Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Leigh Torbin is in his second year as an assistant media relations director at Notre Dame. Prior to moving to South Bend, the Framingham, Mass., native attended UMass and worked at Vanderbilt, Florida, UConn and UCF. Blue & Gold Illustrated: What are one or two things that come with the position that people might not realize? Torbin: "Particularly in this age of social media, it truly is a 24-7 job. It was never a nine-to-five job due to the extended hours of sports, which prohibit nights and weekends off for large chunks of the year. "Now, news can break at any hour and often media and others will be aware of it before you are. At no point in time are you truly 100 percent safe to know that you'll enjoy that evening at home because there's always a chance that anything from actual news to an outlandish rumor will bring your evening to a halt." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What do you consider to be the most rewarding aspects of working in media relations, and particularly at Notre Dame? Torbin: "I enjoy my role in forming compromises and making ends meet between the sometimes divergent interests of teams and media. "As for Notre Dame in particular, I am incredibly fortunate to work with student-athletes who are intelligent, articulate and understand the process of being in the limelight and their social responsibili- ties." Blue & Gold Illustrated: Outside of Notre Dame, what has been your most memorable stop? Torbin: "I have taken wonderful memories and experiences from all of [his previous stops]. … I'm a mutt. I have six teams [Notre Dame, UMass, Vander- bilt, Florida, UConn and UCF] to root for. But, they've all helped make me what I am to- day." Blue & Gold Illustrated: As a native of the Northeast who has mostly worked there or in Florida, how do you enjoy Northern Indi- ana? Torbin: "Thankfully readjust- ing to cold isn't as bad as learn- ing about it since last winter was brutal. "I'm enjoying what I have seen of Michiana so far. I've been lucky to meet some great local Irish fans and experience a community that is big enough to have substance but not overwhelmingly large." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What does a typical day involve for you during the season? Torbin: "Anything can happen at any time, and that unpredictability is something I cherish about working in sports. … The core of the day is spent working on publications such as game notes, monitoring social media, and any number of typical PR tasks such as helping [director of football media relations] Mike Bertsch handle interviews. "The team will practice in the afternoon and have a formal media opportunity afterwards. Some days bring other activities such as getting information ready for that week's TV crew (Monday), getting information together for programs and flip cards (Sunday), etc. Every day of a typical week during football season has a unique feel and set of tasks." — Andrew Owens Five Questions With … ASSISTANT MEDIA RELATIONS DIRECTOR LEIGH TORBIN Torbin has 14 years of experi- ence working at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, and he has worked 27 bowl games. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS