University of Minnesota Athletics
Nick Joos Named Minnesota's Director of Media Relations
8/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
"Nick brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and leadership to a young and talented media relations staff," said Maturi. "In a vibrant media environment such as the Twin Cities, we were looking for an experienced professional to take on the challenges of leading the media relations' charge of our athletics program. The opportunity to direct a media relations operation at a school such as Minnesota that is consistently ranked among the leaders in the Directors' Cup is a challenge that Nick is ready to embrace."
"This is a tremendous professional and personal opportunity for me and my family," Joos said. "I'm excited to be returning to the Midwest and working at a great school in an outstanding conference. The first Big Ten football game I ever saw as a child was at Memorial Stadium, and to this day, I still have memories of being there with my family and feeling the passion for the Golden Gophers."
Joos, 39, spent three years at Massachusetts, first as an assistant athletics director overseeing media relations, then as an associate athletics director since September of 2001. He was responsible for the publicity, publications and media relations for the 23-sport UMass program. During his tenure at UMass, he oversaw a successful redesign of the department's website and served as the executive editor of the department's monthly donor publication. Massachusetts' 2000 and 2001 football media guides received CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Citation for Excellence awards being judged as the nation's second-best I-AA football media guide.
Joos is a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-America committee, and was recently selected to serve a two-year term on the CoSIDA Board of Directors.
Joos left the media relations profession for a five-year stint (1995-2000) as the director of basketball operations for the University of Nebraska men's basketball program under head coach Danny Nee. During this time, Joos directed a 40-school community outreach program, "Read to Win."
A West Des Moines, Iowa native, Joos called the University of Nebraska home for 13 years. After graduating from Iowa State University in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications, Joos accepted his first media relations post as an intern in the Huskers' sports information office. After one year as an intern, Joos was promoted to assistant sports information director (1988-94) and later to associate director (1994-95). Joos was the media relations contact for men's basketball and men's and women's track & field. He served as the secondary football contact, assisting with the Huskers' national championship team in 1994. Joos also spent 11 years as the executive producer for Nee's weekly television show and founded the school's basketball hall of fame.
Joos and his wife, Jill, have two children: Christopher (20) and Jenna (7).
