WVU Earns Fourth FWAA “Super 11” Honor

DALLAS – One first-time winner and 10 earlier ones, together with West Virginia University for the second time in a row and fourth time up to now six years, comprise the seventeenth Super 11 Awards, introduced yearly by the Football Writers Association of America to the most effective performing College Sports Communicators departments within the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The awards introduced this week are for the 2025 season.

WVU’s soccer communications unit is led by Mike Montoro, assistant athletics director for soccer communications, and Michael Fragale, govt senior affiliate director of athletics communications, who’ve overseen the publicity for WVU soccer since 2007.

“We are honored to have received this recognition for the second consecutive year and fourth time in the past six years (2020, 2022, 2024, 2025),” Montoro stated. “Handling the communications efforts for college football is a demanding business and many people have to be part of the process and do their jobs efficiently for everything to be done the right way. Credit for this award needs to be shared with coach Rich Rodriguez, the Mountaineer coaching staff and the WVU Athletics external team.”

 

The 2025 Super 11 Award is a report thirteenth for Clemson and its workers led by Ross Taylor, assistant athletic director for soccer communications. Nebraska and its workers led by Keith Mann, affiliate athletic director for communications, earned its 12^th.

Other winners have been Navy for the ninth time; Iowa, South Carolina, Tennessee and WVU every a fourth time; and Texas Tech, a 3rd time. The first-time recipient for the 2025 Super 11 Award was Kansas. The Super 11 dates to the 2009 season.

This yr’s winners have been deemed to have had wonderful accessibility through the week of their video games and after the sport with a program’s gamers, coaches and coordinators/assistant coaches. Other standards concerning beat reporter entry, interview requests and decorum and protocols within the press field and locker room are listed within the 2025-26 FWAA Directory.

“We’re so excited to again honor the best and brightest communication staffs in college football,” stated FWAA 2026 President Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports. “I’ve been fortunate enough to directly work with many of the staffers on this list and we greatly appreciate their service to our profession. I’d like to give a special recognition to the retiring Jerry Emig at Ohio State, a legend in the industry who has been a wonderful partner to the FWAA over the years. We commend him for his years of service.” 

The FWAA can be presenting a Super 11 Coach of the Year Award to SMU’s Rhett Lashlee. He is the eighth head coach to win this award and it comes throughout a season when the Mustangs posted one other wonderful season and received the Holiday Bowl.

Besides a coach being obtainable, participant entry, usually below the management of the coach, is essential for a coach getting this award.

FWAA members supplied enter through the season when press containers have been judged on how effectively they have been run and maintained by way of neutrality, pool reporters, noise degree and accessibility to the press field that would have an effect on a media individual’s capability to do his or her job.

“We once again honor some programs who have provided great assistance to writers for many years and have demonstrated a culture of excellence in what they do in their pressbox and in terms of accessibility to players and coaches,” stated FWAA Executive Director Steve Richardson. “We applaud those programs as well as the newcomer program. These are the best of the best of several communications staff we honor. There are others which are excellent and some on the cusp of making Super 11 next year perhaps. We have a number of hard-working communications staff who make our jobs easier. We appreciate that on an annual basis.”

In January of 2009, the FWAA launched the primary Super 11 Awards – a idea supported by the College Sports Communicators (previously CoSIDA). The FWAA has now awarded at the least one Super 11 Award to 83 completely different FBS applications.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of school soccer. The FWAA works to manipulate media entry and game-day operations whereas presenting awards and honors, together with an annual FWAA All-America Team.

2025 FWAA Super 11 Honorees

Clemson

Iowa

Kansas

Navy

Nebraska

Ohio State

San Jose State

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas Tech

West Virginia

For extra details about the FWAA and its program and initiatives, contact Executive Director Steve Richardson at 214-870-6516 or [email protected].