Staff Directory

Michael Fragale

Title:
Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director/Communications
Email:
Phone:
(304) 293-2821

As WVU’s Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for Communications, Michael Fragale directs and oversees the Athletics Communications unit, consisting of sports information, publications, graphic design, website content and WVU’s broadcast unit for ESPN+. He is also the secondary media contact for West Virginia football.

All areas of Athletics Communications are enhanced and expanded yearly under his watch with continuing major upgrades to equipment, event streaming on ESPN+, graphic design, video production and social media platforms. WVU’s Athletics Communications Office is a yearly award winner for national awards presented by the College Sports Communicators, including media information and graphic design.

Under his watch in 2020 and again in 2022, 2024 and 2025, WVU’s sports information efforts for football were awarded the prestigious Super 11 Award by the Football Writers of America, honoring WVU as one of the nation’s best in college football media and gameday services.

At West Virginia, he has worked with and helped promote five College Football Hall of Fame inductees, 10 consensus All-Americans and six National Football Foundation Scholar Athletes. He has worked with his staff at WVU’s Final Four, Elite 8, and Sweet 16 appearances through the years as well as other numerous NCAA events. He has also been with Mountaineer football for 28 postseason bowl games.

Fragale joined the athletics staff as associate sports information director and served in that role for three years before becoming the broadcast/advertising manager. In different job responsibilities and roles with the Mountaineers, he has directed or been involved in almost all aspects of WVU’s external operations.

His experience includes managing affiliate relations for WVU’s radio and television network, coordinating WVU’s live football and basketball television broadcasts, scheduling, producing, and overseeing the weekly television shows for football and men’s basketball and playing a production role in the football and basketball radio broadcasts for the Mountaineer Sports Network. Fragale also has worked with WVU’s creative marketing campaign teams, focusing on the production of television and radio commercials, advertising placements and the department sales efforts.

During his tenure in WVU’s broadcast division, he was part of the Mountaineer Sports Network production team that led the radio and television networks to numerous state, regional and national awards in weekly programming, highlight films and live broadcasts.

After 15 years on the broadcast and advertising side, Fragale moved back into public relations as the director of communications for WVU athletics in 2004. He became an assistant athletics director in 2007, associate athletics director in 2014, senior associate athletics director in 2016 and in 2024, was promoted to executive senior associate athletics director under Wren Baker.

In 2021, he added the responsibilities of chairing the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame committee and the Mountaineer Legends Society committee. In 2023, he became the department’s liaison to WVU’s FOIA office and the department’s communications liaison with WVU’s Central Administration and University Relations.

Fragale is a member of College Sports Communicators, the Football Writers of America and the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

Fragale received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from WVU and a master’s degree in sport management and administration from WVU. He and his wife, Kate, reside in Morgantown and have two grown children, Anthony and Emme.