Zach Fernandez (’19), Living the Steely McDream
When Zach Fernandez (RPTM 2019), Stadium Event Operations Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers reflects on his career path, he is quick to smile. “It is amazing how everything comes together.”
Zach was one of the many students who ended up in RPTM because of the connection with and sports related fields in RPTM. “I love the weather. I applied to both Rutgers and Penn State for the meteorology programs. I accepted at Penn State. I found out that meteorology has a lot of math – a lot of math. I have always been interested in sports, especially football. I learned the Penn State doesn’t have sports management, so I was directed to RPTM.”
Originally from New Jersey, Zach’s family moved to northeast Pennsylvania. He started his Penn State degree at the Wilkes-Barre campus to be close to home. He eventually transferred to University Park and declared Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management as his major. In his first semester on campus, he enrolled in RPTM 101. Instructor Patty Kleban (Associate Teaching Professor RPTM) helped him make a connection to Adam Rudel (RPTM 2013) for the career report assignment in RPTM 101. Adam was the Marketing and Football Outreach Coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens at the time. (Adam has since been promoted to Senior Manager, Marketing and Football Outreach for the Ravens).
“That turned out to be a great start to my network,” said Zach. “Adam came to campus for the mentor program in RPTM and his assigned mentee didn’t show up. I had already talked to Adam for my career report, so I stepped in and got to meet him in person.” From that experience, Zach visited the Ravens training camp at Adam’s invitation and got to help with their Draft party.
As Zach progressed through the program, he started to think about his internship experiences. “I’m not going to lie. When I heard about that 300-hour pre-internship experience, I wondered, ‘Why do we have to do this?’ It turns out that my 300 hours really helped me build my resume and career.”
Zach completed his 300 hours with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He spent another summer working in the box office for the State College Spikes. He was excited to then get an internship offer from a sports analytic and data analysis firm but came to a crossroads when he learned the internship didn’t meet the requirements for RPTM 495A (Internship). He decided to accept that internship even if it meant taking a semester off from his studies at Penn State.
“I’m really glad I took that opportunity,” said Zach. “I learned a lot of what happens behind the scenes. They had a scout school every Thursday where I got to learn what is involved in being a scout. That requires a different kind of love for football. I’m really glad I had that experience because it pushed me in a different direction.”
Zach interviewed with Travis Baker, Director of Guest Experience for the Pittsburgh Steelers for his final internship. In that interview, he got to see the power of networking. Travis asked him if he knew former RPTM student from Penn State, Adam Rudel. Travis and Adam had worked together when Adam was interning for the Kansas City Chiefs. It just so happened that not only did he know Adam, but Adam had been one of Zach’s mentors. Zach accepted the offer to intern with the Steelers in Fall 2019, focused primarily on game day entertainment.
The power of networking.
Zach graduated in December 2019 and just a short time later, the world would shut down for the global pandemic. “Getting jobs in sports was tough then. I started to wonder if I might need to switch gears and look for something else. I kept in touch with the Steelers—trying to find that balance between keeping my name in front of them, and being annoying.” Zach laughed. His efforts paid off when the Steelers reached out about their open Events Operations Internship in 2022. “That internship is different from the internships for credit. It’s a two-year paid position. After that, I was hired full-time.”
Zach is part of the operations staff, not only for Steelers games but for concerts as well. “I worked the Taylor Swift concert which was a lot of fun. At concerts, there are sometimes people who are intoxicated and hard to manage. Taylor’s fans are polite and when you ask them to sit down, they say, ‘Sorry!’ and then they sit down. They were even passing out friendship bracelets to the staff.” Acrisure Stadium is also the home of the Pitt Panthers football team. “Even Penn Staters have to wear Pitt gear when we are working the Pitt games,” laughed Zach.
“My advice to students and new professionals in the field is if you have a dream… follow it,” said Zach. “A lot of people probably say this, but my job is different every day. The Steelers are a world class organization. I love being part of this organization. The games and the shows… I like being able to say I was a part of putting that on.”
For Zach Fernandez, 2019 graduate of Penn State in RPTM, things are definitely coming together.