Longtime UVa media liaison dies at 46

For Virginia men’s lacrosse coach Dom Starsia, loyalty remains one of the most important traits that a person can maintain.

For well over a decade, Starsia had that luxury with Virginia assistant director of media relations Mike Colley by his side.

That was all taken away Saturday — Colley died of an apparent heart attack during a walk at Virginia Beach, where he was vacationing with friends.

Colley, 46, had worked at the University of Virginia, his alma mater, for the past 18 years, serving as a liaison between the school’s athletic teams and the media.

One of Colley’s duties — in which he took immense pride — came with Starsia’s nationally-acclaimed program.

“I felt like Mike was one of those selfless guys that works behind the scenes and makes these things go,” Starsia said. “It may be that it is more my face or the face of the players that is on the program, but there are these guys that are just invaluable to the operation of these endeavors, and Mike was one of those guys.

“I just felt like he was as loyal as the day is long. He was someone that as much as [the media] are sometimes looking to take a shot at us or at somebody else, I always felt like Mike was watching my back. I put loyalty very high on the chart of qualities that are most important in terms of the hierarchy of an athletic organization or a coaching staff or an athletic program. For Mike, that was what I felt like more than anything.”

Colley, a 1985 graduate of UVa, worked on stat crews at the NCAA Division I, II and III men’s lacrosse championships and spearheaded the creation of the first-ever NCAA men’s lacrosse statistics manual, which was released this year.

“He was one of the truly loyal soldiers that makes this go,” Starsia added. “I have had an awful lot of success with this program over the last 17 or 18 years, and I owe it to the contributions of Mike Colley.”

Colley also bonded with members of Virginia’s football teams, a sport that he worked closely with. Numerous players were devastated, even speechless, in finding out the news of his passing Sunday.

“It is so sad,” said former Virginia wideout Kevin Ogletree, now with the Dallas Cowboys. “That was too young for Mike. He was truly the best.”

Former punter Ryan Weigand remembers receiving a sincere “thank you” from Colley every single time he showed for an interview opportunity.

“He was the nicest guy,” he recounted, “and he lived for the university.”

Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage praised Colley for his work at the university.

“Whether it was one of our future professionals or a walk-on, Michael viewed any student-athlete who wore orange and blue as a friend,” he said. “Michael’s knowledge and respect of the history of UVa sports was unequaled.

“Our program has lost a friend, a colleague and our No. 1 fan.”

In addition to his true affinity for Virginia athletics, Colley was also a diehard Baltimore Orioles fan that could produce lineups from years past after being asked.

That created some playful tension at times with Starsia.

“Between the moodiness of a college lacrosse coach and the fact that I was a hardcore New York Yankee fan and the head coach of the program, he had to sit through an awful lot and he was very patient with me,” Starsia said with a chuckle. “He put up with an awful lot that way.”

Colley is survived by his parents, Bert and Don, of Charlottesville.

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.