Cyrill Parham is the sports information director at Salisbury University. He was hired this summer after longtime SID Tim Brennan accepted a different role with the university in the spring.
Parham received his undergraduate degree from Thiel College in 2014. He worked the next two and a half years as a full-time assistant for the college while working toward his graduate degree.
A native of Cecil County, Md., Parham had significant interest in the sports information director position at Wesley College when it became available. This became his first head job and led to his current role with Salisbury.
The Flyer had the chance to sit down with Parham and discuss his career, adjusting to his new role and what he looks forward to this year.
Q: What did you learn from your experience with Wesley?
A: It was great. I learned a lot working as a one-man shop for 19 teams there, especially with high-profile football, track and field and other successful teams. It really gave me a lot of experience running my own shop.
Q: What attracted you to the Salisbury job?
A: It’s still close to home, and it’s a very known institution with a national reputation. The athletic department is phenomenal. All the sports contend for deep postseason runs, so it’s good to be involved in that. I have a good staff, SGSN [Sea Gull Sports Network] is amazing and I wanna keep this momentum going once I finally get some games under my belt here.
Q: How have you handled the transition to Salisbury?
A: It’s been good. I’m learning a lot of different things in terms of procedures and getting to know everybody, with a new staff on the sports info side. A lot of it I’ve already dealt with in the past, it’s just getting used to it in a new place. Learning faces, peoples’ strengths and weaknesses and I enjoy that. I like building relationships that way; I’m more of a hands-on kind of leader. The past two months have been a little bit of a whirlwind, but I’m taking every day in stride.
Q: What are your main responsibilities as the SID?
A: They change daily. It’s getting ready for game day, doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work with awards nominations, social media, marketing, publications and game operations. It’s mostly behind the scenes, but the work is crucial to keep the wheels turning for the department. Not every day is the same, which I like. You’re all over the place, which I think is exciting.
Q: What are you most excited for this year?
A: Just getting to know everybody. There’s a knowledgeable returning staff on the SGSN side, but it’s a brand new staff on our side. It’ll be an interesting balance of trusting the veterans in leading the charge on the video side, but also teaching the rookies to become veterans on the sports info side. There’s gonna be a lot of new things coming down the pipe in the next couple months, especially the new website coming in the next few months and the new streaming platform debut. It’s an exciting change, and I feel it is a necessary change for Salisbury to continue positive momentum going into NCAA Tournament play. Going forward, my thing is to try and win every day.
By NICK LEWIS
Sports editor
Featured image from Salisbury University Inside Athletics page.