Recruiting & Retaining At A Service Academy With Army’s Tricia Brandenburg and Navy’s Loretta Lamar
Army West Point Executive Associate AD/SWA Tricia Brandenburg and Navy Senior Associate AD/SWA Loretta Lamar go head to head with ADU’s Steph Garcia Cichosz at the annual Women Leader’s Convention to discuss the intricacies of recruiting and retaining at a service academy, including the process of recruiting a student-athlete, how their institutions attract head coaches and how the culture of their athletic departments cultivate longevity among administrators. And yes, an Army versus Navy conversation wouldn’t be complete without predictions for this year’s annual football matchup.
The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing (click the time stamp to jump to a specific question/topic).
00:00 - Introduction
00:44 - How do student-athletes get into Army or Navy?
02:03 - Are student-athletes on any type of athletic financial aid?
03:07 - How do your coaches tap into the unique nature of a service academy experience when recruiting student-athletes?
05:51 - What does a recruiting weekend look like at Army or Navy?
07:58 - What does NIL look like for student-athletes at service academies?
10:42 - How do you ensure that all athletes are "rowing in the same direction" when they come to a service academy like yours?
13:23 - Do you find a deeper sense of community among your student-athletes?
14:20 - How do you pitch your institutions to head coaches?
18:15 - How much are you having to keep a gauge on what your peers are doing regarding coaching contracts?
19:00 - How would you describe the culture of your athletic departments and how does that culture impact what kind of administrator comes to your institution?
20:36 - Why have you spent much of your career at Navy?
22:30 - What attracted you to your opportunity at Army?
24:16 - How do you use the annual Army vs Navy matchup to recruit coaches, administrators and athletes? How will the upcoming "road tour" of game sites impact the student-athlete experience?
