By For USA TODAY NETWORK — Florida high school recruiting reporter Jon Santucci, being a journalist started by getting lost on one of his first days at the University of Miami.
He was looking for the soccer club meeting at the student union, wound up at The Miami Hurricane newspaper office and somehow walked out with an assignment to cover the football team.
A Buffalo, N.Y. native, Santucci decided to move south while shoveling snow during his senior year of high school. He never looked back.
Santucci took a position with the Stuart News out of college, primarily covering high school sports. In 2020, he transitioned to a statewide role in the USA TODAY NETWORK — Florida covering his primary sports passions: Football and recruiting.
Q: What is it like covering high school football and recruiting for the USA TODAY Network — Florida? Why did you choose to be a sports journalist?
A: I’ve loved sports for as long as I can remember. My dream growing up was to be a professional baseball player, but after the first year of Little League it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. But the love of sports never diminished, and writing always came naturally to me. To marry those two things and get paid to do it? Sign me up. As for what it’s like, it’s a blast. I really enjoy the job — especially during football season. It’s an exhausting six-month sprint from late July to late December, but I love it.
Q: What do you like most about covering football and recruiting? What is your favorite part about being a sports journalist?
A: My favorite thing is definitely the early signing period and the weeks leading up to it. It’s fitting that the window is just a few days before Christmas because that’s what it feels like for me. It’s so much anticipation, twists and turns and uncertainty. And then you get that Wednesday where it’s pure chaos and excitement. It’s awesome.
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Q: What is your most memorable story?
A: I’ve gotten to a couple stories of players who were in difficult life/family situations, had made some really poor choices and then had their life changed by families in the community who adopted them and cared for them. Those stories of hope and changed lives are the most challenging to tell but also the most rewarding.
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Q: What do you like to do outside of work?
A: I love spending time with my wife and son, working out and volunteering at my church.
