SEC associate commissioner hired for media relations job
USC alumnus and Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom will be returning to his alma mater this December as the senior associate director of external affairs for the athletics department.
USC was announced Tuesday that Bloom has been named to Athletic Director Ray Tanner’s senior staff after being chosen from a field of more than 20 candidates. He will replace Marcy Girton, who held that position under former Athletic Director Eric Hyman.
Bloom will start at USC in mid-December, after the SEC championship, he said Wednesday night.
Bloom has been the director of media and public relations for the SEC for the past 17 years, serving as associate commissioner for the past 10.
“We’ve known each other for 15 years with our association in the SEC,” Tanner said. “We went through an interview process, open interview and his credentials elevated him to the top.”
Bloom has served as the chief administrator for baseball in the SEC office since 2000, allowing him to have a close relationship with Tanner, who coached USC’s baseball team from 1997 to 2012.
“I worked mainly with coaches, umpires and administrators in schools, so I was able to work with Ray closely in that regard,” Bloom said. “From that, we have developed a tremendous relationship, so when the opportunity for this position came, he was very gracious in giving me the opportunity, and it became a great fit for him as well as me.”
Tanner said Bloom’s media relations expertise gained while working for the SEC qualified him for the job, as well as the fact that he’s a USC alumnus. Bloom graduated from USC in 1985 and served as both an undergraduate and graduate assistant in the sports information director’s office during his time at the university.
“His communications experience is second to none, from being involved in marketing and media in the SEC for 16, 17 years now,” Tanner said. “He was there in the SEC for the evolution of the BCS.”
Bloom helped develop the formula for ranking teams in the BCS system as well as its media relations policies and procedures.
One of the big differences between working for the SEC and for USC, Bloom said, will be the opportunity to work more closely with student-athletes.
“In the conference office, you don’t get the interaction with student-athletes as much,” he said. “The reason we work is to benefit student-athletes, so I’m really excited for the opportunities to promote and enhance the Gamecock brand.”