PROVO, Utah — BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe today announced the hiring of Jon McBride as Associate Athletic Director for Communications and Media Strategy. This is a new position to oversee a restructuring that will better combine and promote collaboration between areas of communications, marketing, social media and media relations in BYU Athletics.
“We have made a number of important strides in our athletic department over the past few years in utilizing video, graphic design and social media,” Holmoe said. “We’re constantly moving forward, to be on the cutting-edge, ready to promote the BYU brand, our teams, our student-athletes and connect with Cougar Nation in new and innovative ways. As the ever-changing media landscape continues to shift, we are excited to have Jon’s unique skillset and experience in new media to utilize undiscovered avenues and technologies.”
In this new position, McBride will oversee social media and public relations strategy, interview and information requests, scheduling with athletic broadcast partners, social media and broadcast media training for coaches and student athletes and more. He will manage new hybrid communications positions that have been created with an emphasis on social media, while retaining traditional media relations and sports information responsibilities. McBride will emphasize mentored student learning, utilizing the unique, invaluable skills and perspectives BYU Athletics student employees possess.
“I’m really excited about the opportunities ahead, in this new collaborative model,” McBride said. “Throughout my career, I’ve always had a passion for innovation and collaboration within social and digital communications. The opportunity to do that within BYU Athletics was impossible to pass up. I have a deep passion for BYU and its unique brand and mission. BYU Athletics helps advance that brand and mission in vitally important ways, and I so look forward for new opportunities in doing so.”
McBride comes to BYU Athletics after spending the past eight years in University Communications, BYU’s central communications office. He worked as a media relations and social media manager for most of that time, before recently being promoted to the role of director of digital communications. McBride oversaw BYU’s institutional social media accounts, which have consistently been in the Top 10 among US colleges and universities for engagement. He started the university’s Instagram account, implemented the #MyViewFromBYU takeover series and started a campaign for addressing topics such as sexual assault, consent, mental health and conflict resolution via Instagram stories. For his groundbreaking work in the higher education digital media industry, McBride received the eduWeb Summit Award for Industry Excellence in 2019. This year he was named to the Utah Valley 40 under 40 List.
McBride graduated from Weber State University, with a Bachelor’s degree in communication, studying multiple emphases, including public relations, advertising, journalism and electronic media. He worked as the sports editor for the student paper for three years and the sports director for the student radio station for one year. McBride worked in Weber State’s central communications office after graduation and stayed involved with sports writing and broadcasting. Highlights included covering the Damian Lillard years and calling the play-by-play on 1280 The Zone for Ron McBride’s (no relation) final collegiate football game. On the side, McBride spent eight seasons as the voice of the Ogden Mustangs, providing play-by-play for the Western States Hockey League program.
McBride was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He played on BYU’s club hockey team in the 2001-02 and 2004-05 seasons before transferring to Weber State. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Australia Sydney North Mission. He has three kids.