Football
- Title:
- Executive Associate Athletic Director, Communications
- Phone:
- 412-648-8240
With 28 years of service, E.J. Borghetti is one of the longest tenured members of the University of Pittsburgh's Athletic Department. "It is a tremendous personal and professional honor to serve the great people of Pitt," he is fond of saying.
Borghetti is the chief spokesperson for Pitt Athletics. He additionally directs all of the media initiatives for the Panthers' football program, which honored him with its Gold Standard Administrator of the Year Award for 2024-25.
Under Borghetti’s direction, Pitt has seven times been named to the “Super 11” field of sports information departments by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), which honors those offices deemed the best in the NCAA Division I Bowl Subdivision. He is also a past recipient of the Elmore “Scoop” Hudgins Outstanding Sports Information Director Award presented by the All-American Football Foundation.
His contributions to the local sports scene were recognized when he received the Dominic T. Roppa Award from the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.
Borghetti has enjoyed the honor of promoting 18 first team All-Americans at Pitt, including linebacker Kyle Louis, who earned that recognition from The Sporting News in 2024. Louis became the Panthers’ first sophomore defensive player to earn first-team All-America stature from an NCAA-recognized selector since the legendary Hugh Green in 1978.
The Pitt football communications team takes tremendous pride in its players’ accolades, which have been plentiful over the past 10 years.
In this most recent decade, Pitt players have won such prestigious honors as the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Kenny Pickett), Biletnikoff Award (Jordan Addison), Burlsworth Trophy (Jimmy Morrissey) and Patrick Mannelly Award (Cal Adomitis), adding to the Panthers’ rich tradition of football excellence.
In addition to contemporary Pitt stars, Borghetti was privileged to work with two of the Panthers' most celebrated players ever: defensive tackle Aaron Donald and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Donald was the most decorated defensive player in the country in 2013, winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award. A perennial All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams from 2014-23, he is widely considered the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history.
Fitzgerald won the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and Biletnikoff Award, while finishing as the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2003. He enjoyed an iconic 17-year career with the Arizona Cardinals (2004-20) and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2024.
In addition to coordinating media initiatives behind the scenes, Borghetti also makes regular on-camera appearances. ACC Network featured his reflections during the Pitt episode of Traditions. He also provides commentary for Pitt’s annual Hall of Fame video series as well as Panther Vision’s “From the Vault” and "Courtside Classics" features shown on game days.
A lifelong Pitt history enthusiast, Borghetti plays a lead role with the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame and was instrumental in its 2018 launch.
Beyond his Pitt responsibilities, Borghetti serves on the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame District Screening Committee and Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award Selection Committee. He previously served on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Advocacy Committee and IMG NCAA Football Marketing Committee.
As part of his work with the CSC Advocacy Committee, Borghetti was proud to moderate the webinar "Negotiating for What Matters" featuring the insights of University of Pittsburgh professor Pil K. Frits.
Borghetti has extensive ties to the University of Pittsburgh. He is a 1992 magna cum laude graduate of Pitt with a bachelor's degree in communications and was an undergraduate sports information intern. His father, Ernie, was an All-America tackle for the Panthers in 1963 and helped them to a 9-1 record and No. 3 national ranking that year.
Prior to Pitt, Borghetti was the sports information director at Carnegie Mellon University (1995-97) and a sports information assistant at Columbia University (1992-94).
A 1988 graduate of Neshannock High School, Borghetti received Neshannock's Distinguished Alumni Award and served as keynote speaker for the school’s 2015 commencement.
Borghetti and his wife, Lauren, also a Pitt graduate, have three sons, Branden, Drew and Conner.
Beyond the Bio
Favorite place on the University of Pittsburgh campus?
The Babcock Memorial Room on the 40th floor of the Cathedral of Learning. It provides a breathtaking panoramic view of our beautiful city.
Favorite sports moment at Pitt?
Far, far too many to count. But I’ll always cherish being in the Superdome when Dan Marino threw the winning touchdown to John Brown to beat Georgia in the 1982 Sugar Bowl.
What do you love most about the University of Pittsburgh?
The incredible personal and professional experiences outside of the classroom. There is no greater educational experience than Pitt’s world-class curriculum combined with the city of Pittsburgh’s tremendous cultural and professional opportunities.
If you could have dinner with any three people who would it be and why?
I'd make it four people: my wife and three sons. They are my greatest blessing.
Favorite quote?
“Here’s how to fight: You fight until they kill you, until they kill you and stop your heart, and then you let them carry you out of the room. But you fight until they carry.”
