FWAA Names Mississippi State Football SID one of Top 11 despite Football Scoop’s Criticism

The Football Writers Association of America named the Mississippi State football Sports Information Department as one of the “Super 11” despite questions of professionalism by Football Scoop.

Time to take a little trip back in time. Remember in January when the Mississippi State football SID Bill Martin and football coaching news web site Football scoop got in a little spat? If you don’t, I’ll refresh your memory and brush you up on your history of the subject.

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Football Scoop is a web site devoted to breaking news and analyzing coaching changes. They’re usually spot on, except when it comes to the Mississippi State Football team.

The site is run by Scott Roussel, an Ole Miss graduate. Because of this, many Bulldog fans believe he often puts out news about possible Mississippi State coaching changes to hurt the recruiting efforts of the Bulldogs.

In January, the site put out a tweet about a “coaching change” for the Mississippi State football team. Here is what it said.

It was an interesting way to word it. Why? Well, the Bulldogs SID Bill Martin fired back and explained why in this tweet.

The Mississippi State football SID acknowledges the frustration many fans feel, and provides a little more context. The “coach” in question was a grad assistant. He was getting a full time job with Miami, something which was left out of Football Scoop’s tweet.

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The next day, Football Scoop sent out this piece on their web site. It basically throws Bill Martin under the bus by relaying a phone conversation that was only presented from Roussel’s side of the story.

It was passed around all over Twitter and other social media, and people got a good laugh at Mississippi State’s expense. People made jokes about Martin trying to control the message and so on.

That is all very interesting considering what the Football Writers Association of America did today. Each year since 2009, the FWAA names the Super 11 of Football Sports Information Departments. Here is the criteria a Sports Information Department must demonstrate to obtain the honor.

"Criteria employed in determining the winners not only included how press boxes and media operations were operated, but also the quality and timeliness of information provided. Also judged was the amount of information presented and appropriately updated on websites, and personal responsiveness to media inquiries as well as the accessibility of a program’s players, coaches and assistant coaches. The ratings also considered those departments that went the extra mile in servicing the media."

The Mississippi State football Sports Information Department was named to the FWAA’s Super 11 today. It’s hard to believe that Bill Martin is controlling the message when his department is going the “extra mile in servicing the media” with the honor bestowed upon it today.

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Does this  prove Football Scoop was wrong about the Mississippi State Football Sports Information Department? No, but it is nice honor for their team despite getting thrown under the bus earlier.