University of West Florida

Like so many before him, Bill Vilona came to Pensacola for a job and expected to stay a few years and return to the place where he grew up. But now, 30 years this month, he has become the premier print journalist in the panhandle.
 
Having started with the Gannett News Service in 1987, he covered Florida State football for nine seasons, Atlanta Braves spring training, the 1994 FIFA World Cup, among other high-profile events. In 2005 he transitioned back to Pensacola full time as the primary UWF beat writer.
 
Like fellow inductee Dan Shugart, the pair has played a vital role in telling the story of hundreds of UWF student-athletes and coaches. He has long been a fan of Dr. Bense and the agenda she wanted to promote the university through the 'front porch' model.
 
IN HIS OWN WORDS
"The first time I saw the campus I was wowed like most people are but the feeling always was that 'they are so far out there. They are a long way from downtown.' That was the perception. And the thing that's been so nice to see is in the last five to ten years is the awareness of the university has increased dramatically.
 
"When Richard Berg became the athletic director, he had the vision to get UWF connected to Pensacola. He went out to the Pensacola Sports Association. He spoke to civic groups and Rotarians. Everything you've seen Pete and Judy and Dave do with football the past two years, Richard did for the entire department at the time.
 
"Richard knew the awareness that had to be made and that's when he started using a marketing office and sports information departments for the first time en masse. What the local media have been able to do is a huge debt of gratitude to the amount of information the university has provided us.
 
"I'll never forget the Florida Tech football game this year. It was on television with a standing room-only crowd and the energy in the area was as exciting as any event I've covered. And the baseball regional that they hosted on their way to the College World Series were three of the biggest moments in the universities history that I've witnessed.
 
"And I'll always be impressed with the level of success that your longest-tenured coaches have been able to sustain – specifically, Bill (Elliott), Joe (Bartlinski), Steve (Fell), Melissa (Wolter), Derrick (Racine) and Mike (Jeffcoat)."
 
"I never doubted that they would be able to get football going, but I just kept thinking was how are they going to get the money with no stadium or practice field. The financial aspect was so daunting but they pulled it off better than just about anyone could have imagined.
 
"The thing that made Judy (Bense) different from any of the other president they had was she understood how vital athletics is to a university. You could pick out just about any school in the southern part of the country and be able to see how athletics shaped the makeup of that institution and it's definitely true here."