Patrick Osborne serves as the Executive Associate Athletic Director for External Communications at Coastal Carolina, where he oversees the strategic direction and execution of the department’s external communications, brand messaging, and game day experience efforts while working collaboratively with the athletics communications and public relations staff to support the overall visibility and promotion of the Chanticleers.
Since arriving at CCU in October 2024, where he initially served as Senior Associate Athletics Director for Social Media and Brand Engagement until March 2026, Osborne has played a key role in elevating the national visibility and day-to-day digital operations of the athletics department during one of the most successful and high-profile periods in recent department history.
In his current role, Osborne leads the department’s digital communications and storytelling initiatives across all athletic programs while helping shape and protect the Coastal Carolina brand on a national stage in addition to his work on the game day experience portion of his job. He works closely with coaches, administrators, student-athletes, the athletics communications office, and creative personnel to enhance social media strategy, digital storytelling, crisis communications, and overall fan engagement for several of the department’s marquee programs, including football, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball, helping enhance the overall in-venue atmosphere and student-athlete brand experience.
In addition to his current responsibilities, Osborne has also served in interim sport information director roles for football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball during his time at Coastal Carolina, further showcasing his versatility and experience across multiple areas of athletics communications.
Osborne additionally played a significant role in the creation and development of the athletics department’s creative and new media, and social media department structure following his arrival in Conway, helping shape a more integrated approach to branding, storytelling, and digital content production across the Chanticleer Athletics. His leadership has helped position Coastal Carolina as a nationally recognized and digitally progressive brand while supporting championship-caliber programs and strengthening the department’s visibility across multiple platforms.
During Osborne’s tenure, Coastal Carolina has generated more than 217.7 million social media impressions, 9.7 million engagements, nearly 26 million video views, and over 169,000 net followers gained across platforms. Baseball-specific content has emerged as one of the department’s premier digital brands, generating more than 36.3 million impressions and 1.6 million engagements on X alone, while additional baseball content across platforms produced more than 13.3 million impressions with a 7.6 percent engagement rate.
Notably during his first year at Coastal Carolina, Osborne also played a leading role in communications operations and event coordination surrounding the 2024 Myrtle Beach Bowl, assisting with media logistics, digital coverage, and championship event execution for one of the region’s premier postseason football events.
Prior to joining Coastal Carolina, Osborne served at South Carolina as Director of Athletics Social Media, where he directed social media strategy and digital engagement efforts for one of the SEC’s premier athletic departments.
During his tenure, he helped execute impactful campaigns that increased audience engagement, strengthened brand consistency, and amplified the visibility of Gamecock Athletics across a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Osborne also led day-to-day social media strategy for football (during the competition season) and men’s basketball while helping oversee digital strategy surrounding the internationally recognized Rivals in Red soccer exhibition series featuring Liverpool FC and Manchester United at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Under his leadership, South Carolina Athletics surpassed 1 million total followers across platforms while generating significant year-over-year growth in impressions, engagements, video views, and overall audience development. During the 2023-24 academic year, Gamecock Athletics added more than 66,000 new followers and produced nearly 110 million impressions and 4.4 million engagements across social platforms. South Carolina’s digital platforms consistently ranked among the SEC’s leaders in audience growth, engagement, video content, and social sharing during Osborne’s tenure, including top-10 conference rankings across multiple engagement and audience growth categories.
He also played a significant role in the rapid digital growth of South Carolina men’s basketball during the 2023-24 season, helping the program generate more than 54 million impressions, 3.5 million engagements, and 9.4 million video views while earning multiple top-10 SEC rankings in audience growth, engagements, and content sharing.
Beyond football and men’s basketball responsibilities, Osborne helped lead content strategy, planning, and execution across numerous South Carolina programs, including baseball, softball, soccer, women’s basketball, equestrian, tennis, and track & field.
Before returning to South Carolina, Osborne spent two years at Oklahoma State as Associate Director of Athletics Communications. In that role, he served as the primary communications contact for Oklahoma State men’s basketball while also overseeing communications support for women’s golf and track & field/cross country.
His experience included media relations, content strategy, feature storytelling, statistical reporting, and coordination with local and national media outlets. Osborne also assisted with communications and social media efforts during Oklahoma State equestrian’s 2022 national championship season and the softball program’s Women’s College World Series appearance.
Osborne’s first stint at South Carolina came as Assistant Director of Athletics Communications and Public Relations from 2017-2021, where he served as the primary communications contact for softball and men’s soccer. During that time, he earned national recognition through his selection to the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship social media team for the championship game between Alabama and Clemson.
Osborne’s foundation in athletics communications began at Oklahoma State, where he served as a student intern in the athletics communications office before transitioning into a role as the primary sport information director for Oklahoma State softball during his junior and senior years. In that role, he managed media relations, game notes, statistics, feature content, and day-to-day communications efforts for the softball program while also helping support communications and social media efforts for men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, and men’s tennis.
During his time as Oklahoma State softball’s SID, he helped lead a rebrand of the program’s social media voice and digital presence - elements that remain part of the program’s identity today - while gaining early hands-on experience in storytelling, media strategy, and student-athlete promotion at the Division I level.
Over the course of his career, Osborne has worked extensively with a wide range of sports, including football, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, volleyball, golf, tennis, equestrian, track & field/cross country, swimming and diving, and women’s lacrosse.
With a wide range of sports worked, he has contributed to communications and digital efforts surrounding some of college athletics’ most prominent events, including the Men’s College World Series, Women’s College World Series, College Football Playoff National Championship, NCAA postseason tournaments, conference championship events, and a slew of bowl games.
Throughout his career, Osborne has played an active role in mentoring and developing student assistants and young professionals in athletics communications and social media, helping guide content strategy, platform management, and game day execution while fostering the next generation of digital storytellers and communications professionals.
Known for his creativity, adaptability, and forward-thinking approach to athletics communications, Osborne has built a reputation for combining strategic messaging with innovative digital storytelling. His experience across Power Four and nationally recognized Group of Five athletic departments has allowed him to develop a comprehensive understanding of modern college athletics branding, communications, and fan engagement.
He is a native of Mustang, Oklahoma, and a 2017 graduate of Oklahoma State University, where he earned a degree in sports media with an emphasis in multimedia journalism.
Career Timeline
- Oklahoma State Athletics (Aug. 2015 – May 2017)
- Athletics Communications Student Intern
- South Carolina Athletics (July 2017 – July 2021)
- Assistant Director of Athletics Communications
- Oklahoma State Athletics (Aug. 2021 – May 2023)
- Associate Director of Athletics Communications
- South Carolina Athletics (June 2023 – Oct. 2024)
- Director of Athletics Social Media
- Coastal Carolina (Oct. 2024 – Mar. 2026)
- Senior Associate Athletics Director for Social Media & Brand Engagement
- Coastal Carolina Athletics (Mar. 2026 – Present)
- Executive Associate Athletics Director for External Communications
