AT OREGON TECH: Safford is in his fourth full year as Sports Information Director...was named SID in March of 2022 and oversees the media relations and promotion of all intercollegiate athletic programs...also serves as the Voice of the Owls on KLAD AM/FM and on the Owls Sports Network.
PRIOR TO OREGON TECH: The longest tenured SID in Cascade Conference history, Safford spent 21 years (2001-2022) at The College of Idaho, where he built their athletic communication office into one of the best in the Northwest at any level...handled the day-to-day media relations duties for 20 sports – overseeing the start-up of C of I’s successful cross country/track and field, swimming and diving and football programs – along with creating the College’s athletic social media platforms..served as the voice of C of I football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and soccer on radio and via the internet throughout his career, while also spending 10 seasons as the radio voice of the Boise Hawks, the former Northwest League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs...spent 1998-2001 as SID at fellow CCC institution, Evergreen State.
HONORS: Safford, a record-setting 5-time Mike Booth CCC SID of the Year recipient, was honored in 2016 with the NAIA’s Clarence “Ike” Pearson Lifetime Achievement Award – the highest honor for an NAIA athletic communication professional...he has won eight “Best in the NAIA” awards and placed in the Top-10 82 times in the NAIA-SIDA Publications and Media Contests...he served as a NAIA-SIDA Board of Directors member from 2015-18, served on the CoSIDA College Division Management Advisory Council for three years, served as chair of the CCC SID's for six years and been an active member of the College Sports Communicators for over a quarter century, receiving the prestigious 25-Year-Award in 2024.
PERSONAL: Originally from Puyallup, Wash., Safford is a 1998 graduate of Pacific Luthern University with a BA in print/broadcast journalism. He and wife Liza (who works in Oregon Tech's business office) have one son, P.J. (an All-Skyline Conference baseball and football player at Klamath Union High) and live in Klamath Falls...currently volunteers as a coach for the KUHS football program and is part of the Klamath Falls American Legion Baseball Board of Directors.
