Citadel names new athletic director

Mike Capaccio, interim AD, selected for permanent position

The Citadel Athletics Department will be directed by Mike Capaccio, who is currently serving as the interim athletic director (AD). The college announced Capaccio’s selection after an extensive search that included more than 100 qualified applicants from around the country.

“Mike Capaccio knows our program inside and out. His passion, energy and commitment to The Citadel make him ideal to fill this key leadership position,” said Lt. Gen. John B. Sams, Jr., USAF (Ret.), interim president of The Citadel.  “Mike has already served The Citadel well, is a former AD, knows our coaches, players and staff and believes in our mission to develop principled leaders. We are grateful he has agreed to let us remove the title ‘interim’ to take on the AD role fulltime.”

In addition to serving as interim athletic director since mid-July, Capaccio is the vice president for athletic development with The Citadel Foundation. He joined The Citadel in 2012 after working as chief executive officer of the Brunswick Community College Foundation in North Carolina. Prior to joining Brunswick, Capaccio spent eight years at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, including three years as athletic director.

The Citadel’s athletic director search committee worked with a firm to promote the position and to manage a series of interviews, eventually narrowing the field to five finalists. The interviews concluded this week.

“Mike has been outstanding at developing relationships with donors and our Citadel community as vice president for athletic development at the foundation,” said Jay Dowd III, Ph.D., The Citadel Foundation chief executive officer. “We look forward to working with him in his new role taking The Citadel Athletics Department to the next level.”

The Citadel Athletics Department has 16 varsity sport teams. The Citadel is affiliated with NCAA Division I athletics, and in football, the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The college’s conference affiliation is the Southern Conference, of which it has been a member since 1936.

About The Citadel 

The Citadel, with its iconic campus located in Charleston, South Carolina, offers a classic military college education for young men and women focused on leadership excellence and academic distinction. The approximately 2,300 members of the S.C. Corps of Cadets are not required to serve in the military, but about one-third of each class earn commissions to become officers in every branch of U.S. military service. Citadel alumni have served the nation, their states and their communities as principled leaders since 1842. The Citadel Graduate College, founded 50 years ago, offers 25 graduate degree programs with 22 concentration options, 25 graduate certificate programs and 10 evening undergraduate programs in the evening or online. The Citadel was named Best Public College in the South by U.S. News & World Report for seven consecutive years and No. 1 Best Public College for Veterans in the South. Learn more about Our Mighty Citadel here.