March 7, 2006
ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Chet Gladchuk, Director of Athletics at the United States Naval Academy, was recently honored at the Division IA Athletic Directors Association annual meeting as the Bobby Dodd Athletic Director of the Year.
In his four-plus years at Navy, Gladchuk has overseen a renaissance of Navy athletics. His administrative leadership in a number of areas has helped lead the program to one of the most successful periods in school history.
The award is presented in recognition of an athletic directors support and commitment toward the successful advancement of the department, most specifically in the sport of football. This past fall, the Navy football team completed a third-straight successful season as the Midshipmen posted an 8-4 record, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for a school-record third-consecutive year, participated in a bowl game for a school-record third-straight year and won a bowl game in consecutive years for the first time in school history when the Mids pounded Colorado State, 51-30, in the Poinsettia Bowl.
The football team isn't the only successful squad at the Naval Academy as Navy athletic teams have won better than 60 percent of their contests during Gladchuk's tenure.
Gladchuk was able to parlay Navy's athletic success into an exclusive television deal with College Sports Television that will significantly increase Navy's television exposure over the next five years. CSTV, the first 24-hour college sports network, will televise every Navy home and select neutral site football games (excluding Notre Dame and Army which will be televised nationally by CBS), as well as other Navy men's and women's athletic events, original programming and documentaries centered around the storied Navy athletic program starting. The long-term multi-media agreement includes internet streaming, broadband and video-on-demand rights and high definition rights starting in 2006. A major part of the agreement was that all home football games would be played on Saturday for the convenience of the Navy Alumni.
Gladchuk also added radio giant WBAL (1090) in Baltimore to Navy's radio network. WBAL Radio, which is also the voice of the Baltimore Orioles, is Maryland's dominant and most powerful radio station. Since 1925, generations of Marylanders have turned to WBAL Radio for news, weather, thought-provoking discussions and sports. As Maryland's only 50,000-watt AM station, WBAL's signal travels substantially further than any other station in the state.
Since being introduced as the Academy's 28th Director of Athletics on Sept. 4, 2001, Gladchuk has hit the ground running. From the hiring of Paul Johnson as head football coach to the renovation of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Gladchuk has made improvements in several key areas that will prove more success on the athletic fields for years to come.
In Gladchuk's tenure he has seen the baseball, lacrosse (twice), men's swimming & diving (three times), men's indoor track & field (twice), women's outdoor track & field, golf, women's soccer (three times), rifle (four times), sprint football (four times), women's crew and water polo (twice) teams all win conference titles, while the baseball, golf, lacrosse (twice), rifle (four times), women's soccer, men's swimming & diving and water polo teams have advanced to the NCAA Championship during his tenure at the Academy.
Gladchuk has also worked tirelessly to bring back school spirit, working in conjunction with school officials to encourage midshipmen to attend events for all sports.
Gladchuk immediately embraced the local community and alumni base, and is an often-requested speaker. His regular 'Ask the AD' column on navysports.com is one of the most popular features on Navy's internet site.
Gladchuk's biggest impact on the Academy in his first year was the hiring of Paul Johnson as a head football coach. Johnson came to the Naval Academy from Georgia Southern where he posted a 62-10 (.861) record, won two-straight I-AA National Championships (1999 and 2000) and was named the Division I-AA National Coach of the Year four-consecutive times (1997-2000).
After hiring Johnson, Gladchuk set his sights on Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium where he completely refurbished the football stadium over a four-year time frame. The addition of 6,500 permanent seats on the sidelines and in the end zones, luxury boxes, dropping the field eight feet and moving the sidelines closer, two video scoreboards, a memorial plaza, upgraded restroom and concession areas, a perimeter walking path, new lighting, a new sound system, landscaping the grounds and storm water management highlight the list of renovations. Gladchuk has worked closely with the city, county, state and neighborhood associations to ensure proper communication and sensitivity to issues that benefit both the NAAA and community at large.
Gladchuk and the NAAA were awarded the Green Star award by Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer for commitment to the environment during the ongoing renovation of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Other highlights of Gladchuk's tenure at the Naval Academy include the renegotiation of the Army-Navy contract through 2009 which will bring over $25 million to the two schools over the six games, scheduling Maryland and Notre Dame at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore to promote Navy football in the community and negotiating the extension of the Navy-Notre Dame football game television contract with CBS through 2008.
Gladchuk is also Chairman of the Executive Committee in the Patriot League and is on the NCAA Olympic Sport Liaison Committee.
He and his wife, Kathy, have four children: John, a graduate of Loyola Marymount; Katie, a graduate of Boston College; Christie, a graduate of Trinity and Julie, who is a junior at North Carolina and a member of the women's lacrosse team.