ESPN Anchor Jay Harris Offers Career Advice to Quinnipiac Sports Communications Students

Press release

HAMDEN – First-year student Luke Krout, of Wethersfield, knows Connecticut geography well — and believes he’s landed in the ideal location to pursue a degree in sports communications.

“Quinnipiac is right between two major media markets — Boston and New York — and you’ve got ESPN just down the road in Bristol,” Krout said. “There are amazing opportunities here for internships, networking and future jobs.”

Krout took advantage of one of those opportunities on Thursday when he attended a live recording of “What's Your Story?” The podcast is hosted by journalism professor Nick Pietruszkiewicz in Quinnipiac’s open-air studio. The featured guest was ESPN and SportsCenter anchor Jay Harris.
“I love meeting people in the industry who really know what they’re talking about,” Krout said. “Jay Harris has my dream job.”

Harris, who joined ESPN in 2003 as an ESPNEWS anchor and quickly transitioned to SportsCenter, spoke candidly to students about his career, his daily routine, his battle with prostate cancer and his lifelong passion for sports.

“It’s a fun gig,” Harris said. “Ernie Johnson from TNT calls it a ‘get to’ job — you ‘get to’ do this, you ‘get to’ do that. I feel the exact same way. I don’t have to go to work — I ‘get to’ go to work. I get to talk about whatever games and whatever stories are happening. It’s a lot of fun.”
Before joining ESPN, Harris worked his way up from a “temporary” weekend reporter to the main weeknight anchor at WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh. His extensive experience also includes stints in television and radio, including positions at WAMO-FM and the American Urban Radio Networks in Pittsburgh, as well as WOWI-FM in Norfolk, Virginia.
Interestingly, Harris revealed that he turned down ESPN twice before finally accepting the job. He used his story to offer advice to aspiring broadcasters, encouraging students to embrace the journey and start small.
“We live in such a microwave society where people want everything now — ‘I’m coming out of college and I want to go to ESPN,’” Harris said. “No, you don’t. You want to go through the process. You want to go to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and stay there for a bit. Immerse yourself in the community, in the teams. Be present.
“The people who watch and listen to you — they’ll feel that. They’ll know you’re not going to be there forever, but they’ll appreciate that while you are, you respect where they live. Do that wherever you go, until you find where you truly want to be.”
Pietruszkiewicz, an assistant professor of journalism and director of the sports communications program, has made a point of connecting students with top industry professionals. Past podcast guests have included ESPN’s Ryan Hockensmith and Tim Kurkjian.
“The goal is to expose students to the people doing this job every day — people who are among the best in the business,” Pietruszkiewicz said. “We’re just 30 minutes from Bristol. If we’re not getting ESPN folks here, we’re doing something wrong.”
Before coming to Quinnipiac, Pietruszkiewicz spent 14 years at ESPN. Patricia Mays, a visiting instructor of communications who helped bring Harris to campus, also has deep ties to the network, having spent 12 years in Bristol.
“It’s invaluable,” Mays said. “To be a sports communications major at Quinnipiac, with ESPN — the Worldwide Leader in Sports — right in our backyard, is incredible. It’s one thing to see these professionals on TV or at a game. It’s another to sit in the same room with them, ask questions and hear firsthand about their career journeys — their successes, their setbacks and how they overcame challenges.”