14 Facts About John Wildhack

John Wildhack was born on October 23,1958 and is the 11th director of athletics at Syracuse University.

John Wildhack started at ESPN in 1980 as a production assistant and steadily rose through the ranks to become the executive vice president for programming and production in 2014.

John Wildhack was in charge of all production efforts at ESPN, in addition to content acquisitions and scheduling.

John Wildhack managed all league and conference relationships and negotiated all broadcast rights, including the NBA, SEC, College Football Playoff, ACC, Big 12, US Open Tennis, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, WNBA, AAC, and MWC.

John Wildhack was responsible for several firsts at the network, including producing ESPN's first live regular-season college football game in September 1984 and its first live NFL game in August 1987.

John Wildhack was an honoree at the "Newhouse at 40" Gala in 2005.

In July 2016, John Wildhack was announced the 11th director of athletics at his alma mater, Syracuse University.

John Wildhack replaced Mark Coyle, who had spent only 11 months with the Orange before leaving for the same job at University of Minnesota.

John Wildhack had no prior experience in athletic administration, but his experience in the sport business industry and his connections with Syracuse University made him a preferred candidate for the job.

John Wildhack secured a $118 million investment from the University for renovation of the Carrier Dome, which underwent a roof replacement, air conditioning, and facilities upgrade.

John Wildhack is a member on the Advisory Board for the David B Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University.

John Wildhack was born in Kenmore, New York and graduated from Kenmore West Senior High School in 1976.

John Wildhack attended Syracuse from 1976 to 1980, earning a bachelor of arts degree in telecommunications from the S I Newhouse School of Public Communications.

John Wildhack is married to Amy, and they have two sons: Tommy, James.