Barry Sacks, former ESPN producer, QU professor, dies at 63

Barry Sacks, a former producer at ESPN and an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University, died Sunday. He was 63.

Sacks, who joined ESPN in 1986, was remembered by colleagues as a talented television producer who helped run some of the network’s most iconic programs and mentored scores of young production assistants.

“During his 33-year career in Bristol, Barry touched so many different areas of the company,” ESPN host Suzy Kolber said in a televised report announcing Sacks’ death. “His passion for sports was unmatched, including his love for the New York Giants.”

At the time of his death, Sacks was a parttime faculty member at Quinnipiac’s School of Communications where he had taught sports production and broadcasting courses to graduate and undergraduate students since 2015.

“Beloved by his students, Barry was one of the linchpins of our sports journalism offerings, and the reason why so many of his students have had successful careers,” John Morgan, Quinnipiac’s associate vice president for public relations, said in a statement. “The university is offering counseling services to students who have been impacted by this terrible loss.”

Scott Van Pelt, the anchor of the midnight edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” called Sacks “an all time beauty” in a Tweet commemorating his former coworker. “Trying to explain what Barry Sacks was to ESPN and how much he meant to so many is proving to be impossible,” Van Pelt wrote. “He was a profound presence in the lives of so many. I’ll see that big smile and hear that voice forever.”

Robert Flores, an MLB Network host who previously worked at ESPN, described Sacks as one of the best coordinating producers he has worked alongside.

“He was a teacher, a mentor, a straight shooter,” Flores wrote. “I learned a lot from him.Many of the things you’ve watched in (the) last 30 years he had a hand in creating and molding.”

According to ESPN, Sacks is survived by wife, Joann, and his son, Jesse.