Wake Forest Administrator Steve Shutt Retires

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Steve Shutt, Wake Forest's Associate Athletic Director for Athletic Communications, will retire on October 31, following 13 years at Wake Forest and 40 years in the Media Relations field.

During his time at Wake Forest, Shutt helped document the accomplishments of two NCAA championship teams, 10 ACC championship teams, five national players of the year, 76 All-Americans and eight football bowl teams. He coordinated national publicity efforts surrounding baseball coach Tom Walter's kidney donation to outfielder Kevin Jordan in 2011 and Aaron Curry's campaign to win the Butkus Award in 2008.

Shutt joined the Demon Deacons in 2007 after having served as an Associate Athletic Director at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. Shutt is the second-longest serving athletics communications director at Wake Forest behind only Marvin "Skeeter" Francis' 14-year tenure from 1955-69.

Prior to Wofford, Shutt was the Associate Commissioner for Public Affairs for the Southern Conference, where he was responsible for managing the publicity and media relations efforts of the Conference. He served as the tournament director for the SoCon Baseball Championship and the league's liaison with the coaches and umpiring staff. Shutt was the media director for the 2002 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship First and Second Round site that the SoCon hosted in Greenville, S.C.

Shutt joined the Southern Conference in 1999 after serving as an account executive with Jeff Dezen Public Relations in Greenville, S.C. where he managed the Maxfli Golf and Dunlop Maxfli Canada accounts. Previously, Shutt spent 12 years as the assistant athletic director for media relations at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M. where he worked with 27 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and promoted five men's basketball teams that competed in the NCAA Championship including a Sweet 16 appearance in 1992.

Shutt graduated from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1980. He became the Sports Information Director at Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce, Fla. upon graduation before returning to BGSU as the assistant SID in 1982. He was promoted to SID in 1983 where he assisted Falcon quarterback Brian McClure to a top ten finish in the Heisman Trophy race while also producing an award-winning season-in-review publication of BGSU's 1984 NCAA men's ice hockey national championship.

A resident of Winston-Salem, Shutt plans to continue writing during his retirement and spend more time with his college-age children, Gabriela and Javier.

Commemorative Quotes:

Steve Shutt:

"Working in college athletics requires a great deal of passion and I am blessed to have been able to spend my entire career chasing my passion," said Shutt. "I can't begin to thank the countless coaches, student-athletes and administrators with whom I was able to develop close relationships and life-long friendships."

John Currie, Wake Forest Director of Athletics:

"We thank Steve for his dedication and efforts during his time at Wake Forest. He worked every day to create positive relationships with the media and to tell Wake Forest student-athlete stories nationwide. Our staff wishes him the best and we look forward to seeing him often at Wake Forest ballgames in his retirement."

Ron Wellman, Former Wake Forest Director of Athletics:

"Steve Shutt is a true public relations professional and I greatly enjoyed working with him at Wake Forest. His dedication and impact on our Demon Deacon student-athletes, coaches and programs can't be overstated. In addition to his normal responsibilities, I depended on his research and valued his input and opinions. I am truly blessed to call him a friend and I wish him the best in retirement."

Tom Walter, Wake Forest Head Baseball Coach:

"Steve has been a wonderful friend and colleague. He spearheaded the original story between Kevin Jordan and myself and did it with class, integrity and respect for my two children. That's a debt I can never repay."

Stan Cotten, Voice of the Demon Deacons for Wake Forest Sports Properties:

"I can't say enough about Steve and his willingness and effort to make my job, and the job of other media members covering Wake Forest, easier. He always went out of his way to accommodate us and learn about what we did and how we did it so that he could serve us better. For instance I greatly appreciate the work he put into updating Wake's record books. He would weekly pull tidbits from his research and pass them along to us so we could in turn pass them along to our listeners. He served Wake Forest Athletics so well in his time here. I valued our work relationship and our friendship, and he will be missed."

Tommy Sheppard, Washington Wizards General Manager:

"I would like to congratulate Steve Shutt on his retirement from an amazing career in collegiate athletics. His impact on the lives of countless student-athletes, coaches, support staff and students has been profound. I owe my career path directly to his guidance and the opportunity he gave me as a student assistant at New Mexico State in 1990. I am forever grateful and salute his trademark professionalism, amazing ability to cultivate relationships and to elevate the visibility of every university in which he served in his distinguished career."

Mike Buddie, Army West Point Director of Athletics:

"Steve Shutt has been a staple in D1 College Athletics for over 40 years. Steve's love for the games, the coaches and the student-athletes who competed for their institutions was always clearly visible and reflected in his work. I will forever treasure the time I was able to spend with, and learn from, Steve in the early days of my administrative career. I am thrilled that Steve will be slowing down to enjoy those things that he truly loves, and to be surrounded by those who are important in his life."

Mike Odom, Assistant Executive Director, American Baseball Coaches Association:

"Steve Shutt is a consummate professional who brought a tremendous amount of passion and experience to his role at Wake Forest. It was a pleasure working closely with him on all kinds of projects over the years and I wish Steve a great retirement."

Elliott Avent, NC State Head Baseball Coach:

"I have known Steve Shutt since 1988 when he was part of the hiring process that resulted in my first head coaching job at New Mexico State University. I enjoyed Steve's professionalism in publicizing our baseball program and his guidance in navigating through college athletics administration. Most of all, I've enjoyed my friendship with Steve for over 30 years and appreciate his passion for intercollegiate athletics and particularly college baseball."

Wake Forest Athletics

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