Bryan Fyalkowski joined the WKU Communications/Media Relations staff in August 2016 and is in his sixth year with the university.
Fyalkowski serves as an Associate Director of Communications/Media Relations within the department, working as the primary contact for WKU Football and Tennis. In this position, Fyalkowski oversees everything from organizing media availability to writing and publishing press releases and managing social media accounts.
Fyalkowski first joined the WKU Communications/Media Relations staff in 2016 as an Assistant Director of Media Relations, where he was the primary contact for baseball and secondary contact for football. He worked 163 total baseball games over three seasons, including 90 home games at Nick Denes Field. He increased impressions per tweet by 54% in 2017 and maintained that level of interaction in 2018 and 2019. He promoted three notable players for individual awards: catcher Hunter Wood as a Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist (1-of-15) in 2017, outfielder Jacob Rhinesmith for national, regional and C-USA honors in 2018 and outfielder Jake Sanford for 21 major awards and large-scale media hits in 2019. He also promoted Hilltopper Baseball’s 100th season in program history (2019) with a 100-day countdown to the start of the season and all-century team voting process, while helping plan an on-campus event for alumni.
As the secondary contact for football, Fyalkowski handled media availability for athletes and wrote news stories such as practice recaps and awards earned by Hilltoppers. He live-tweeted during games, which included fostering a relationship with Barstool Sports during the 2016 Boca Raton Bowl. He also helped promote the on-campus Cage The Elephant concert prior to the 2018 home opener and the hiring of head coach Tyson Helton following the 2018 season. After being promoted to Associate Director and primary contact prior to the 2019 season, Fyalkowski inherited new duties such as being a spokesperson and mediary between the program and media members, as well as coordinating press box operations and media availability for home games at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
Fyalkowski coordinated media policies for the 2019 neutral-site game vs. Louisville at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., following the planning and execution of the Louisville Media Blitz and Conference USA Kickoff with Coach Helton and Hilltopper players prior to the 2019 campaign. During the 9-4 season, he helped promote Tyson Helton for C-USA Coach of the Year, defensive end DeAngelo Malone for C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and quarterback Ty Storey for C-USA Newcomer of the Year.
Fyalkowski got his first opportunity working in collegiate athletics after accepting a position as an Athletic Communications Assistant at the University of North Texas from 2014-15, where he was the primary contact for women’s basketball and women’s tennis. In his time at North Texas, he ran the show for the Mean Green at The Super Pit for 16 home games, helped transition the hiring of head coach Jalie Mitchell with the #First44 series and provided color commentary for road games on KNTU live radio network.
Fyalkowski then moved on to the University of Arkansas under a similar role from 2015-16, where he was the primary contact for women’s gymnastics and men’s tennis. While working with gymnastics, he executed five linear broadcasts on SECN and ESPNU. He helped increase home attendance in Barnhill Arena by 17%, while the program’s average impressions per tweet increased by 88% compared to the previous season. He also achieved increasing the Facebook and Twitter following by 35% and Instagram following by 230% in a nine-month span. Lastly, he promoted head coach Mark Cook for the 2016 SEC Co-Coach of the Year and All-American athlete Amanda Wellick at NCAA Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas.
While working with men’s tennis, Fyalkowski guided the Razorbacks’ content during the team’s ascent from No. 69 to as high as No. 12 in the ITA ranking. He promoted the team’s appearance in the NCAA Regionals, as well as athletes Mike Redlicki and Giammarco Micolani at NCAA Nationals in Tulsa, Okla., while increasing total twitter impressions by 236% compared to the previous season.
Fyalkowski graduated cum laude from Drexel University in 2014, where he majored in Sport Management with minors in Business and Communications. In his time at Drexel, he worked as Sports Editor of The Triangle, the school’s independent student newspaper. In three-plus years, he wrote a total of 67 articles while also managing a sports-specific twitter account, podcast and staff of 6-to-8 writers.
Within Drexel’s co-op program, Fyalkowski gained experience at three different six-month internships. One with the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour in Jacksonville, Fla., as an Operations/Marketing Intern where he coordinated media relations efforts. One with Cashman & Associates in Philadelphia, Pa., as a Public Relations Intern where he assisted in public relations for hospitality clientele. And another with Citizens Bank in Philadelphia, Pa., as a Public Affairs Intern where he helped execute a sponsorship with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Fyalkowski is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., where he graduated from Woodland Hills High School in 2009.
