A winner of nearly two handfuls of College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/College Sports Communicators (CSC) national publications awards and multiple other writing and promotional honors, Patrick Walsh, MBA joined FGCU as Director, Athletics Communication in 2025. He is responsible for leading the Athletics Communications department and its efforts to promote FGCU Athletics and its 15 NCAA Division I sports.
Walsh came to the City of Palms after spending a year and a half at Boise State, where he successfully led, crafted and implemented a year-long promotional campaign for 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist Ashton Jeanty, managing all aspects from content creation and partnerships with external stakeholders. During his tenure at BSU, he conceived and executed football content strategy to raise program awareness and engage target audiences, generating nearly 31,000 media mentions over 300 days with a reach of 140.5 billion. His strategic planning strongly contributed to a significant growth in the football program’s social media following to over 130,000 followers, achieving high engagement rates across the board and generating record-breaking impressions over 16 months, while generating a football game notes package that was ranked third in the nation by CSC.
He ventured to Boise State after four years at Little Rock, initially serving as the associate communications director before being promoted to Director of Communications and Brand Strategy. While in the Capital City, he was the primary contact for women’s basketball, volleyball, cross country and track and field while finishing his tenure by also serving as the primary contact for men’ basketball, baseball and soccer.
During his tenure at Little Rock, he received multiple national awards from CoSIDA/CSC, including in 2023 when his women’s basketball game notes were ranked seventh in the nation. He was also responsible for the complete design and content of the scoreboard and all other content on the new videoboards at the Jack Stephens Center.
Walsh was recognized for his storytelling ability in 2022 as his magazine-style article, "Basketball Saved My Life – How Angelique Francis' new sport became her savior" was named the District 6 winner in CoSIDA's Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest, taking honors as the top story in a district that consists of all Division I institutions across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
In 2021, Walsh was recognized as the Trojans' women's basketball game notes were ranked fifth in the nation among all winter sports (a category that includes men's basketball, women's basketball, wrestling, swimming and diving and ice hockey). Little Rock was the only school from the state of Arkansas to be recognized in the awards announcement and it is believed to be Little Rock's first-ever CoSIDA Publications and Design Contest award.
Prior to joining Little Rock’s Team, Walsh spent two years at Indiana State. While in Terre Haute, he was responsible for growing the social media presence of the Sycamores, promoting the softball program during two of the most successful offensive seasons in school history in consecutive years and a women’s basketball program that was challenged with constant change with three head coaches (two permanent and one interim) in an 18-month span. He also served as the play-by-play and analyst voice on a variety of broadcasts on ESPN3 and ESPN+ as well as the Sycamore Radio Network.
He arrived in the Wabash Valley following a year at Mercer in Macon, Georgia where he was responsible for promoting the football, men’s basketball, softball and men’s and women’s golf programs.
Prior to his stint in Georgia, Walsh spent seven seasons as the associate media relations director at Louisiana Tech where he was responsible for three national award winners (Ryan Allen, 2011 and 2012 Ray Guy Award; Colby Cameron, 2012 Sammy Baugh Award) as well as two other national award semifinalists (Cameron, 2012 Davey O’Brien Award; Quinton Patton, 2012 Biletnikoff Award). Patton’s award campaign, in particular, drew national attention for its originality. He also served as the play-by-play voice for several Bulldog Baseball games on the LA Tech Sports Network.
Walsh is also credited with promoting the 2016 Conference USA Men’s Golf Champions – the first golf team in 36 years to claim a conference championship at the school – as well as promoting the football program to three bowl games in five years, the most the school had ever reached in that span at the time. During the 2011 campaign, he promoted the team’s 2011 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championship and subsequent Poinsettia Bowl bid, highlighting the team’s successes to various bowl committees amidst a seven-game winning streak. He also promoted the Bulldogs to their highest ranking in school history (18th – Associated Press; 19th – USA Today/Coaches; 20th – BCS) during the 2012 season.
An experienced voice in crisis communication, social media and strategic communications, Walsh’s promotional efforts hit the international stage in 2012 as he developed a strategic plan to promote Chelsea Hayes to the 2012 Joe Kearney Award, given to the WAC’s top athlete, as Hayes became the first athlete from Louisiana Tech ever to claim that honor. That year, Hayes went on to become the school’s most decorated athlete, earning her sixth All-America honor before qualifying for Team USA. She competed in the XXX Olympiad in London, representing Louisiana Tech as one of three athletes competing in three different events from three different counties.
During the 2009-10 academic calendar year, Walsh promoted hurdler Antoinette Cobb as she won the Honda Inspiration Award, setting the school and conference records after first beating colon cancer at the age of 18. Another first, thanks to his efforts, Cobb was the initial athlete from the state of Louisiana and from the WAC to garner that award.
Walsh went to Louisiana Tech from The Citadel, where he served as the primary contact for baseball and secondary contact for football, as well as the athletic department’s webmaster. He was also charged with game operations duties for baseball at Riley Park. At The Citadel, Walsh was involved with a trio of publications that were nationally recognized by CoSIDA.
He arrived at The Citadel following a seven-month stint as the Sports Information Assistant at Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina, a Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference. At Newberry, Walsh was responsible for media relations and game operations efforts for baseball, cross country, tennis and volleyball.
Walsh is a 2005 graduate of the University of South Carolina, where he majored in sport and entertainment management and was a member of the South Carolina Honors College. At USC, he worked as a student assistant in the sports information office, assisting with several Gamecock programs, and served as public address announcer for South Carolina Baseball at Sarge Frye Field. He received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in May 2022.
Born in Oxford, Ohio, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Walsh currently resides in Fort Myers with his labradoodle, Bailey.
Updated 12/19/25
