Daniel Francis Coughlin (born 1938 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a longtime sports anchor/reporter for WJW Fox 8 in Cleveland, author, and former sports writer for the

Cleveland Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of M ...

Early life

Coughlin was born in 1938 and lived in the

Collinwood Collinwood is a historical area in the northeast part of Cleveland, Ohio. Originally a village in Euclid Township, it was annexed by the city in 1910. Collinwood grew around the rail yards of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (now C ...

neighborhood on Cleveland's east side until 1941, when his parents moved to a home on the city's west side near St. Ignatius High School. A time later, Coughlin's family moved again to suburban Lakewood, Ohio, where he attended St. Edward High School, graduating in 1956. Coughlin would later serve a two-year stint in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in the First Armored Division.

Career

Newspapers

Soon after leaving the service, Coughlin would land his first full-time job in the newspaper business, when he became a

sports writer Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

for the

in 1964. While with the Plain Dealer, Coughlin was recognized for his work by being named Ohio Sportswriter of the Year by the

National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports P ...

(NSSA) in 1976, and serving as president of the Cleveland Press Club from 1981-82. Coughlin would leave the Plain Dealer in 1982, but would still work part-time as a sports writer in later years, writing sports columns for suburban newspapers such as the Elyria Chronicle Telegram, and the Lake County News Herald.

Television

In 1983, Coughlin would switch to television reporting, becoming a sports reporter/fill-in anchor for WJKW (now WJW) TV 8 in Cleveland, where he remains to the present day. For the 1990 baseball season, Coughlin served as a play by play announcer for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

on the then new SportsChannel Ohio (now

Fox Sports Ohio Bally Sports Ohio is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and is operated as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the state of Ohio, with a focus on professio ...

). In recent years, Coughlin has gone into semi-retirement, though he still works part-time at WJW as a co-host of ''Friday Night Touchdown'' during high school football season.

Author

Coughlin has written four books featuring anecdotes from his career covering the Cleveland sports scene - ''Pass the Nuts'' (2011), ''Crazy, With The Papers to Prove It'' (2012), ''Let's Have Another'' (2015) and ''Just One More Story'' (2018).

Awards and honors

*1976 Ohio Sportswriter of the Year (NSSA) *1996 inductee - Cleveland Press Club Journalism Hall of Fame *2002 Society of Professional Journalists (Cleveland chapter) Distinguished Service Award recipient *Two-time

Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards The NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter is one of 19 regional chapters of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The Lower Great Lakes Chapter (formerly Cleveland Chapter) was founded in 1969. In addition to granting Emmy® Awards to pro ...

recipient (2010 and 2012 as co-host of ''Friday Night Touchdown'') - Sports Program *2013 Irish-American Archives Society (IAAS) Walks of Life Award recipient *2017 inductee - Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame

References

External links

Dan Coughlin's Personal BlogSports Icon Interviews
conducted by Coughlin at Cleveland Public Library starting in 2012 and, as of 2018, having over 40 interviews of northeast Ohio sports personalities. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coughlin, Dan 1938 births Living people Television anchors from Cleveland American newspaper writers United States Army soldiers Cleveland Indians announcers