Five years ago, Mike Glennon was selling cars in Syracuse, NY. Now he’s the new Assistant Director of Sports Information at Queens University (NCAA DII) in Charlotte, NC.
He succeeds fellow STAA member Phil Constantino, who left Queens in December for the Director of Broadcasting job at Gardner-Webb University, also in Charlotte.
At the age of 29, Glennon left auto sales to pursue sports broadcasting. He shares, “I was at a time in my life where I felt I was in a rut and desperately needed a change.”
He started by pursuing – and quickly attaining – his BA in Communications from Le Moyne College in Syracuse. During his college years, he also landed an ESPN Radio Syracuse internship that led to producing with them.
In addition, Glennon gained a lot of play-by-play experience with the Le Moyne College Athletic Department. He also taught himself how to use Microsoft and Adobe Suite programs, and it turns out those multimedia skills will be a large part of his new position at Queens University.
Glennon’s most recent position was at 1440 KRDZ in Wray, CO. That is where he won a Colorado Broadcasters’ Association Award of Excellence for Best Morning Show in Medium Market Radio for his show On the Mike in the Mornings.
Along the way, Glennon discovered STAA and became a member in 2018. He says, “I found STAA by just researching how to get into this business and saw nothing but positives by signing up. From the resources to the job leads, you cannot ask for a better service to help you break into this business and further your career!”
It was because of an STAA Job Leads email that Glennon learned about the opening for the Queens University position, where he already had a connection with the head men’s basketball coach. “At the 2018 D-2 Elite 8…I interviewed he and his players after their Elite 8 Win and Final 4 Loss. I used that in my interview with the coaches and he remembered me and the questions I asked!”
Glennon believes several other things helped him in his pursuit of this position. For one, he followed up often as a way of keeping his name on their minds. He also researched the university, their philosophy, the coaches, and the athletic staff. He shares, “Getting to know them before the interviews allowed me to key in on several things from the backgrounds of each in order to make a deeper connection right out of the gate!”
Looking back on that life-changing decision he made years ago, Glennon admits to feeling anxious. “I will be honest, being anxious is an understatement. But I have always had an incredible support system around me and I . . . knew that it was time to focus on me and bettering myself. . . It was very scary to uproot everything but I would do it all over again 1,000 times.”
He continues, “The moral is you NEVER have to feel stuck as long as you set yourself goals and commit to bettering your life which in turn will better your relationships with those you hold dearest to you!”