Analysis: A deeper look at TCU’s new athletic director, Mike Buddie
After a thorough and efficient search, TCU has found its next athletic director.
The Star-Telegram confirmed Tuesday that Army AD Mike Buddie will be the next athletic director for the Horned Frogs, replacing Jeremiah Donati who departed for South Carolina in December.
The university released a statement on Wednesday, acknowledging the hire.
“TCU is building a world class executive team to take us to our next level of excellence in educating future generations of Horned Frogs. We were looking for an individual who would honor our mission to educate ethical leaders and share our focus on student and community success,” said President Daniel W. Pullin in a statement. “Our newly launched LEAD ON: Values in Action strategic plan is designed with athletics as one of our four key pillars. Amongst a cohort of stellar candidates, we found in Mike a leader who is on point with our strategic plan, who exemplifies the values, character and innovative approach that will continue to elevate athletic excellence as a priority.”
There were a number of names that popped up during different stages of the search, including Boise State AD Jeremiah Dickey and USC AD Jennifer Cohen. Dickey was at one point seen as a leading candidate and was also a popular pick among the fanbase on social media.
It’s understandable why he was.
Dickey spent time at Baylor before taking over the Boise State athletic department in 2021 and since he took over Boise State has been able to maintain its place as the top Group of Five program in the country.
But ultimately Dickey signed a contract extension with the Broncos during TCU’s search which made it difficult for the Horned Frogs to land him. The program also considered taking a Brett Yormark route with multiple professional sports executives earning consideration.
Dallas Stars president Brad Alberts generated some buzz along with former Houston Astros Reid Ryan, the son of Nolan Ryan and a former TCU baseball player.
In the end the school landed on Buddie, who was always in the mix. So did TCU make a good hire for its next athletic director? On paper Buddie’s resume is solid, but some fans still have questions.
The next era of college athletics will include revenue sharing and require a deep understanding of name, image and likeness plus putting TCU in the best position for the inevitable next round of conference realignment.
While athletes are able to accept NIL deals with different branches of the military, players from service academies aren’t allowed to accept NIL deals because they are considered federal government employees.
That fact has led to some concern about whether or not Buddie is ready for this next stage of college athletics. It’s a fair question, but once you take a deeper look at Buddie’s resume, there’s plenty of reason to believe he’s up for the task.
Before taking over in West Point, Buddie got his first experience as an athletic director at Furman. Buddie showed his fundraising chops by securing a trio of $1 million endowments in support of the football and volleyball program.
Furman is located in South Carolina and it’s no small achievement to raise those types of funds in a smaller state that’s already dominated by Clemson and South Carolina. The Paladins won 26 Southern Conference championships during Buddie’s tenure and he also helped turn around Furman’s basketball program.
Before Buddie was hired in 2015, the Paladins had just two winning seasons dating back to 2025. After a 19-16 season in 2015-16, the Paladins won at least 20 games the next three seasons. Buddie’s promotion of assistant Bob Richey to head coach in 2017 was also a pivotal hire and Richey is still leading the basketball program this season.
Despite the lack of experience with NIL at Army, Buddie was in the midst of running another successful athletic department. In his first four seasons, Army had a combined 10 conference championships and NCAA postseason appearances.
He also spearheaded the charge to get Army into the American Athletic Conference, which the Black Knights won this season with a 12-2 record.
Buddie also oversaw facility enhancements and capital projects including the $170 million Michie Stadium Preservation Project which is the most ambitious gift-funded construction project in the history of the United States Military Academy. Buddie helped secure the funds in December 2023.
Buddie, a former Major League Baseball player for the New York Yankees, also serves as the NCAA Baseball Committee Chair and has built strong connections nationally. That includes Nike, which goes back to his time at Furman, where he secured a multi-year partnership.
There’s no doubt Army is a unique situation, but Buddie has a long and proven track record of being a top notch fundraiser. Buddie has shown that he can do more with less and now he enters a situation in Fort Worth where the athletic department is in a strong spot.
Sonny Dykes and the football program just completed a nine-win season and should enter next season as one of the favorites in the Big 12. The women’s basketball program is ranked in the top-15 and while the men’s program may take a step back this season, Jamie Dixon has led the program to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and also has the Horned Frogs recruiting at a higher level.
The baseball program also has a strong history and Buddie’s experience should only help the Horned Frogs continue to be one of the Big 12’s best programs on the diamond.
There may still be hurt feelings over Donati’s sudden departure to South Carolina, but there’s no question he left a strong athletic department for Buddie to take over.
Buddie was able to make due with limited resources and now he’ll be in a completely different scenario at TCU with more support and staffing.
Who knows how his tenure will end up going, but TCU fans shouldn’t write off Buddie just because his last stop was at Army. Buddie doesn’t need to rebuild TCU athletics, he just needs to continue to steer the ship in the right direction and his resume indicates he’s up for the task.
This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 10:55 AM.
