DeCotis retires from Eastern Florida State College

Mark DeCotis has decided to put away his recorder, announcing he has retired as Manager of Athletic Communications for Eastern Florida State College.

DeCotis spent the past four years at Eastern Florida State College covering their athletes and writing about the college’s sports scene.

“I learned so much, was exposed to so much, both good and bad, and met so many great people who taught me more than I can ever be thankful for,” DeCotis said on his final day Friday. “The last four years at Eastern Florida were a joy.”

DeCotis blazed a new trail at Eastern Florida State College as the first Manager of Athletic Communications for the school and helped build and promote the school’s athletic program.

“He really elevated our program, the exposure we were getting from Florida Today and other communications and social media, he built and designed the program and wrote tons of releases not only for media but for our Web site,” Eastern Florida Associate Vice President for Athletics Jeff Carr said. “He was passionate about Eastern Florida, he lived and died on wins and losses. I think he took the losses worse than I did in soccer and when Kerry (Sweeney) was playing for a national title, he said ‘I can’t stand this, my stomach is turning.’ He cared for the student-athletes and knew them all.”

During his time at Eastern Florida, he witnessed the women’s soccer team’s run to the national finals twice as well as the men’s soccer making the Final Four. The golf team is a contender for a national title every year and was fourth in the national tournament this year led by Kerry Sweeney’s individual title run. The baseball team made the state tournament this past season and the women’s basketball team has won the past two conference titles.

He covered it all.

“He was able to cover them all and did a tremendous job getting us exposure,” Carr said. “He did a tremendous job writing for us.”

Before joining Eastern Florida State College, DeCotis spent 37 years in the newspaper business leaving Florida Today in April of 2012.

“It was a privilege to be able to spend five decades doing what I loved,” DeCotis said. “How many people can say that?”

Now DeCotis will enjoy the next phase of his life – retirement.

“I look forward to you and expect to enjoy it with my family. I can't wait.”