University of Richmond Athletics
Staff Directory
Matt McCollester
- Title:
- Assistant Athletic Director for Communications (Football, MLAX)
- Email:
- Phone:
- 287-6313
Matt McCollester is in his fifth year as the Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Public Relations at the University of Richmond in 2021-22. McCollester has over 19 years of experience to Richmond and is the primary contact for football and men's lacrosse, while overseeing the communications and video production departments. He oversees five positions with the Spiders and works closely with each entity in the athletics department on various projects.
McCollester was chosen as the President of the Virignia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) in July of 2021 after serving two years as the organization's vice-president. VaSID is comprised of sports information or athletics communications professionals from intercollegiate institutions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Membership is open to any individual affiliated with one of the state's institutions at the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, community college and independent levels, provided that individual's area of responsibility lies within the realm of sports information.
McCollester is an active member in the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and has been a member since 2003. He has been a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-America committee since 2004 and is the district coordinator for football and the at-large selections for District Three (Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee). Additionally, he has been a member of the CoSIDA Job Seekers Committee since 2012 and is currently in his third year as the Chair of the Job Seekers committee. During his time, the Job Seekers committee has grown its scope in the organization to encompass year-round programming in addition to its flagship event at the annual CoSIDA Convention.
McCollester joined the Spiders in March of 2018 after spending six years at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) as the Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communications.
While at UNCG, McCollester oversaw communications, video production and marketing while also working closely with the Spartan Club in development communications. He helped UNCG Athletics social media grow over 30 percent in the last 12 months in addition to generating over 4,000,000 views and social engagements for men's basketball after an upset win at N.C. State this year -- generating over $2.5 million in free advertisement.
McCollester was the primary contact for the UNCG men’s basketball program that won back-to-back Southern Conference Championships, including a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2018. He covered UNCG's first-ever Olympian in Paul Chelimo in Rio when he won the silver medal (5,000 meters) and generated over 6,000,000 views and social engagements for the Spartans around the Olympics.
McCollester spearheaded the Spartans’ plan to bring UNCG in as an ESPN affiliate program, including designing a custom-made ESPN trailer capable of talking directly with Bristol. UNCG became one of the preeminent video production departments in the Southern Conference.
In an effort to engage the student-body, McCollester created the Spartan Sports Link program to train and teach UNCG students on all aspects of sports broadcasts in conjunction with ESPN3 broadcasts.
McCollester played a pivotal role in the UNCG Strategic Plan – The Spartan Way – which was released in 2017. He helped craft the messaging for the plan and worked with University Communications to blend the rollout with the campus’ new strategic plan.
Prior to arriving at UNCG, McCollester spent six years working at Ball State University in Indiana. During his time with the Cardinals, he worked with the football team, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and soccer programs. He was part of the media relations staff for the football team during the 2008 season when Cardinals rose as high as No. 12 in the country with an undefeated record in the regular season.
McCollester has also spent time at Arkansas State University as an assistant director and at Harvard as an athletic communications intern. He began his career as a student assistant at Slippery Rock University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management in 2003.
McCollester is married to the former Deborah Puaca and they have two children, Evan (10) and Madelyn (5).
McCollester was chosen as the President of the Virignia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) in July of 2021 after serving two years as the organization's vice-president. VaSID is comprised of sports information or athletics communications professionals from intercollegiate institutions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Membership is open to any individual affiliated with one of the state's institutions at the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, community college and independent levels, provided that individual's area of responsibility lies within the realm of sports information.
McCollester is an active member in the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and has been a member since 2003. He has been a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-America committee since 2004 and is the district coordinator for football and the at-large selections for District Three (Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee). Additionally, he has been a member of the CoSIDA Job Seekers Committee since 2012 and is currently in his third year as the Chair of the Job Seekers committee. During his time, the Job Seekers committee has grown its scope in the organization to encompass year-round programming in addition to its flagship event at the annual CoSIDA Convention.
McCollester joined the Spiders in March of 2018 after spending six years at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) as the Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communications.
While at UNCG, McCollester oversaw communications, video production and marketing while also working closely with the Spartan Club in development communications. He helped UNCG Athletics social media grow over 30 percent in the last 12 months in addition to generating over 4,000,000 views and social engagements for men's basketball after an upset win at N.C. State this year -- generating over $2.5 million in free advertisement.
McCollester was the primary contact for the UNCG men’s basketball program that won back-to-back Southern Conference Championships, including a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2018. He covered UNCG's first-ever Olympian in Paul Chelimo in Rio when he won the silver medal (5,000 meters) and generated over 6,000,000 views and social engagements for the Spartans around the Olympics.
McCollester spearheaded the Spartans’ plan to bring UNCG in as an ESPN affiliate program, including designing a custom-made ESPN trailer capable of talking directly with Bristol. UNCG became one of the preeminent video production departments in the Southern Conference.
In an effort to engage the student-body, McCollester created the Spartan Sports Link program to train and teach UNCG students on all aspects of sports broadcasts in conjunction with ESPN3 broadcasts.
McCollester played a pivotal role in the UNCG Strategic Plan – The Spartan Way – which was released in 2017. He helped craft the messaging for the plan and worked with University Communications to blend the rollout with the campus’ new strategic plan.
Prior to arriving at UNCG, McCollester spent six years working at Ball State University in Indiana. During his time with the Cardinals, he worked with the football team, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and soccer programs. He was part of the media relations staff for the football team during the 2008 season when Cardinals rose as high as No. 12 in the country with an undefeated record in the regular season.
McCollester has also spent time at Arkansas State University as an assistant director and at Harvard as an athletic communications intern. He began his career as a student assistant at Slippery Rock University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management in 2003.
McCollester is married to the former Deborah Puaca and they have two children, Evan (10) and Madelyn (5).
Furman Postgame - Chris Mooney
Thursday, November 27
Women's Basketball Postgame - Navy
Sunday, November 23
Women's Basketball Highlights vs. Navy
Sunday, November 23
Men's Basketball Highlights vs. Gardner-Webb
Saturday, November 22
