Phil Steele (born c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football.[1] He currently writes a column for the Orlando Sentinel,[2] and is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media.[3] His company, Phil Steele Publications, produces the annual preseason magazine Phil Steele's College Football Preview, which he personally writes in almost its entirety.[4] The first edition was published in 1995.[5] In a comparison of the major preseason college football magazines, ESPN writer Pat Forde said:
All the mags have their merits . . . But Phil Steele owns the genre . . . The 46-year-old uses a cookie-cutter layout for every team, and his writing will never be nominated for a Pulitzer. But he does author every two-page team preview himself, and he crams stats, facts and figures into every nook and cranny.[1]
The magazine was similarly praised by the News & Observer and Rivals.com.[6][7] Chris Stassen, owner of football.stassen.com, has tracked the preseason magazines' accuracy since 1993 and rates Phil Steele's as the most accurate in its predictions.[8][9]
Steele has been a member of the All-America, John Mackey Award, Davey O'Brien Award, Lombardi Award, and the Ted Hendricks Award voting committees.[10][11]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pat Forde, Christmas in July ... the college football preview mags are out, ESPN, July 2, 2007.
- ↑ Phil Steele, Who will be this year's Vanderbilt?, Orlando Sentinel, August 3, 2009.
- ↑ Chris Dufresne, Some teams can schedule a date with destiny, The Los Angeles Times, August, 2009.
- ↑ Clay Whittington, Phil Steele magazine benefits football fans, The Daily Texan, July 27, 2007.
- ↑ Phil Steele’s 2009 College Football Strength of Schedule Rankings, FB Schedules.com, August 31, 2009, retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ↑ J.P. Giglio, ACC Now: Phil's forecast: FSU, VT, Pack looking good, News & Observer, July 17, 2007.
- ↑ Preseason magainze reviews: Phil Steele's 2007 Football Preview, Rivals.com, June 26, 2007.
- ↑ Alan Dell, Phile Steele: USF is a title contender (PDF), USFBullsEye.com, Rivals.com, 2007.
- ↑ Preseason Prediction Accuracy (1993-2008), Stassen.com, retrieved August 5, 2009.
- ↑ Awards, Phil Steele.com, retrieved August 5, 2009.
- ↑ All-America, Football Writers Association of American, retrieved August 5, 2009.