For nearly three decades, Tom Schott passionately publicized Purdue Athletics.
Schott started as a graduate intern in the Purdue University athletics public relations department July 1, 1990, and subsequently earned promotions to assistant sports information director (1991), associate sports information director (1995), sports information director (2000), interim assistant athletics director (2006), assistant athletics director (2007), associate athletics director (2011) and senior associate athletics director (2014).
In 2024, Schott received the Lifetime Achievement Award from College Sports Communicators (formerly the College Sports Information Directors of America – CoSIDA), the national association for strategic, creative and digital communicators across intercollegiate athletics in the United States and Canada.
Since leaving the athletics department in December 2019, Schott has worked as senior director of strategic communications (2020-23) and director of executive communications (2023-present) for Purdue University.
In 2022, Schott received the Purdue For Life Impact Award from the National Football Foundation Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana, and in 2019, he was elected to Town and Gown, an esteemed group of Greater Lafayette community members and Purdue administrators, department heads and/or faculty who are recognized for their civic contributions and leadership.
As a member of the Purdue Athletics senior leadership team, Schott administered the strategic communications and media relations efforts while serving as department spokesperson. He was the department raconteur, historian, managing editor of PurdueSports.com, copy editor for all collateral materials and liaison to the university and alumni association communications staffs, as well as the Big Ten Network. Schott was co-editor of Forge, the Purdue Athletics highly acclaimed quarterly publication, and co-host of the wide-ranging Purdue Athletics Podcast. He was a regular contributor to the video news series Boiler Bytes talking about the Boilermakers.
Schott served as the primary communications/sports information contact for football from 1998-2009. He worked 270 of 272 games from Sept. 12, 1998, to Nov. 30, 2019, and accompanied the Boilermakers to 13 bowl games, including the 2001 Rose Bowl. Schott served as publisher/editor of the official gameday program and as occasional host of the coach’s radio show. He coordinated the visual and interactive content for the Blake Lobby in the Kozuch Football Performance Complex. Schott promoted Heisman Trophy finalist and Maxwell Award-winning quarterback Drew Brees and John Mackey Award-winning tight end Tim Stratton in 2000, as well as two consensus All-Americans – punter Travis Dorsch in 2001 and wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield in 2004 – while working with the winningest coach in school history, Joe Tiller. Schott was featured on ESPN for his Heisman Trophy campaign for quarterback Kyle Orton in 2004. Spearheaded by Schott, Purdue Athletics was at the forefront of student-athlete promotion via DVDs, printed materials and websites. Schott coined the term Den of Defensive Ends in 2004 in recognition of the Boilermakers’ tradition at that position.
Earlier at Purdue, Schott worked directly with cross country, track & field and wrestling (1990-91); volleyball (1991-97); and women’s basketball (1991-99). He was honored as one of the nation’s top five women’s basketball sports information directors by the
Women’s Basketball Journal in 1999, the same year the Boilermakers won the NCAA championship. Schott also accompanied the Boilermakers to the 1994 and 2001 Women’s Final Fours. He was a member of the Women’s Final Four media relations staff in 1993, 1995 and 1997 and served as media coordinator for the 1992 and 1997 Mideast regionals. Schott provided radio color commentary for women’s basketball and volleyball, as well, and did radio play-by-play for softball and Internet streaming play-by-play for baseball. He traveled with men’s basketball to the NCAA Tournament on 10 occasions, including the Sweet 16 three times and the 2019 Elite Eight. He pulled together subject matter themes and displays for the Purdue Basketball Ring of Honor in Mackey Arena. Schott helped create the Golden Pete Awards show to celebrate the achievements of Boilermaker student-athletes each spring. Schott regularly wrote for the Lafayette (Indiana)
Journal & Courier.
Schott has authored or co-authored four books on Purdue Athletics: 100 Things Purdue Fans Must Know & Do Before They Die (2020), Tales from the Purdue Boilermakers Locker Room (2015), Purdue University Football Vault (2008) and Tales from Boilermaker Country (2003). He co-hosted Schott Down Memory Lane, a weekly radio show on The Hammer (101.7 FM) in Lafayette, featuring interviews with the biggest names in Purdue Athletics history.
In 2016, Schott was honored with the
CoSIDA 25-Year Award. He was recipient of the Helping Hand Award from the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in 2008 and the Scoop Hudgins Outstanding SID Award from the All-American Football Foundation in 2007. He was recognized as an honorary member of the Purdue Reamer Club in 2006 for being an important figure at Purdue. Schott won numerous CoSIDA publication and writing awards, including three Best in the Nation citations. Most recently, his story “Joe Tiller: 1942-2017” was judged Coach/Administrator Profile & Historical Feature of the Year for District V (Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba and Ontario) in 2018.
Beyond Purdue, Schott served as press conference moderator for the Big Ten Football Championship Game from 2011-18, regularly filled the same role for the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament and was chair of the conference communications/ sports information directors during the 2000-01 and 2012-13 school years. He managed press relations for the East team at the 2005 East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco and was a member of the host committee media relations staff for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.
Schott was a member of NACDA, CoSIDA and the Football Writers Association of America. He served as a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-America Divisional Leadership Group and the Publications Awards and Writing Contest committees.
Schott has been on the advisory board of the National Football Foundation Joe Tiller chapter of Northwest Indiana, a non-profit organization that promotes amateur football, since its founding in 2005.
In 2023, Schott co-founded RailSplitters Authentics LLC, which conducts autograph signings and hosts sports collectibles shows and other events.
Schott graduated cum laude from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. He received the Woodward Award for outstanding writing and the Diem Award as the outstanding journalism senior. He was the student assistant sports information director at Ohio Wesleyan for four years, served as sports editor of The Transcript and wrote for the Delaware (Ohio) Gazette. Schott interned with the St. Louis Cardinals media and public relations department during the summers of 1988 and 1989 and was a sportswriter for the Suburban Newspapers of St. Louis during the summer of 1987. As a high school student, Schott did extensive sports publicity work for Saint Louis Country Day School and served as sports editor of The News. He got his start in sports journalism at age 12 when he co-founded his own magazine called The Redbird Chirps, interviewing nearly 100 Major League Baseball players, managers, coaches and broadcasters from 1981-86.
A native of St. Louis and an ardent baseball historiographer, Schott has been a contributing writer for the Cardinals media guide, Hall of Fame induction program, magazine and website (Cardinals.com) and served on the media relations staff for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game and the 2013 World Series in his hometown. He co-authored The Giants Encyclopedia, a history of the New York and San Francisco Giants franchise published in 1999, and The Giants Encyclopedia: Second Edition, published in 2003. Schott also has written for the Giants website (SFGiants.com), Atlanta Braves media guide and website (Braves.com) and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website (BaseballHall.org). He has been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research since 2020.
Schott is married to former Purdue women’s basketball player Jane Calhoun (1988-92). The couple has two sons, August and Sam. Tom is a member of the West Lafayette Community School Corporation Board of Trustees and the West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation Board of Directors. He coached youth baseball for 13 years and has served as public address announcer for the West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School varsity baseball program for many years. Tom has traveled to all 50 United States, worked college football games at 37 venues and attended MLB games at 32 stadiums. His non-sports interests include 1970s and ‘80s music, Batman, Seinfeld, Star Wars and U.S. presidential history. He is an Eagle Scout.
May 2024