BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- The Mountain East Conference announced today that Chuck McGill will serve as the league’s Associate Commissioner for External Engagement and Communications. Previously, McGill worked as the Associate Director of Athletics for External Engagement and Fan Experience at Marshall University.
McGill started at Marshall in 2016 when the school was a member of Conference USA. The 43-year-old West Virginia native had direct oversight of Marshall’s external operations, including marketing, social media, digital streaming, creative content, communications and the website, and assisted with the athletic department’s transition from C-USA to the Sun Belt Conference in 2021. He was initially hired as MU’s Assistant Director of Athletics for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications, creating Thundering Herd Illustrated, the athletic department’s official magazine, and providing written content to the school’s website while serving on the AD’s senior staff.
McGill will begin his responsibilities with the MEC on Monday, Sept. 16.
“We are tremendously fortunate and excited to be bringing in one of the finest professionals I've known in communications and external relations in collegiate athletics to the Mountain East Conference," said Commissioner Reid Amos. "The knowledge, passion, talent and relationships that Chuck brings to the table will benefit the conference, our member institutions, and our student-athletes beyond measure. I am looking forward to seeing the many impacts he will have on our future."
As Associate Commissioner for the MEC, McGill will be responsible for the MEC’s communications; serve in an advisory role to the commissioner; provide strategic consultation for conference communication initiatives; bring strategic support to the MEC Corporate Partnership program; oversee maintenance of mountaineast.org; execute social media initiatives and strategies; provide championship event coverage; direct media operations at events; give additional oversight to the MEC Digital Network production; and oversee/maintain accurate statistics for all sports.
“The journey to this role with the MEC – for myself and my family – was about people and purpose,” McGill said. “The clear synergy among the conference leadership team has me energized, and I was further buoyed by the relationships that have been fostered around the league during my time in the media and as a college athletics administrator. As a native of the Mountain State who has adored the MEC since its inception, this role will provide an enriching, fulfilling experience by helping our member institutions and its student-athletes achieve at the highest level. And, we are going to have a lot of fun along the way.”
McGill, a nine-time West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, as voted by peer members of the National Sports Media Association, has strong ties throughout the region. He was born in Charleston and attended DuPont High School, where he was a part of the last graduating class (1999). He earned bachelor’s (2003) and master’s (2005) degrees from West Virginia University, and he has lived in the state capital, Morgantown, Martinsburg and Huntington, the latter being where he currently resides with his wife, Lauren, and 12-year-old son, Gunnar.
At Marshall, McGill worked with 2014 and 2015 MEC Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year Chris Grassie, who led the Thundering Herd to the 2020 Division I National Championship. The marketing team, with a talented group of content creators, generated 187,251 interactions on social media during the men’s soccer title pursuit, which ranked No. 1 nationally, according to SkullSparks, which follows college sports brands and creative strategy. In 2021-22, the school’s digital streaming arm, HerdVision, broadcast its first tennis match, first swim meet, first ESPN+ press conference and set the single-game record with a nine-camera setup for a softball game.
Prior to his time at Marshall, McGill was recognized numerous times by the Virginia Press Association and West Virginia Press Association for reporting, columns and features, and he was a long-time Heisman Trophy voter and submitted Top 25 ballots in football and men’s basketball for the Associated Press polls. He had a research role and appeared in the ESPN 30 for 30 series “Rand University,” based on Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss. In 2014, the Tennis Industry Association gave its inaugural Tennis Media Award to McGill for the top tennis story in the United States.
McGill also currently holds roles as adjunct faculty at the University of Memphis, where he teaches in the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media. He also dabbles in writing the backs of sports cards for The Topps Company, Inc., and its subsidiary brand, Bowman.
About the Mountain East Conference
The Mountain East Conference features 11 NCAA Division II member colleges and universities located in three states. The league sponsors 23 championship sports. MEC teams have won six NCAA team national championships, have played in 13 NCAA Championship games, and claimed 47 regional championships. MEC student-athletes also excel in the classroom, with 2,500 earning academic recognition in 2023-24. The league has also produced ten Elite 90 award winners, recognizing the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average who has reached the site of the finals for each of the NCAA's 90 men's and women's championships across its three divisions. The Mountain East Conference is headquartered in Bridgeport, West Virginia. Visit mountaineast.org to learn more.