Michael Scholl

Michael Scholl returned to Vanderbilt for his second stint with the Commodores in August 2021 and was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Communications (Football) in 2024.

In his role, Scholl oversees communications efforts for head coach Clark Lea and the football program. He previously worked at Vanderbilt from 2011-13 as assistant communications director, serving as contact for the women’s basketball program.

With Commodore football, Scholl has developed communications strategies surrounding game days, SEC Media Day and National Signing Day while also overseeing media relations efforts and broadcast network relations. Media embeds with The Athletic, Tennessean and student newspaper have provided an unprecedented look at SEC football under Scholl’s leadership.

He promoted the program’s first All-Amerian since 2016 and first Academic All-American since 2002 in punter Matthew Hayball, who was also a finalist for the Ray Guy Award. In 2023, Scholl’s efforts helped Vanderbilt win the College Sports Communicators’ ChangeMaker Innovation Award for a campaign around mental health awareness for student-athletes. In addition, new users to the official athletics website were up 56 percent in his first year, with a 29 percent increase in page views.

Scholl most recently served as Assistant Athletics Director for Communications and Fan Engagement at Western Michigan University. With the Broncos, he oversaw the communications staff, as well as the Bronco Productions team which coordinated all feature and live video efforts for the department. Scholl was the communications lead for the athletics department, as well as the football, gymnastics and softball programs.

Prior to his time in Kalamazoo, Scholl spent five years at Notre Dame in a variety of roles, including director of football communications (interim), associate communications director and communications coordinator for the University’s Student Activities Office. He served as the secondary communications contact for the football program for three seasons before spending 2019 as the primary contact for Fighting Irish football and head coach Brian Kelly. In 2018, Scholl was part of a football athletics communications team which won a pair of national awards from College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Notre Dame’s football game notes and College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl media guide were both selected among the top-three in the country.

His time at Notre Dame was preceded by three years at the University of Cincinnati as senior director for athletics communications. Over his tenure with the Bearcats, Scholl served as secondary contact for both the men’s basketball and football teams, while also working as the primary contact with lacrosse, swimming and diving and men’s soccer.

Scholl spent one year as a graduate assistant at Providence College prior to his first tenure at Vanderbilt, working as the secondary men’s basketball contact and primary contact for volleyball and lacrosse. He is an active member of College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) and the Football Writers Association of America and is an experienced play-by-play and public address announcer.

He graduated from Notre Dame in 2009, majoring in political science. During his undergraduate time, Scholl was selected from a national pool of applicants to serve as public relations intern at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, during the summer of 2008.

Scholl and his wife, Abby, reside in Franklin, Tennessee, with their three children – Ainsley, Madelyn and Matthew.