The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Bianco to receive WCFF Bill Keish Sports Communicator Award
06.11.2026 | Football, Texas Athletics
Texas Senior Associate AD for Communications John Bianco will be honored by the Walter Camp Football Foundation with the award recognizing contributions to sports communications.
New Haven, Conn. – Texas Senior Associate AD for Communications John Bianco will be honored by the Walter Camp Football Foundation with its Bill Keish Sports Communicator Award, the foundation announced Wednesday.
Bianco will be part of a group of five distinguished figures recognized by the WCFF at their 2026 Walter Camp Ring of Honor Dinner for having made a lasting impact on the sport. Those include Ring of Honor recipients Morten Andersen and David Fulcher, Man of the Year honoree Josh Heupel, and Champion of Community Award winner Robert Berchem.
The Ring of Honor Dinner, which will take place Sunday, July 12, at Race Brook Country Club in Orange, Conn., is one of the Foundation's signature annual events. It celebrates individuals whose excellence on and off the field reflects the values of Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football." The 2026 class represents a remarkable cross‑section of athletic greatness, coaching success, and influential service to the sport.
The Walter Camp Sports Communicator award is named in memory of Bill Keish, who was a longtime Foundation member and chairman of the public relations committee. The award originated as the Foundation's "Media Appreciation" award. It was awarded to local sports media professionals in recognition of their contributions on behalf of the WCFF. It has recently been expanded to a broader scope, recognizing nationwide contributions to sports communications.
A respected communications executive and longtime advocate for student‑athletes and coaches, Bianco has been instrumental in shaping the public voice of major college football programs through his role at Texas. His professionalism and dedication have made him one of the most trusted figures in collegiate athletics.
The 2026 football season will be Bianco's 35th as he began working in Texas Athletics in August of 1992. As Senior Associate Athletics Director for Communications, Bianco leads the communications office and is instrumental in all department wide communications. While a great deal of his time is spent with the Longhorns' Football program, he is heavily involved with all his staff and closely follows the 21 Texas Athletics sports they oversee.
"John Bianco is the real deal," said two-time Walter Camp Player of the Year (2008-09) Colt McCoy. "He understands Texas, and he definitely helped me gain wisdom and knowledge on how to handle the media. I leaned heavily on him from that aspect all through college, and even in the pros."
A member of the College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame, Bianco was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 2016 and has taken pride working for an athletics program that has an incredible tradition of success and produces elite student-athletes across all sports.
Bianco, who received the Scoop Hudgins Outstanding Sports Information Director (SID) Award from the American Football Foundation in 2005, has served as the primary communications contact for five UT Football head coaches (John Mackovic, Mack Brown, Charlie Strong, Tom Herman, and now Steve Sarkisian). He has promoted a multitude of Longhorn Walter Camp All-Americans as well as numerous other awards winners and championship teams in his longtime Texas Athletics career. That includes McCoy — one of only three players to earn the WCFF Player of the Year honor twice and the most recent to do that — and 1998 winner Ricky Williams. All totaled in his 30-plus year career, 29 Longhorns have earned first-team All-American honors a total of 32 times from the WCFF — the oldest college football All-America team. He also takes great pride in having worked with five Longhorns who have been inducted into the National Football Foundaiton College Football Hall of Fame – Ricky Williams, Mack Brown, Vince Young, Derrick Johnson and Michael Huff.
