Army Black Knights Athletic Director Expected to Take TCU Job: Report

After an unprecedented football season, the Army West Point Black Knights may be set to lose their athletic director.

Aug 30, 2024; West Point, New York, USA; Army West Point athletic director Mike Buddie participates in an on-field ceremony with soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division during the first half of a game between Army and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Michie Stadium. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The Army West Point Black Knights may be looking for a new athletic director in the new year, as Mike Buddie is reportedly expected to take the same job at TCU.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported the potential move on Tuesday night. He also reported that the deal is expected to come together in the coming days. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Steven Johnson confirmed later Tuesday that Buddie will be the new AD.

If TCU is able to seal the deal, they will be getting an athletic director who is hired by Army in 2019 and has led several sports, most notably the football program, to unprecedented levels of success.

He would replace Jeremiah Donati, who took the same position at South Carolina earlier this month.

In his first four years at Army, Buddie’s athletic teams produced four Rhodes Scholars, 10 conference championships & NCAA postseason appearances and 12 Patriot League Coach of the Year honoree.

He also helped secure the initial funding to begin the Michie Stadium Preservation Project. The project is designed to preserve the 100-year-old facility’s tradition and also improve the fan and gameday experience, including the modernization of the stadium’s east side stands, which run alongside the Hudson River. It is expected to be completed in the summer of 2026.

He also helped Army’s football team secure its affiliation with the American Athletic Conference this season. The Black Knights had been a member of Conference USA. But, in seven seasons the football team never won more than two league games.

With head coach Jeff Monken, the program set a record for 12 wins in a season, won the AAC title game — which was the program’s first conference title in football — and he won AAC coach of the year honors. His quarterback Bryson Daily, was the AAC offensive player of the year and finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting.

The Black Knights won the Independence Bowl, where Daily tied for fourth in single-season rushing touchdowns and took over the record for most rushing touchdowns by a service academy quarterback.

Before Army, Buddie was the athletic director at Furman, where in four years the Paladins won 26 Southern Conference Championships.

Before Furman, Buddie spent a decade at Wake Forest University where he oversaw several different areas with the Demon Deacons. The Wake Forest alum also played baseball for three years, which led to his other claim to fame.

He was a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of the 1992 MLB draft.

He spent five years in the Majors and was a part of the Yankees’ 1998 World Series team.