Football
- Title:
- Assistant AD for Strategic Communications (Football, Gymnastics)
- Email:
- vinceb@bgsu.edu
- Phone:
- 419-372-7075
Vincent Briedis (pronounced BRAY-dis) joined the Bowling Green State University athletics department in July 2021 as the Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications. A member of the senior staff, Briedis serves as the primary spokesperson for BGSU Athletics and the lead media contact for both football and gymnastics.
Most recently, Briedis successfully led the national promotion of tight end Harold Fannin Jr., who became Bowling Green football’s first-ever consensus All-American in 2024. Fannin earned first-team honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation, AFCA, Associated Press, and the Football Writers Association of America. That same year, Briedis was recognized by College Sports Communicators (CSC) when his 2024 BGSU Football game notes were ranked No. 6 among all FBS programs and No. 18 overall across all NCAA Division I sports.
Since arriving at BGSU, Briedis has overseen exponential growth across the football program’s digital platforms. In just four years, the program’s combined social media following on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook has increased by 265 percent, including a staggering 1,600 percent increase on Instagram alone.
During his first six months, Briedis played a pivotal role in BGSU football achieving the eighth-largest year-over-year increase in social interactions across all FBS programs (+146 percent), according to SkullSparks. That same season, he also promoted placekicker Nate Needham, who earned first-team All-America honors from the FWAA, becoming just the third Falcon ever to receive that distinction.
In his first year on the job, Briedis helped drive a 33.3 percent increase in X followers—a significant gain for an account launched in 2011. Instagram saw even more dramatic growth with a 230 percent increase in followers. Under his leadership, Bowling Green became the first and only MAC football program to be verified on X, Instagram, and Facebook. Notably, between spring football in 2022 and the season opener, BGSU’s football Instagram rose from last in the MAC in follower count to second in the league—in just four months.
Briedis has continued to lead consistent digital growth. When he arrived, BGSU football had one of the smallest combined social media followings in the FBS. By 2023, BGSU became the only school in the country to record three straight years of 100 percent+ growth in social media interactions across all platforms. In 2023 alone, interactions rose by 120 percent, while total follower count across all channels grew by 21 percent, following a 67 percent increase in 2022.
In the spring of 2022, Briedis launched the “Fly With Us” podcast, the only football-only podcast produced by a school in the Mid-American Conference, and one of the few school-hosted, football-exclusive podcasts in all of FBS.
Briedis came to BGSU after 12 years at Virginia where he assisted the department promote 14 NCAA team titles and various other individual NCAA championships. Briedis was the primary contact for the Cavalier football and men’s lacrosse programs. He also directly promoted 70 former Cavaliers that went on to play in the NFL, as well as 12 football and 60 men's lacrosse All-Americans.Under Briedis, UVA's social media footprint for the football and men's lacrosse programs was born. He oversaw the UVA men's lacrosse program become the first men's or women's lacrosse program in the nation to be verified by Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. During his final 2.5 years at UVA, the UVA men's lacrosse Instagram generated over 2.5 million interactions, which was the most among all lacrosse programs during that span. Briedis also oversaw the UVA football program become one of the first ACC and FBS programs to be verified by Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
While at UVA, Briedis promoted the Cavaliers at such events like the ESPYS, ESPN Car Wash, the College World Series, bowl games and men’s lacrosse Final Fours, highlighted by Virginia’s 2011, 2019 and 2021 NCAA title teams. The Football Writers Association of America recognized his efforts when the organization included Virginia on its 2012 “Super 11” list. The organization, which was founded in 1941, gives the honor annually to 11 sports information departments deemed the best in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. In addition to his UVA football duties, Briedis worked on the communications staff for three ACC Football Championship games (2013-14-15) and the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship in Glendale, Ariz.
Briedis moved to UVA after spending three years at Liberty as the media contact for men’s basketball, men’s golf and the athletics website, LibertyFlames.com. In addition to serving men’s basketball, Briedis was the liaison for nationally-recognized Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay’s website, CoachRitchieMcKay.com, hosted by CollegeInsider.com. Briedis also managed the onslaught of national media demands to access former heralded Liberty All-American and Duke transfer Seth Curry.
Staying busy during his three years in Lynchburg, in addition to working in the athletics communications department, Briedis did play-by-play and color analysis for Liberty baseball games on WWMC 90.9 and served as the color analyst on radio broadcasts for the Danville Braves Baseball Club of the Appalachian League on ESPN radio WMNA 106.3.
Prior to his days at Liberty, Briedis spent two-and-a-half years as the Director of Sports Information at Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Phoenix, Ariz. While at GCU, Briedis ran the sports information department at the university.
Briedis joined GCU after spending the 2003 season with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox Baseball Club, the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. Briedis served as the Public Relations Assistant and Marketing Representative for the Pacific Coast League franchise, where his duties included serving as a liaison between the club and the media/community as well as assisting with the daily office demands.
Briedis worked closely with KRDO, the flagship radio station of the Sky Sox, where his duties included ad rotation and assisting in the daily game production. Briedis also assisted in the production of all Adelphia television broadcasts. As part of the marketing department in the off-season, Briedis contributed to the outstanding sales results the Sky Sox achieved. The franchise finished 2003 with the third-highest revenue of the 30 Triple-A franchises, despite being in the second-smallest market.
Briedis is a 2001 graduate of Grand Canyon, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in communications with a public relations emphasis. While at GCU, Briedis was a four-year letterwinner on the Antelopes Baseball team, where he was a member of the club’s 1998 Western Athletic Conference Northern Division Championship team and participated in the conference championship at San Diego State. In the summer of 1999, Briedis participated in the 94th-annual Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, Alaska, when his Oceanside Waves team took on the Alaska Goldpanners in Alaska Collegiate League action. The game and the Summer Solstice events that surrounded the game were featured that year on the Fox Sports show, “Going Deep.”
Upon graduation, Briedis signed a free agent contract with the Richmond Roosters of the Frontier League, where he spent the 2002 season.
Briedis is a member of College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the National Football Foundation (NFF). He is also on the Advisory Board for CollegePressBox.com, the official media website for Division I football.
Briedis has worked on numerous publications recognized in the annual CoSIDA Publications Contest (Now CSC). His work as the assistant editor of Liberty’s 2007, 2008 and 2009 football media guide were acknowledged all three years as the No. 3 brochure in the nation at the FCS level. The 2007 and 2009 Liberty football media guides also were also honored with best cover in the nation accolades. In 2010, Briedis’ Virginia men’s lacrosse media guide was judged as the best cover among lacrosse guides and was voted the fourth-best book among Divisions A, B and C entries.
In May of 2006 Briedis earned his master of business administration degree with a marketing emphasis from Grand Canyon.
A life-long baseball fan, Briedis has seen a game in 37 different Major League Baseball stadiums. He attended Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.’s 2007 Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown. In addition, Briedis has seen 64 Hall of Fame baseball players play in person during their careers, while also attending games managed by eight Hall of Fame skippers.
Also, an avid college football fan, Briedis has been to 45 bowl games as a fan or in a working capacity, which includes 29 Holiday Bowls, four Fiesta Bowls, three Quick Lane Bowls, two Cactus Bowls, one Freedom Bowl, one Belk Bowl, one Peach Bowl, one Military Bowl, one Orange Bowl, one 68 Ventures Bowl and the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship. The first bowl game he ever attended was the 1984 Holiday Bowl, which catapulted BYU to the national title.
Briedis is a native of Carlsbad, Calif., in North San Diego County and is married to the former Laura Ransom of Bucyrus, Ohio. The couple resides in Findlay, Ohio, with their daughter Blythe and son Beau.
