He was a sports junky, living and breathing sports.
When he wasn’t on the field playing, he was keeping up with college and professional sports, sharing his passion with his father. Despite his deep love for the game, he never saw sports as a career path until an unexpected opportunity changed everything.
Originally planning to become a lawyer, Patrick Yasinskas attended Saint Leo on the pre-law track. However, his path shifted during the fall semester of his senior year when he accepted an offer to be the sports editor for his school newspaper, formerly known as The Monarch. After Yasinskas had been at The Monarch for about a semester, Blake Gray, a Tampa Tribune sports writer in Land O’ Lakes, approached the paper in search of someone to cover high school sports. Even though Yasinskas was still convinced he was bound for law school, he decided to give it a shot.
When he first started at The Tampa Tribune, Yasinskas was told his writing resembled that of a lawyer, highly detailed and precise but lacking flair. It was straightforward and informative but not particularly engaging. “I had to learn a whole different style of writing,” Yasinskas said. “Make it interesting to the reader, which legal writing you didn’t have to do that.”
Over time, Yasinskas began to adapt, intentionally studying the work of other sports writers to refine his style. Without formal journalism training, he refused to let that be a setback. He devoured Sports Illustrated, SPORT Magazine and the work of his colleagues, analyzing their techniques and incorporating their style into his own writing.
As Yasinskas sharpened his writing skills, positive feedback from his bosses fueled his determination to improve. Each time one of his stories was published, he would grab a copy of the paper, carefully studying the edits made by the editors. He dissected every change, making sure he wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes. “It was kind of self-educating,” Yasinskas said.
After graduating from Saint Leo University in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in pre-law and political science, Yasinskas took a job at a law firm in Tampa while continuing to cover high school sports in Pasco County. His coverage soon expanded to include Hernando and Citrus counties for The Tampa Tribune. He took a year off before enrolling at St. Thomas University in Miami. Balancing his work at The Tampa Tribune with school was easy for Yasinskas. In his early twenties, he was a powerhouse of energy, ready to take on any challenge. He was doing what he loved, and it was exciting. “I’d go out, cover a game for two hours, write the story, and go to work at the law firm the next day,” Yasinskas said.
While covering the Hernando sports beat, Yasinskas became familiar with several coaches from the football and baseball teams. He first met Hernando High School baseball coach Tim Sims after a game he was reporting on. He introduced himself and asked for a few comments for his story. From that night on, Sims began following Yasinskas’ work in the paper. “It’s a passion. It’s not a job,” said Sims.
As the coach of the Hernando High baseball team, Sims noticed that Yasinskas stood out from other reporters he had met before. He came across as genuinely sincere and caring. But what really made and still makes Yasinskas stand out to Sims was his ability to ask questions, which showed he understood not just the outcome of the game but also its mechanics and deeper intricacies.
Yasinskas completed just one semester at St. Thomas University before falling ill near the end of the term, prompting him to return home to Dade City to stay with his parents. Determined to continue law school, he went back for his second semester but still wasn’t feeling well. A visit to the doctor revealed he had mono. Since law school required full attendance, he decided to withdraw. However, he still intended to return the following January to pick up where he left off.
In the meantime, Yasinskas yet again returned to Dade City. After a few weeks at home, he began feeling better and was eager to get back to work. He resumed his part-time role at The Tampa Tribune, and within a couple of months, the paper offered him another position covering Polk County high schools with a team in Lakeland. Climbing the ranks quickly, he soon landed a trial position in Brooksville. It didn’t take long for it to become clear he had passed the test.
After a couple of months of covering Hernando’s high school sports, Yasinskas soon realized that he was probably not going to return to law school. “I was pretty bored with law school wasn’t having a lot of fun,” Yasinskas said. “I don’t know if I really want that life for the next four years. I kind of like this, it’s fun. I may never be rich, but I’m gonna stick with it.”
As Yasinskas advanced in his career, the bigger the beat, the tougher the job became. His social life took a backseat to the relentless grind. Each day followed a grueling routine: heading to the office, covering a game, returning to write the story and often wrapping up around 1 or 2 a.m.
Friday nights after a football game usually ended at Country Kitchen, Brooksville’s version of IHOP, for an early breakfast. More often than not, Yasinskas would run into the Hernando High football coaching staff, also unwinding over breakfast. Those late-night encounters sometimes turned into unexpected opportunities, offering him inside leads for his next big story.
While covering the death of Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jerome Brown, Yasinskas reported on its impact on his hometown of Brooksville, the Eagles organization, and the NFL. Nick Pugliese, the Palm Beach Post sports editor, said Yasinskas’ coverage drew widespread attention. His stories appeared in The Tampa Tribune’s main edition, earning praise from the staff in the Tampa office, who were impressed by his work.
Yasinskas spent about two and a half years covering sports in Brooksville for The Tampa Tribune before being moved to downtown Tampa around Thanksgiving of 1992. There, he took on high school sports in Hillsborough County while also serving as a third-string reporter on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat.
During his time covering the Bucs, he met Pugliese, the lead reporter on the beat, who became both a mentor and a lifelong friend. “The best mentor I ever had and totally took me under his wing, showed me the ropes,” Yasinskas said.
Pugliese described Yasinskas as a young and enthusiastic journalist eager to learn the ins and outs of the business. He was low-key and a great listener, but when the situation called for it, he wasn’t afraid to be assertive and go after a story. Pugliese noticed that Yasinskas’ writing improved with every story he wrote. “Eventually, (he) was writing award-winning stories,” he said.
He also made sure to teach Yasinskas how to manage his time effectively, meet tight deadlines, and always have a backup plan in case the original one fell through. “Always have like two or three ideas when you walk in that locker room, so you know you got somebody you can talk to and interview,” Pugliese said.
While on the road, Pugliese recalled, Yasinskas had a knack for playing practical jokes. One of his favorite pranks was filling out a meal card with someone else’s room number, ensuring they received an early-morning breakfast delivery whether they wanted it or not. “He would put somebody else’s room number on and by tagging it on the door so that people would come by and pick up,” Pugliese said. “The next morning, they get a knock on the door at like seven o’clock, and here’s this breakfast coming to their room.”
In 1999, Yasinskas received a call from The Charlotte Observer, which was looking for a reporter to cover the Carolina Panthers. When he traveled to North Carolina for the interview, they rolled out the red carpet, booking him into a nice hotel, treating him to a nice dinner and making him an enticing offer. By the end, they had not only extended a job offer but also doubled his salary from The Tampa Tribune.
Leaving Florida wasn’t in Yasinskas’ plans, but the opportunity to be the lead Panthers writer for one of the top 10 newspapers in the country was too good to pass up.
During his time at The Charlotte Observer, he covered the Panthers’ journey to the Super Bowl in 2004, something he had never experienced before. He had relocated to North Carolina before the Bucs made their own Super Bowl run, but he had no regrets. “That means you get four extra weeks of work with all the playoff games and everything. And then Super Bowl, you’re the hometown paper going against media from around the world,” Yasinskas said.
Yasinskas described covering the Super Bowl as one of the worst weeks of his life. He worked so relentlessly that parts of the week became a blur. He could hardly remember some of it.
Also, during his time at The Charlotte Observer, Yasinskas was approached with an offer to do a book on the Carolina Panthers alongside radio broadcaster Bill Rosinski called “Tales from the Carolina Panthers Sideline.” The book was filled with anecdotes and humorous stories about the team. They received a $500 advance, but just a week after publication, the publishing company went bankrupt.
As part of the settlement, Yasinskas and Rosinski were each given 100 copies of the book, which they put to good use at a makeshift book signing party in a friend’s garage. One-third of the proceeds were donated to a charity Rosinski supported.
Just before Christmas in 2007, ESPN offered Yasinskas another position covering the entire NFC South, including the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The job came with a salary that was double what he was making at The Charlotte Observer. “More money than I ever thought I would make as a sports writer,” Yasinskas said. “So, once again, it was a no-brainer. Plus, it was an opportunity I could live anywhere I wanted as long as it was in one of those four cities.”
While covering the NFL, Yasinskas maintained a demanding pace, averaging about three or four articles per day, including news stories, features, game stories and blogs. On game days, he tackled a game story, game column and in-game blog posts. The off-season was not much better filled with the Senior Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine, owners’ meetings, NFL Draft, minicamps and training camps.
By 2015, after years of fast-paced sports reporting, Yasinskas decided to step back from the grind, but he couldn’t fully leave behind the job he loved. When Yasinskas returned to the Hernando area, his longtime friend Coach Tim Sims encouraged him to connect with Rocco and Julie Maglio, the owners of The Hernando Sun. Sims even reached out to Rocco directly, insisting they’d be crazy not to bring him on board. Soon after, Yasinskas was back to his roots—occasionally writing for The Hernando Sun and once again covering high school sports. It was a perfect match.
“He’s kind of come full circle,” Pugliese said. “He’s back up there writing again, like where he kind of started.”
In addition, Yasinskas has freelanced for Sports Illustrated and the University of Tampa Journal. In his free time, he enjoys collecting baseball cards and often attends shows across Florida to add to his collection.
Yasinskas recalled that the most impactful and difficult story he had ever written was about the birth of the son of Mike Imhoff, a Hernando High School coach who had been murdered alongside Mike Bristol, a Leopards math teacher and assistant football coach. The piece focused on how the child’s arrival brought hope and light to an otherwise tragic situation.
Having formed a close bond with Imhoff and his family while covering sports at Hernando High School, Yasinskas felt a deep personal connection to the story. Although he had since moved on to covering the Bucs and no longer reported on Brooksville, Mike Steele, the high school football team’s equipment manager, and assistant coach Brent Gaustad encouraged him to write it.
He spent hours with Karen Imhoff Stalnaker, Imhoff’s wife, and Steele, reliving the devastating experience. Creating a story that would turn the negative into a beautiful positive. “His knack for detail and paying attention is unmatched and unlike any others,” Steele said.
The story was awarded for the best feature by the Florida Sports Writers Association and got an honorable mention in the book “The Best American Sports Writing of 1996.” “It took a lot out of me. It was very emotional for me,” Yasinskas said. “If I had to do it over again at that time, I don’t know that I would have because it was just so draining. It really was. It was tough.”
Working for a local newspaper again, part-time, has given Yasinskas the opportunity to connect with the community through his writing. High school coaches, parents and players deeply appreciate his coverage, making their gratitude one of the most rewarding aspects of his job.
“It’s very gratifying to me when a coach or a player or a parent says thank you just for being there,” Yasinskas said. “And that makes me feel really good inside. That’s one of the things I enjoy most about it right now.”
