University of South Dakota Athletics

Steve Carlson joined the University of South Dakota external team as Assistant Athletic Director for Communications in July 2024, bringing three years of communications experience at both the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II levels.

In December 2024, Carlson was named a 30 Under 30 honoree by College Sports Communicators (CSC), chosen for his drive and attention to detail and his commitment to CSC. 

He oversees the day-to-day operations of the communications office, while also serving as the primary contact for the South Dakota football team. He also assists with the oversight of all of USD's communication efforts, including GoYotes.com. 

Ahead of the 2025 football season, heading into his second year on staff, Carlson unveiled the new-look USD Football Media Guide. It featured a complete rehaul in design, plus new additions highlighted by the start of a Division I FCS era record book.

In his first season covering Coyote football, Carlson led the communication efforts of the first-ever Coyote football squad to win a title (share) of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) and make the program's first-ever FCS semifinal appearance. The team also saw a pair of First Team All-Americans, led by MVFC Defensive Player of the Year Mi'Quise Grace.
 
He spent the Spring 2024 semester at South Dakota Board of Regents institution Black Hills State University, heading up the athletic communication efforts for the Yellow Jacket athletic department. Prior to his time in Spearfish, Carlson spent two-and-a-half years as the Director of Athletic Communications at Northwestern College (Iowa) in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). 

In his communications career, Carlson has covered three Northwestern teams in their respective NAIA national championship game, including heading up the communications efforts for the 2022 NAIA national champions in Red Raider football. 

The 2022-23 season saw Carlson awarded with the best game notes in the NAIA by his peers, awarded by the NAIA-Sports Information Directors Association (SIDA). He implemented game notes for the first time at Northwestern, creating packages for all the Red Raider broadcasted sports (football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, baseball, and softball). At Black Hills State, he implemented game notes for the softball program for the first time in program history. 

A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Carlson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sport Administration from Simpson College in 2019 and a Master of Arts in Sport and Recreation Management from the University of Iowa in 2021. As a student at Simpson, Carlson served as the student-manager for the baseball team and as a student-assistant in the athletic communications office. While earning his master's degree at Iowa, Carlson served as the first-ever graduate assistant at the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C), an NCAA Division III conference consisting of institutions in the states of Iowa and Nebraska. 

Carlson is an active member of CSC, formerly College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), as an active member of the CSC Young Professionals. The 2022-23 academic year marked the first year that Carlson serves on the CSC Young Professionals Committee. In his time as CSC member, he has nominated and covered a total of four College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-Americans and numerous CSC Academic All-District honorees. 

Outside of athletics you can find him enjoying thriller novels, following his passions of studying the Second World War, or out in nature hiking mountains and volcanoes. 

UPDATED AUGUST 2025