SVG Campus Shot Callers: Alex Souza, Assistant AD for Broadcast and Technology, Coastal Carolina University

The Coastal grad leads the production of more than 140 live broadcasts per year

The pool of production and operations talent in sports media runs much deeper than the national networks. SVG Campus Shot Callers spotlights the behind-the-scenes leaders powering the massive wave of college sports productions available to fans today. Across athletic departments nationwide, these administrators manage teams, oversee technology investments, mentor students, and ensure that hundreds of live broadcasts make it to air each year. This series highlights their journeys, philosophies, and the vital role they play in shaping live sports.

One of the “feel good” sports stories from the summer was the incredible run to the NCAA Men’s College World Series Finals by Coastal Carolina University. The Chanticleers won a staggering 26 consecutive games at the end of the season before falling just short of a National Championship.

It was a big moment on a big stage for a so-called “small” school (a Sun Belt Conference member since 2015) but when it comes to athletics, and the video team bringing games to the screens of fans and alumni every day, Coastal’s footprint is anything but small. That’s thanks in large part to Alex Souza, Assistant Athletic Director for Broadcast and Technology at Coastal Carolina University.

Souza is a 14-year veteran of the campus (18 if you count his time as a student) and oversees a department that produces more than 140 live game broadcasts for distribution across ESPN+, as well as all of the videoboard shows at venues across the Conway, South Carolina campus. He and his team even put the finishing touches on a new production trailer this past summer.

In this edition of SVG Campus Shot Callers, Souza takes you inside the work done at Chanticleer Sports Network, the people and the technology that make their productions possible, his philosophy for training students, and more.

Souza fixes a camera during a Coastal Carolina baseball broadcast.

What are the key responsibilities of your current role?
In my current role, I serve as the executive producer and engineer for all ESPN+ broadcasts, and I serve as the “house” when linear trucks come to town. The other portion of my role is as a technology project manager on behalf of Athletics for large installations of technology, including Daktronics videoboards and team technology like cameras and wearables. I liaise with ITS, campus and athletic facilities groups, and third-party vendors to ensure timely and functional installations.

What is one core philosophy you try to live by when managing your team/operation?
There are a few lines I like to repeat: “Do what you can with what you got while you got it.” Related: “Why not?” and “I’m sure we can find a way.”

We are blessed with great resources at Coastal, but we always want to find a way to reach beyond our means. We do it with gear, talent — whatever it takes to go above and beyond.

But the core philosophy for what makes CSN go is how we empower our students. We empower every member of the team with the tools and confidence to do hard things. We grant students the opportunity to face responsibilities they would encounter outside of the college experience. They are given the power to overcome those challenges and become better workers, teammates, and people for it.

What is one key technology investment that your department has made that you feel has greatly improved your productions, workflows, or how your team operates?
Though we haven’t put it to full use yet, the Dante functionality on our new production trailer has made this summer much more efficient and allowed us to focus on making the show sound better (we hope) instead of chasing cables and finding barrels in our old analog setup. Over the next year, I plan on converting all our systems to audio over IP to continue to help us grow.

Souza speaks to students in a media class his teaches at Coastal Carolina.

How did you get started in sports production? What made you want to pursue this career?
I came to Coastal Carolina wanting to be a sports columnist. While I was in school, the decline of newspapers started, and I had to pivot. I took a field documentary class and loved it, and I started looking for opportunities that scratched that itch after I graduated. Lucky for me, the Big South Edge had started and Coastal needed someone who had at least seen a camera to run it. I started streaming games then, took a few detours into documentary-style content and marketing, but came back to production in 2018 when the Sun Belt and Coastal went all in with ESPN and ESPN+.

Souza worked as a freelance engineer and crewer at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championship.

What is your favorite event(s) you’ve ever worked?
As the producer and engineer of an event: the Clemson vs. Coastal baseball game from this past season. We had a great traditional broadcast and added our first alternate broadcast with a “Sounds of the Game” show. Overall, we shared 12 cameras, 10 mics, and had two production crews of mostly students. I was very proud of their hard work and ability to roll with the punches.

As the “house”: in 2020 we hosted College GameDay and our game vs. BYU was on ESPNU. This involved two different production compounds, which is not something that comes easily at Coastal Carolina. Putting those two shows together, working with two sets of tech managers, ops producers, and engineers was a challenge and something I’ll never forget.

What’s one piece of advice that you regularly give your student workers?
You get out what you put in.

The students who come in for extra setup days, storyline research, or extra training on higher positions are the ones who go on to have great success in this industry. The more of those types of students school production units have, the better the productions! (It also serves as a simple signal-flow reminder!)