Dan Coughlin (sportscaster)
Dan Coughlin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Daniel Francis Coughlin 1938 (age 85–86) Cleveland, Ohio |
| Occupation(s) | Newspaper sportswriter TV sportscaster |
| Awards | 1976 Ohio Sportswriter of the Year Two-time Lower Great Lakes Emmy Award winner |
| Website | Coughlin's personal blog |
Daniel Francis Coughlin (born 1938 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a longtime sports anchor/reporter for WJW Fox 8 in Cleveland, author, and former sports writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Early life[edit]
Coughlin was born in 1938 and lived in the Collinwood neighborhood on Cleveland's east side until 1941, when his parents moved to a home on the city's west side near St. Ignatius High School.
A time later, Coughlin's family moved again to suburban Lakewood, Ohio, where he attended St. Edward High School, graduating in 1956. Coughlin would later serve a two-year stint in the U.S. Army in the First Armored Division.[1]
Career[edit]
Newspapers[edit]
Soon after leaving the service, Coughlin would land his first full-time job in the newspaper business, when he became a sports writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 1964.[2] While with the Plain Dealer, Coughlin was recognized for his work by being named Ohio Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) in 1976,[3] and serving as president of the Cleveland Press Club from 1981-82.[4]
Coughlin would leave the Plain Dealer in 1982, but would still work part-time as a sports writer in later years, writing sports columns for suburban newspapers such as the Elyria Chronicle Telegram, and the Lake County News Herald.[5]
Television[edit]
In 1983, Coughlin would switch to television reporting, becoming a sports reporter/fill-in anchor for WJKW (now WJW) TV 8 in Cleveland, where he remains to the present day.[6]
For the 1990 baseball season, Coughlin served as a play by play announcer for the Cleveland Indians on the then new SportsChannel Ohio (now Fox Sports Ohio).[7]
In recent years, Coughlin has gone into semi-retirement, though he still works part-time at WJW as a co-host of Friday Night Touchdown during high school football season.[8][9]
Author[edit]
Coughlin has written four books featuring anecdotes from his career covering the Cleveland sports scene - Pass the Nuts (2011), Crazy, With The Papers to Prove It (2012), Let's Have Another (2015) and Just One More Story (2018).[5]
Awards and honors[edit]
- 1976 Ohio Sportswriter of the Year (NSSA)[3]
- 1996 inductee - Cleveland Press Club Journalism Hall of Fame[10]
- 2002 Society of Professional Journalists (Cleveland chapter) Distinguished Service Award recipient[11]
- Two-time Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards recipient (2010[12] and 2012[13] as co-host of Friday Night Touchdown) - Sports Program[9]
- 2013 Irish-American Archives Society (IAAS) Walks of Life Award recipient[14][15]
- 2017 inductee - Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame[16]
References[edit]
- ^ "Coughlin bio". Cleveland Seniors. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Coughlin interview". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ a b "Coughlin wins Sportswriter of the Year Award". National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Coughlin as Cleveland Press Club President". Cleveland Seniors. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ a b "Coughlin's books". Gray & Co. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Coughlin's TV career". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Indians broadcasters". Cleveland Indians. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Coughlin's semi-retirement". Dan Coughlin. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ a b ""Friday Night Touchdown" promo". YouTube. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Coughlin inducted into Journalism HOF". Cleveland Press Club. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Coughlin wins Journalism Award". Society of Professional Journalists. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "2010 Emmy winners". NATAS. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "2012 Emmy winners". NATAS. Archived from the original on 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Coughlin wins Irish Society Award". YouTube. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Coughlin wins Irish Society Award" (PDF). Irish-American Archives Society. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Manning, Gund head to Cleveland Sports HOF". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
External links[edit]
- Dan Coughlin's Personal Blog
- Sports Icon Interviews conducted by Coughlin at Cleveland Public Library starting in 2012 and, as of 2018, having over 40 interviews of northeast Ohio sports personalities.