Media Contact: Football, Men's Basketball, Baseball, Men's Soccer, Men's & Women's Golf, Cross Country
Sport Administrative Contact: Men's & Women's Golf
Kyle Schwartz joined the Ohio Valley Conference as Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations in November 2006. In August 2016 his title changed to Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Communications to better reflect the changing job responsibilities associated with collegiate athletics. In July 2023 he was promoted to the role of Associate Commissioner.
He is in charge of publicity efforts for the Conference and is the primary media relations contact for football, men’s basketball, baseball, men's soccer, men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s golf.
He serves as the media coordinator for the OVC's annual basketball and baseball tournaments and is also in charge of coordinating special events for the Conference, including the league's Honors Brunch and Hall of Fame and the annual Football and Basketball Media Days.
Schwartz also oversees the OVC's official website and social media platforms.
Beginning in 2015 he took over as the staff liaison to the men's and women's golf coaches groups and serves as tournament director for the OVC Men's & Women's Golf Championships.
In 2014 Schwartz served as the Local Media Coordinator for the 2014 Women's Basketball Final Four which was held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The sold-out event attracted nationwide media and served as one of the biggest sporting events the city of Nashville can host. The year prior he had served on the Media Coordination Committee for the Women's Basketball Final Four in New Orleans.
In 2012 and 2018 he served as the Media Coordinator for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship First/Second Rounds that the OVC hosted at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Schwartz has served as a timeout coordinator for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournaments (2009-13, 2015-20, 2022-present) and worked with the ConSIDA group at the Final Four 11 times.
Schwartz is active with the promotion of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and serves as a voter in the FCS Top 25 poll in addition to also being a pollster in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 30 poll.
Schwartz came to the OVC after spending four and a half years at the University of Northern Colorado, where he served as the Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations for two years, was promoted to Athletic Media Relations Coordinator in July 2004 and served as Director of Media Relations in his final year. There he was the primary contact for a variety of sports, including men's basketball, baseball, volleyball and golf.
During the 2004-05 school year, Soccer Buzz magazine ranked Schwartz the No. 3 soccer SID in the country and No. 1 SID in the central region, a region they termed "the largest and most competitive in sports information." Following the 2005 volleyball season, Schwartz was honored by Collegiate Volleyball Update (CVU.com) with the first annual RESPecting Volleyball (Recognition for Excellence in Supporting and Promoting Volleyball) award, given in an effort to recognize those who work to further the sport of volleyball, especially at the collegiate level.
Schwartz helped coordinate the media efforts of two NCAA, two conference and six independent championships while at Northern Colorado, including four independent events (volleyball, golf, softball and track & field) during the 2005-06 school year. The 2003 Northern Colorado volleyball guide he wrote, designed and edited won third place honors nationally in the college division of the CoSIDA publications contest. Schwartz has also coordinated the publicity campaigns of several All-Americans at Northern Colorado, including 2002 AVCA National Volleyball Player of the Year Erin Deffenbaugh.
Schwartz also spent two years as a graduate assistant in the Southeast Missouri State sports information department in Cape Girardeau, Missouri (2000-02). It was at SEMO that Schwartz received his master's degree in athletic administration, graduating with honors. At SEMO, Schwartz was in charge of publicity for soccer, women's basketball, gymnastics, tennis and softball.
Schwartz received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Kentucky in May 2000, graduating cum laude. As an undergraduate, he interned with the Host Communications publishing group and also worked with the Kentucky Thoroughblades minor league hockey team.
Schwartz, a native of Flemingsburg, Kentucky, is a member of the College Sports Communicators (CSC), the United States Basketball Writer's Association (USBWA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He has also served on the NCAA Media Coordination/Statistics Advisory Group. For 11 years (June 2003-14) he was a member of CoSIDA's Academic All-American committee, serving as a district coordinator for football and the men's at-large teams for the university division.
Schwartz and his wife, Angella, have one son, Harrison.