Sims Joins U-M Football as Director of Strategic Communications and Branding

ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan football program announced today (Monday, May 24) the hiring of Sydney Sims as the director of strategic communications and branding within the recruiting office. Sims is responsible for running the social media accounts for football; handling branding, education and initiatives with the student-athletes; and recruiting communication for the program.

Sims comes to Ann Arbor after 15 months at Notre Dame, where she oversaw the football social media accounts and handled student-athletes branding as a member of The Fighting Irish Media team within the athletic department. Sims has used her skills as an on-camera reporter to provide fans of the Irish an inside look into the program, something she will also do as a member of the Wolverines’ football staff.

Prior to her time in South Bend, Sims worked at the United States Naval Academy. She managed the social media accounts and produced daily content for Navy’s football team during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Her efforts helped the Naval Academy to one of the largest growths in terms of percentage of followers in college football.

Sims has extensive experience with on-air talent, working as a reporter for the American Athletic Conference Campus Connect program and as a correspondent on the American Forces Network weekly show called Inside Military Pigskin.

She was a graduate assistant at the University of Wyoming during the 2017-18 academic year. Sims interviewed players and coaches for the athletic website and social media channels while calling play-by-play for volleyball and soccer.

A Pittsburgh, Pa., native, Sims graduated from Youngstown State in 2017, earning a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. She also completed work on a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Wyoming in 2019.