Ohio State football sports information director Jerry Emig will retire this March after spending the last 15 years in the role and the last seven as the athletic department’s director of communications.
“As the leader of our communications team, Jerry has been a consistent and passionate advocate for our student-athletes, ensuring their stories are shared with authenticity and pride,” Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said in a release. “His dedication to preserving and promoting the history of Buckeye athletics is truly commendable. Beyond his professional contributions, Jerry has been a trusted advisor, a creative force, and a source of positivity and humor. His presence will be deeply missed, but we’re excited for him as he prepares to enjoy a well-earned retirement with his family.”
Emig, a Minnesota native and graduate of Murray State (1983) with a master’s degree in sports information from Ohio State in 1986, has spent 33 years working in sports information. Twenty-three of those were spent at Ohio State, with other stints coming at Southern Illinois-Carbondale and Temple. He also had a stint with the Buckeyes’ SID office in 1998 and 1999 before returning in 2007.
Emig has been widely regarded as one of the top SID’s in the country since taking over the role with OSU football in 2011. He and his staff received the Super 11 Award from the Football Writers Association of America for SID excellence in 2017.
Emig has held his leadership role during a successful time at Ohio State. Since taking on the role in 2011, the Buckeyes have won two national championships, five Big Ten championships and made six College Football Playoff appearances.
Ohio State also announced the retirement of senior deputy director of athletics and senior women’s administrator Jamie Oman on Thursday. Oman, who will retire in June of 2026, has spent nearly 30 years looking to advance women’s sports at Ohio State while also overseeing performance, compliance and the student-athlete support service office, or SASSO.
In addition to these retirement announcements, the OSU athletic department announced the formation of its Center for Sports Intelligence and Strategy, which will look to foster collaboration between different athletics teams and pursue data-driven strategies to enhance team performance. The center will also look to bring an analytical and data-driven lens to the Buckeyes’ NIL efforts while offering support to the new Buckeye Sports Group.
“The Center for Sports Intelligence & Strategy will equip our coaches with more information, context and clarity to make even better decisions,” said deputy athletics director Shaun Richard, who will oversee the group. “We already have the best sports science team that equips our coaches with data on training, recovery, and performance. This unit will work in tandem with our sports scientists, as well as our business and NIL strategy teams, to give coaches additional data and actionable insights.”
