Derek Ponamsky Season 2024

Derek Ponamsky joined the LSU football staff in September 2016 as Special Assistant to Head Coach Ed Orgeron.

Ponamsky’s primary responsibility is assisting Coach Orgeron in the day to day organization and operation of his schedule, as well as being a member of the team responsible for strategy and content creation for LSU Football’s social media.

Prior to being hired by Orgeron at LSU, Ponamsky hosted a daily radio show for six years on ESPN Radio in Baton Rouge and worked on the pre and post-game shows for LSU football on the LSU Sports Radio Network. That practical knowledge has been valuable experience in working with the LSU Football Social Media Team on strategy and production of content. Ponamsky was part of the team that won the Sports Business Journal Best in Sports Social Media and two gold American Advertising Awards and two silver American Advertising Awards for his work as the producer on the 2019 LSU Football Hype Video series.

Ponamsky, a native of Chalmette, Louisiana, attended LSU and is certified in the Fundamentals of Global Sports Management by the NYU Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport.

He has been involved with Louisiana Special Olympics, Team Gleason, Autism Speaks and was awarded the Sheena Dianne Ayers Breathe of Life Award by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Baton Rouge for his work in support of the fight against Cystic Fibrosis.

In 2020 Ponamsky was honored by the St. Bernard Parish Sports Hall of Fame as their “Spotlight Award Winner”.

Ponamsky and his wife Leanne have a daughter, Alys and a son in law, Adam.