Bret Strelow was named a director of strategic communications for App State Athletics in August 2017 and was promoted to Assistant A.D. for Strategic Communications in March 2023.

With his extensive background as a writer and storyteller, Strelow serves as a leading content producer on various platforms, including App State's athletics web site. He acts as a secondary contact for the Mountaineers' football and baseball programs and works as the primary contact for wrestling, men's golf and women's golf. Additionally, he shares the stories behind influential people within the App State community and contributes to social media.

In 2019 and 2020, the Football Writers Association of America recognized App State with Super 11 Awards, which are designed to identify and reward the sports information departments and programs that exemplified excellent media relations. Strelow was also named a Division I Wrestling SID of the Year finalist for the 2022-23 season.

Prior to joining App State's strategic communications staff, Strelow worked in sports media as a newspaper writer and reporter for 20 years, including his final one as the Boone-based App State beat writer for the Winston-Salem Journal.

The Associated Press Sports Editors organization has also recognized him with five national writing awards since 2012, honoring him for column writing, feature writing, beat writing, explanatory writing and projects. Those awards included a first-place national honor for Strelow and co-worker Stephen Schramm for a 2015 project on historic basketball gyms in North Carolina. The N.C. Press Association has recognized Strelow with five state writing awards.

Before relocating to Boone, Strelow worked at the Salisbury Post from 2001-10 and The Fayetteville Observer from 2010-16. He wrote about college, professional and high school sports in Salisbury, covering many App State football games during its run to three consecutive FCS national championships, and wrote primarily about ACC basketball and football as a Triangle-based reporter for the Fayetteville newspaper.

He covered the Mountaineers' overtime football game at Tennessee less than two weeks after starting with the Journal, provided in-depth coverage of Miami's historic visit to Kidd Brewer Stadium and traveled to all of App State's football games, including its title-clinching trip to New Mexico State.

A native of nearby Claremont, N.C, Strelow graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001. He lives in east Boone with his wife, Beth, and their adopted cats, Big Boi and Lil' T.