Army has reached into the pro ranks to find their next director of recruiting for football.
The school announced on Thursday that 1989 West Point grad Mike Sullivan was returning to upstate New York to take the vital off-field position for the academy.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mike Sullivan back home to the banks of the Hudson and the Army football brotherhood,” head coach Jeff Monken said in a school release. “His wealth of knowledge of the academy and his wealth of experience in the NFL make him a premier addition to our team. He will be a great source of knowledge for our staff and players and will help us continue to raise the bar in our recruiting efforts and development of our players.”
Sullivan has had a diverse coaching career that most recently included a stint as QB coach for the Denver Broncos under Vance Joseph. He also spent two seasons as offensive coordinator for the New York Giants and three more in the same role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Perhaps the highlight of Sullivan’s career came with an earlier run with the Giants from 2004-2011, coaching both wide receivers and quarterbacks. While with the franchise he won a pair of Super Bowl rings as well.
“I’m thrilled to come back to my alma mater,” said Sullivan. “The Academy has always been a very special place to me, and I’m both excited and grateful to rejoin Army football.”
The lengthy resume certainly is an interesting match at Army even with the obvious alumni connections. Obviously the Black Knights are an option-based offensive team to start with. Add in the fact that they also operate in a unique space in FBS when it comes to recruiting and it’s a bit of an unexpected move.
Still, it’s hard to pass up somebody who knows the academy quite like a successful alum who has Super Bowl rings to plop on the table. Perhaps the bigger question is actually more along the lines of when Sullivan can actually start his new gig given recruiting restrictions across the country in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Either way, the former infantry officer has quite the task ahead of him.
