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Zack To The Future: Miami FB Coach Reflects On His Days As ESPN Intern, PA

ESPN Communications Intern Zack Tobias gleans wisdom from Manny Diaz

EDITOR’S NOTE: Through the years, the ESPN Communications department has been fortunate to have a cross-section of interns from across the country, many of whom have gone on to prosperous careers in sports media and beyond. This summer’s intern, Zack Tobias, has all the tools to do the very same after his senior year at Emerson College. Not only is Zack exceptionally talented and wise beyond his years, he’s also the son of former ESPN PR Vice President, Rob Tobias, who many of us had the pleasure of learning from and working alongside. Zack has carved his own path during his 10 weeks with us but he shares many of his dad’s greatest qualities – chiefly the ability to ideate and create compelling, quality content. For one of his final assignments for Front Row, we asked him to go “Zack to the Future” for a sit-down interview with a prominent former ESPN intern (below). And we saw no better way to represent Zack’s own journey than with a special Throwback Thursday lead photo featuring Toddler Zack (circa 1999) and Intern Zack (today). We can’t wait to see where the next 20 years lead for him.

Earlier this summer, University of Miami head football coach Manny Diaz came to ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters for the network’s signature “Car Wash.” He appeared on a variety of studio shows throughout the day including SportsCenter, GetUp! and Golic and Wingo.

This wasn’t the first time Diaz had set foot on campus. He was an ESPN intern during the summer of 1994 and transitioned to a full-time production assistant for the following two years.

In the video above, I interviewed Diaz and discussed our respective intern experiences and what he learned from his time here as well as his career path and transition into coaching.

Diaz’s story is the definition of “hard work pays off.”

He makes his Hurricanes head coaching debut Saturday, Aug. 24, when Miami plays Florida in the CFB150 Showcase Game of the Week in The Camping World Kickoff (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) from Orlando, Fla.

Shelby L. Lacy and Zack Tobias produced the video.

Zack In Time: Tobias the toddler and aspiring ESPN employee and Tobias today. (Zack Tobias/ESPN)
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