11 - Brandon Davis, CAA - Athletic Director, Allen Academy

In this episode of Talkin' with the AD, host Morgan J. Sullivan sits down with Brandon Davis, CAA — Athletic Director at Allen Academy in Bryan, Texas — for a conversation that runs from the winding road that led him into athletic administration to the systems he's building right now.

Brandon's path is anything but a straight line: a small Connecticut town, college lacrosse at Louisville, coaching stops at Kentucky Country Day and powerhouse Sacred Heart Academy, ten years coaching collegiately at Georgetown College, then back into administration and, finally, Texas. Along the way he picked up a lesson that shapes everything he does now — your message isn't interpreted at your mouth, it's interpreted at their ear.

From there, the two dig into the stuff that actually fills an AD's week:

Certification — why Brandon pursued his CAA, how it helped him broaden his horizons across state lines, and the CMAA project he's building now: an AI-assisted system that flags academically at-risk athletes before they slip through the cracks.

AI as a time-and-money tool — how Brandon uses Claude Projects to standardize PA rosters, run his athletic-department branding, write social captions, and turn a board request into a fully detailed 10-page proposal in about 90 minutes (always proof it, he warns).

Game day as an experience — the plan to remove every reason a family might skip a Friday night: a YMCA-run kid zone, professional childcare, a new picnic and tailgate area, mini-camps that funnel young kids and their families into the stands, a bucket drumline, Wagyu burgers, and a 19-foot inflatable Ram tunnel.

Why "this is how we've always done it" is dangerous — and the scheduling overhaul Brandon built around it, giving each team its own home day to ease multi-sport athletes and trim transportation costs.

And to close, the marquee question Morgan asks every guest: the two or three pages Brandon would hand a new AD. His answer — get a taste of everything, find a mentor who's five or ten years ahead of you, and keep changing up your daily rhythm, because AD burnout is real.

Athletic director, coach, or school leader — this one's packed with practical, steal-it-today ideas.

Connect with Brandon: bdavis@allenacademy.org · Allen Academy Athletics on Instagram

CHAPTERS
00:00 — Welcome & intro
00:24 — Who is Brandon Davis: the winding road
06:07 — One lesson from every stop: communication
09:32 — Certification: the CAA, and a CMAA project using AI to flag at-risk athletes
18:10 — AI on game day: standardizing PA rosters
22:26 — Claude Projects for branding & social captions
25:07 — Time and money: an AI-built board proposal
28:29 — Game day experience: kid zone, childcare & the Ram tunnel
35:31 — "This is how we've always done it" — why it's dangerous
37:21 — Rethinking the schedule: one home day per team
40:35 — Closing lessons for young ADs + beating burnout

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Talkin' with the AD is a podcast for athletic directors, school leaders, coaches, parents, and athletes — built around education-based athletics and the people who make it work. Hosted by Morgan J. Sullivan — athletic director, coach, and author of Coach on Leadership.

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Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes

Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes