Bob Beretta was named St. Bonaventure’s Vice President and Director of Athletics in June 2024 and officially began work July 25, 2024.
Bona’s 22nd Director of Athletics, Beretta’s hiring is a homecoming for the Class of 1987 St. Bonaventure graduate.
He arrived on campus after serving as the director of athletics at Le Moyne College from 2021-24, helping to oversee a tremendous transformation in that department as Le Moyne transitioned to the Division I ranks.
A highly-respected executive and administrator within the intercollegiate athletics industry, Beretta officially started his role at Le Moyne on May 1, 2021, arriving in Central New York following a long and distinguished career at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
He was responsible for transitioning Le Moyne’s 21-sport intercollegiate athletics program to Division I and the Northeast Conference. In just over three years at Le Moyne, Beretta led the complete restructuring of the department of athletics.
Not only did Le Moyne’s intercollegiate athletics department enjoy a run of unprecedented success on the playing fields and classrooms since that time, but under Beretta’s leadership the College accepted an invitation from the Northeast Conference in May of 2023.
Beretta began positioning Le Moyne to earn an invitation to a Division I conference almost immediately upon his arrival on “the Heights,” leading an Ad Hoc Committee on Athletics Reclassification. The wide-reaching Committee included stakeholders from across campus to include Le Moyne’s President, Provost, Board of Trustees Chair and Past Chair, Board of Trustee members and Faculty. The Committee met 32 times as part of the exhaustive discernment process before forwarding its recommendations to the President and Board of Trustees.
During the process, Beretta and his leadership team developed a detailed five-year phase-in plan for Division I athletics that included increased operating budgets, resource allocation, full-time administrative and coaching staffing levels, athletic scholarships and salaries. He also worked closely with the Dolphins’ head coaches to quickly build representative Division I non-conference schedules for the fast-approaching academic year that included high-visibility opponents such as Georgetown, Villanova, USC, Colorado and Penn State.
In addition to growing the athletics budget by nearly 40 percent during his time at the helm, Le Moyne is scheduled to add a total of 36 athletic scholarships as part of the transition.
Beretta, who added oversight of Intramurals and Club Sports in the summer of 2022, is currently overseeing a vast remake of Le Moyne’s recreation opportunities offered to all students. He was promoted to Assistant Vice President for Athletics and Recreation in the summer of 2023.
Competitively, the Dolphins have registered six conference championships, seven regular season conference crowns, three conference divisional titles, 16 NCAA berths, one NCAA Championships East regional crown and one National Championship during Beretta’s tenure leading Le Moyne’s department.
During the 2022-23 academic year alone, Dolphin squads combined to capture three Northeast-10 Conference regular-season championships, one league divisional title, two NE10 postseason championships and one NCAA Championships East Regional crown. Additionally, the men’s lacrosse team held a No. 1 national ranking most of the year and reached the National Semifinals for the third consecutive season.
Overall, Le Moyne's athletic teams posted a 184-121-9 overall record (.600) during the 2022-23 academic year, including an incredible 107-56 (.656) mark in the spring.
Le Moyne's student-athletes also completed a total of 3,113 hours of community service that year.
In all, 20 of the department's 21 teams recorded at least a 3.0 GPA for the semester, with the lone team missing the mark by .025 of a percentage point (2.975). Additionally, all 21 teams boasted a cumulative GPA.
Most impressively, 74.6 percent, or 238 of 319 Student-Athletes, registered a GPA of least 3.0 GPA during the spring semester, with 153 achieving a 3.5 GPA or higher (47.9 percent). A remarkable 38 Le Moyne Student-Athletes registered a perfect 4.0 GPA during the spring.
During the spring 2022 semester, six Le Moyne athletic programs received NCAA invitations, the second-highest total in school history, with the Dolphins’ men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s golf and baseball teams all reaching the postseason. It marked the first time in school history that both tennis teams advanced to the NCAAs, with the women registering the program’s first postseason win and the men reaching the Nationals (final round of 16) for the first time in history. The men’s team finished the season ranked 25th nationally, its highest ranking ever.
Additionally, the baseball team’s NCAA showing was its first since 2018, while the defending National Champion-men’s lacrosse squad reached the National Semifinals for the 16th time in 20 years.
Le Moyne’s Federal Graduation Rate ranking of 84% tied for eighth nationally in December of 2021 and tied for second highest in school history. The Dolphins’ Academic Success Rate ranking of 96% tied for sixth nationally in Dec. 2021 and ranks as the best in Le Moyne history, earning the College the Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence from the NCAA.
Le Moyne also saw its fundraising efforts soar under Beretta, setting Annual Fund school records for number of donors and amount of money raised each year throughout his time in charge.
During the record-shattering 2022-23 academic year, eight programs – baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's golf, women's golf, women's lacrosse, softball and volleyball – set new fundraising records, and 13 programs saw an increase in dollars raised from the previous year.
In all, the athletic department's yearly annual fund total grew 80 percent over his three years at the helm.
Leaning on his extensive external background, Beretta implemented a new department social media strategy that has resulted in significant increases in content volume, content quality, and major fan engagement upticks across all social platforms.
He developed a new corporate sponsor program that has yielded a 600 percent increase in cash and trade resources to Le Moyne Athletics, attracted the first multi-media and marketing partnership in school history and placed men’s and women’s basketball broadcasts on commercial radio for the first time ever.
Facility enhancements have also been prevalent during Beretta’s time on “the Heights,” as the Dolphins built a sparkling new concessions/restroom facility at Ted Grant Field, installed a new scoreboard/video board at Dick Rockwell Field and are adding new baseball dugouts and a press box at the Le Moyne softball complex this fall. Additionally, the department is working with renown design and architectural firm Moody Nolan to develop a plan to expand and renovate the Event Center as a means to grow its locker room, strength and conditioning, administrative office and team meeting spaces.
Born and raised in Newburgh, N.Y., Beretta was a student-athlete at St. Bonaventure University in Olean, N.Y., earning a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication, and graduating with honors. He was a four-time letter winner and three-time team captain of the baseball team. Beretta wrote for the school newspaper and worked as a Student Assistant on the St. Bonaventure Sports Information staff. Upon graduation, he began an internship at the United States Military Academy's Sports Information unit. He left West Point in April 2021 following 34 years of service to Army West Point’s Athletic Department.
Prior to his departure, Beretta served as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Initiatives. He began his career in sports information and was selected to the College Sports Information Directors Hall of Fame in 2020. He was involved in all facets of Departmental planning and processes, Cadet-Athlete life, Sport Program Administration, and all facets of External Operations, including Athletics Development and revenue generation initiatives.
At the time of his hiring at Le Moyne, Beretta was in his 14th year steering many of the Army West Point athletic department's external operations ventures to include sport supervision, corporate sponsorship, Army-Navy logistics and operations, national television initiatives, football scheduling and postseason bowl partnerships.
He also oversaw maintenance of the athletic department's strategic plan, while holding positions on the Patriot League Sport Management Committee, Army-Navy Steering Committee and several Patriot League subcommittees. He previously served several terms on the Atlantic Hockey Association’s Executive Committee.
In 2020, he served as Game Coordinator for the Army-Navy Game, which was played at West Point for the first time since 1943 and was attended by the President of the United States and senior military officers, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Staff of the Army. He also served as Trip Coordinator for Army’s visit to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, negotiating that deal shortly after the Black Knights’ initial 2020 bowl berth in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl disappeared after the game was canceled a week prior to kickoff. It marked the Black Knights’ fourth postseason bowl game in five years. He was also Army’s lead negotiator for the inaugural college football games at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. The “Commanders’ Classic” will pit Army against Air Force at the home of the Texas Rangers baseball team in 2021 and 2022.
Beretta handled football scheduling initiatives for West Point's Division I Independent Football Bowl Subdivision team since 2004. The Newburgh, N.Y., native gained national acclaim when he completely rebuilt Army’s 2020 football schedule just weeks before the start of the campaign after nine games were lost due to circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. He was featured in stories by several national outlets including, Forbes.com, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN.com and The New York Times. Previously, he developed a strategic plan for scheduling that completely overhauled Army's previous philosophy for the current 20-year (2013-33) scheduling cycle to provide the Black Knights with their best possible chance for success. He had scheduled Army games through 2035 at the time of his departure.
While at West Point, Beretta served as lead negotiator for all postseason bowl, television and neutral-site football contracts and had been the chairman of Army Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee since its inception in 2004. He served as Army's lead contact and bowl trip coordinator for each of the Black Knights' last four bowl appearances, including the 2016 Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl and the 2017 and 2018 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, and was been charged with all operational and financial responsibilities.
Beretta led numerous national coaching searches while at the Military Academy, helping to identify new coaches in the sports of football, men’s basketball, baseball, wrestling, men's and women's swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s track and field.
He completed a three-year stint on the NCAA Hockey Rules Committee and served for two years as the Chairman of Atlantic Hockey’s Executive Committee. Beretta also served as the Patriot League Sport Management Committee liaison with the conference’s baseball head coaches committee and remained West Point's lead contact with the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Mets, managing all aspects of those vital relationships. During his time leading Atlantic Hockey's Executive Committee, he was instrumental in the league outsourcing its multi-media rights for the first time in conference history, leading to a significant increase in corporate sponsorship revenue.
Previously, Beretta oversaw the athletic department's fund-raising, donor relations, ticket sales and revenue generation initiatives. Those areas generated nearly $9 million annually through donations, ticket sales and online auctions. He was personally charged with synchronizing the entire External Operations department to align resources, maximize efficiencies and produce one cohesive unit. He also provided oversight to the athletic department's equipment and facility operations for two years and served as the athletic department’s lead for all new construction projects for several years. During that time, he worked diligently through the construction of seven new homes for head coaches and the Foley, Enners, Nathe Lacrosse Center, a $15 million state-of-the art home for Army’s men’s and women’s lacrosse programs that opened in the fall of 2016.
A veteran of the local travel softball scene, Beretta served a one-year term as Army’s interim head softball coach during the 2018-19 academic year.
Prior to accepting duties as Army’s head softball coach, Beretta maintained oversight of two of Army's five revenue-generating sports, to include hockey and women's basketball. He handled similar duties for Army’s football program for seven years and still shoulders many of the program’s external initiatives, including scheduling, bowl alignment and bowl services.
Beretta also maintained oversight authority for Army West Point Sports Properties, Army's multi-media rights-holder, which is responsible for totaling more than $2 million in sponsorship revenue annually. Army West Point Sports Properties increased the athletic department's sponsorship sales by 400 percent during Beretta's decade-long oversight tenure. He was also integral in the introduction and execution of the Team Army concept during the spring of 2012, a comprehensive plan designed to add significant value to Army's corporate sponsorships.
He also helped negotiate two new agreements with Learfield that led to 400 percent growth in the rights fee to the Academy. The veteran administrator also led negotiations for a pair of new national television deals that resulted in 140 percent growth in the annual financial guarantee to the Army West Point Athletic Association. He assisted in negotiating new deals for both entities during the summer of 2017, while also helping to negotiate a new Army-Navy football broadcast agreement with CBS. He also ran point during the site selection process for future Army-Navy football games that recently led to those games being awarded to various cities though the year 2022. Previously, he was a major contributor on the team that negotiated a 10-year extension with USAA to serve as presenting sponsor for the game.
Under Beretta's direction, Army became a leading force on the social media landscape, gaining strong footholds on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube, growing the pages annually by more than 50 percent. He also helped Army become one of the first athletic departments in the nation to introduce a comprehensive social media rewards program and introduced an aggressive social media strategy to the Army-Navy football game, establishing a major presence on all major platforms for “America’s Game.”
Beretta captured 68 CoSIDA writing awards while a member of Army’s Athletic Communications team, earning 24 national honors and nine Best in the Nation awards. He copped 39 publication citings, including 12 national awards and six Best in the Nation honors. In his final year participating in the CoSIDA writing contest in 2008, Beretta won 13 awards (seven national), had three feature stories chosen Best in the Nation and two others finish second in their feature categories. He took home two of the top three finishes in the national Story of the Year voting and won his first National Story of the Year citing. He had finished second in the same voting on one occasion previously. During his time overseeing Army’s Athletic Communications area, his staff earned a total of 88 writing awards and 68 publication honors through CoSIDA.
In April of 2022, Beretta was presented the John Domino Award by St. Bonaventure University for excellence in the sports communication field. Previous winners include Dick Vitale, Adrian Wojnarowski and Mike Vaccaro.
Beretta is married to Jennifer (Johnson) Beretta, also a graduate of St. Bonaventure. They have one daughter, Julia, a graduate of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., where she was a member of the Pioneers’ Cross Country and Track & Field programs and also was a three-time all-region selection and two-time team captain of Sacred Heart’s nationally-ranked club softball program. She is currently in her second year as an Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at Penn State University after serving in a similar capacity at Syracuse University during the 2021-22 academic year. The last member of the Beretta family is their dachshund, named Sully.
