
the football coach made his rounds locally, regionally and nationally. He did
much of the same when James Franklin took control of the program.
The resulting content was compelling and honest (at least as
honest as possible for program- or team-created content).
It was not just football (103 consecutive games). Mancuso
was everywhere, covering regular season and postseason competitions in every
varsity sport. There were also national championships in fencing, men’s
gymnastics, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and wrestling, as well as almost
every single success for the athletic program along the way.
He was not everywhere, it just seemed that way.
His genuine, inquisitive nature made his interviews with
everyone from freshmen standouts to athletic directors (there were at three
during his time on the job) interesting. Sure, he was the in-house guy, but he
was savvy enough to bring some fandom and perspective to the position for it to
work really well.
His presence also coincided with an explosion of the use of
the internet and videos to connect fans to teams. Not surprisingly, interest in
Penn State was reflected in online visitors. The blog on GoPSUsports.com
attracted a few thousand visitors in 2010. The past three years, there have
been more than 1 million visits each year.
Mancuso would deflect praise, and he did not develop the
Penn State sports website alonre, nor did he hold any sort of major editorial
control. That’s just a disclaimer, though.
His drive, personality and talent made the blog worth
visiting. His use of video made the big-budget, big-time department personal.
His work also made some of Penn State’s icier people at least a little
personable.
He did quality work that benefited the program overall, and
that fans should appreciate. And if they did not notice his work already, they
might notice his absence going forward.
Mancuso recently accepted a digital media position with the
New York Jets. His last day of work at Penn State was Friday.
With the Jets, he’ll make decisions about what appears
online and how it’s used, which videos accompany stories, how information gets
used on social media and much more. He earned the opportunity, based on his Penn
State track record and after participating in eight-week-long hiring process
that included 16 (yes, 16) interviews.
At Penn State, his loss will be significant. Too often the
university finds ways to create layers, allowing a couple of people to do the
job that one person could typically handle.
Mancuso is not typical, though. Finding one person to
replace him will not be easy. In fact, it’s probably unfair to his eventual successor
to expect them to meet the standard he established.
For the sake of fans, hopefully someone can at least come
close. But it will not be easy.
When news of Mancuso’s move made it to me, two things came
to mind. First, good for him (and Christian Hackenberg who will have a familiar
face around). Second, Mancuso seemed to typify a saying by one of my favorite
Penn Staters, men’s volleyball coach Mark Pavlik. With consistency, Pavlik
talks about Penn Staters as ordinary people who do extraordinary things. That’s
Mancuso.
As he departs, Penn State loses a good person and fans lose
a valuable member of the media who provided important connections to their
favorite teams.
