By Daniel Paulling
Early in his sports writing career, Izzy Gould hoped to become either an editor or a columnist. His experiences soon taught him he was best suited for the former.
“I quickly learned I felt better about building people up instead of tearing them down,” Gould said in an email. “I don't have the cold blood you often need to shoot venom from your pen.”
The desire to work with reporters — and to return to a state he'd grown fond of — led him to leave his sports writing career and the Sun Sentinel's Miami Dolphins beat to become the managing producer of college sports at the Alabama Media Group in August 2012.
Gould was elevated to Alabama Media Group's sports manager role in December 2013 and became the NFL senior editor at USA Today Sports Media Group in February.
Despite the chance to lead a national newspaper's biggest sports beat, he said leaving Alabama was difficult. He believes his time covering the University of Alabama, which he describes as one of the country's most difficult beats, and the devastation wrought by 62 tornadoes that killed more than 100 people in April 2011 bonded him to the community and shaped him as a journalist.
“The tornado coverage wasn't something you plan for, but I truly felt as though I served the community by sharing their stories with the world,” he said. “And thanks to many other journalists, Alabama received an overflow of recovery aid.”
Gould added he considered leaving sports to do what he described as “more important journalism” but chose to stay in sports. His goal now is to improve USA Today's NFL coverage.
“I do not for one second regret leaving the reporting world,” Gould said. “I am always trying to improve, and I want to help others improve as journalists. Just a month in, that's already happening. I've found a new passion in this role with plenty of new challenges.”
Personnel moves across the nation:
NATIONAL
— ESPN: Moved Jared Shanker to Florida State beat
— Sports Illustrated: Hired former Chicago Tribune Notre Dame beat writer Brian Hamilton as college basketball blogger
GREAT LAKES
— Cincinnati Enquirer: Hired Paul Dehner Jr. to cover Cincinnati Bengals
—Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette: Hired Chris Goff as IU/Purdue beat writer
—Fox Sports Ohio: Hired former Cincinnati Enquirer Bengals beat writer Joe Reedy to cover Cleveland Indians
—Indianapolis Star: Promoted Ronnie Ramos to Manageing Director/Digital & Sports
—Minneapolis Star Tribune: Hired Matt Vensel as lead Vikings writer from Baltimore Sun
—Northwest Herald: Promoted Jeff Arnold from general assignment reporter to Bears beat
MID-ATLANTIC
—Philadelphia Daily News: Hired Jake Kaplan from the Long Beach Register as sports reporter
—Washington Post: Hired Scott Allen for D.C. Sports Bog
NORTHEAST
—Boston Globe: Hired Matt Pepin as sports editor of BostonGlobe.com.
—Kennebec (Maine) Journal/Morning Sentinel: Promoted Bill Stewart to sports editor … hired Evan Crawley as sports reporter/assistant sports editor
NORTHWEST
—Casper Star-Tribune: Hired Ross Jacobson as sports editor from the DeKalb Daily Chronicle
— Oregonian Media Group: Hired former Oklahoman Oklahoma State beat writer Gina Mizell to cover Oregon State
SOUTHEAST
—Alabama Media Group: Hired Roy S. Johnson as director of sports
—(Chattanooga, Tenn.) Times Free Press: Promoted Stephen Hargis from preps to UT-Chattanooga football
—Miami Herald: Promoted Scott Magoloff to assistant sports editor/nights … promoted Don McMullen to full-time copy editor … promoted Adrian Ruhi to sports multimedia producer
— NOLA Media Group: Hired Peter Russo to cover youth sports
—(Port) Charlotte (Fla.) Sun: Hired Josh Vitale to cover minor league baseball
SOUTHWEST
—Denver Post: Moved Troy Renck from Rockies to Broncos beat … promoted Patrick Saunders to lead Rockies beat writer and added Nick Groke to Rockies beat
—Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Hired Nick Talbot, formerly sports producer at Clarion-Ledger, as sports editor
WESTERN
— Deseret News: Lost part-time preps reporter Trevor Phibbs, who will cover preps for Idaho Statesman
— Salt Lake Tribune: Moved former Utah State beat writer Kyle Goon to University of Utah and Pac-12 beat … moved Utah basketball/football beat writer Tony Jones to Utah Jazz/NBA beat … moved GA news reporter Matthew Piper to University of Utah beat
