Watch: New Army Athletic Director Talks About Job, Black Knights Fans

The Army West Point Black Knights looked within to find their replacement for Mike Buddie, who is now leading the athletic department at TCU.

Tom “Theo” Theodorakis took the reins last month after spending the past two years as one of Buddie’s top lieutenants. As Army’s deputy athletic director for external operations and chief revenue officer, he helped get many internal projects moving, including the expansive Michie Stadium renovation projection.

He also led the athletic department’s external units in development, which includes supporting a $600 million comprehensive campaign for the academy.

Before that, he had a long history in external operations at Army, Harvard and Arizona. That experience will come in handy for the Black Knights as they forge a new path forward in the wake of changes like the transfer portal, name, image and likeness funding and revenue sharing.

Some of that Army doesn’t have to worry about. Because it is a service academy, their student-athletes can’t tap into NIL. But the transfer portal can, on occasion, impact the service academies. After last season, running back Kanye Udoh transferred to Arizona State. Last week Navy basketball star Austin Benigni put his name in the transfer portal.

Theodorakis had an advantage in taking the job — he had been at West Point for three years. He had built relationships with athletes, donors and alumni alike. He knows the mission and he’s excited for the road ahead with the program’s fans, as he told Rich DeMarco in an interview for the Army Black Knights’ YouTube page.