Edwin Pope Orange Bowl Vanguard Media Award

The Edwin Pope Orange Bowl Vanguard Media Award was first presented in 2007. The annual Award honors a member of the sports media who has made significant contributions to college football and impacted the Orange Bowl and/or the South Florida community.

The award is named for the legendary Miami Herald writer and columnist who reported on everything significant that happened in South Florida sports for more than half a century. Pope, who joined the Herald in 1956, covered the Miami Dolphins franchise from the start (recommending in 1970 that the team hire Don Shula as head coach), reported on the first 47 Super Bowls and was an unabashed supporter of the Orange Bowl. The press box in Hard Rock Stadium is named in his honor.

2023 Edwin Pope Award Winner

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

MIAMI HERALD

Susan Miller Degnan has been a sports writer for the Miami Herald for more than 38 years, beginning in 1985. She has been covering the Orange Bowl since the early 1990s, began covering Miami Hurricanes football in 1995, and became the primary UM beat writer in 2000. She has won several APSE national writing awards and has covered everything from Super Bowls to the College Football Playoff to major marathons to the Olympics. Degnan joins an illustrious group of previous winners of the Edwin Pope Orange Bowl Vanguard Media Award, including Jim Mandich, Bernie Rosen, Hank Goldberg, Chris Fowler, Ivan Maisel, Tony Segreto, Greg Cote and of course, Edwin Pope. She is the mother of three (two doctors and a lawyer), and grandmother of three little fans of anything with “Miami” in its name.