Bryan Blair: New Syracuse AD ??

[rocklloyd]

and we would have already had people stationed on the thruway overpasses

I’ve got Orlando covered this week.

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[Jasoncuse]

The orange smoke speaketh!

 

[M2MPrinciples]

Bryan B. the next athletic director.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I have been very consistent about having an outside coach. That said, if an previously successful AD, with no connection at all to SU, decides to go with Gerry or Hop, I think I’ll be okay with it, as long as it’s his decision.
I would hope that any condition of the AD hire is that the AD hires and fires coaches, and has input on the GM.
I think I liked Kline on reputation, but fully cleaning house is, to me, encouraging.

 

[BillSU]

Bryan B. Blair - Vice President and Director of Athletics - Staff Directory - University of Toledo Athletics

Bryan B. Blair is a nationally respected college athletics leader known for combining enterprise leadership, cutting-edge innovation, and elite program-build...

utrockets.com

Bryan B. Blair is a nationally respected college athletics leader known for combining enterprise leadership, cutting-edge innovation, and elite program-building to drive transformational outcomes. Appointed in 2022, Blair serves as Vice President and Director of Athletics at the University of Toledo, where he has led a bold and comprehensive modernization of Rocket Athletics—marked by record-breaking revenue generation, championship success, strategic brand elevation, and a deep commitment to student-athlete outcomes. In 2024, he was named to the prestigious Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 list, affirming his standing as one of the most influential and future-ready leaders in sports and entertainment.

As the 14th Director of Athletics in school history—and the youngest FBS AD in the country at the time of his hire—Blair has redefined Toledo’s trajectory. Under his leadership, Toledo has delivered one of the most dominant competitive runs in the country. The Rockets have won 13 Mid-American Conference championships—more than the previous decade combined—since his arrival and became the first FBS school in history to win outright conference titles in football, men's basketball, women's basketball, women's cross country, women's tennis and men's tennis in the same academic year. In total, Toledo secured six MAC titles in 2022–23 and five more in 2023–24, including championships in cross country, tennis, football and basketball. The program also made history by capturing the Cartwright Award as the MAC’s top overall athletics program three consecutive times and sweeping both the Reese (men’s) and Jacoby (women’s) trophies for the first time in school history in 2023–24.

Bryan Blair's File

Education:
• Law Degree, South Carolina '10
• Bachelor's Degree in History, Wofford College '07

Administrative Experience:
2022-pres. Vice President and Director of Athletics, The University of Toledo
2018-22 Deputy Athletic Director/COO, Washington State University
2014-18 Senior Associate Athletic Director, Rice University
2012-14 Assistant Director of Compliance Services, University of South Carolina
2011-12 Compliance Coordinator, Rice University
2010-11 Academic and Membership Affairs Postgraduate Intern, NCAA

College Football Playing Experience:
2003-06 Wofford College

Family:
Wife, Jenna, daughter Brielle, son Beau

 

[PAcuse]

I was just pointing out that those were the only hires (other than the just hired football coach) that I could find he has made.

Makes sense
I found this on Toldeos board

Blair's Coaching hires rated:

Women's BB- C(not much room for a downturn at this job at Toledo)
Soccer- D-
Swimming- C-
Football- no information
Softball- D
Women's Golf- too little information
Rowing- too little information
Volleyball- A

 

[kingtidge]

Looks like we gotta pay Toledo $50K to take him (plus whatever we agree to pay him). Looks like he was making $365K at Toledo:

 

[SuFTW]

From what I could find, it looks like he made two coaching hires. Softball and Women’s Soccer. Here are their records (inc. softball so far this year).

Women’s Soccer
19-34-19

Softball
69-94

Let’s hope we don’t get a curveball for basketball.

From the Toledo forum, don’t know if the grades from the poster are fair and not too concerned.

 

[LpoolNative]

Hope this wasn’t too misogynistic

 

[JarHeadJim]

The orange smoke speaketh!

 

[Jake]

It was shared within our circle that Carp bombed his interview

That doesn’t pass the smell test. I don’t buy it at all.

 

[sweetpea]

I have been very consistent about having an outside coach. That said, if an previously successful AD, with no connection at all to SU, decides to go with Gerry or Hop, I think I’ll be okay with it, as long as it’s his decision.
I would hope that any condition of the AD hire is that the AD hires and fires coaches, and has input on the GM.
I think I liked Kline on reputation, but fully cleaning house is, to me, encouraging.

If it's Hop especially, I can't believe it was Blair's decision. Anyway, Hop fits no part of Wildhack's description of the job opening.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I was just going to post this same link. Very impressive. Young guy. Must be extremely energetic. Everything that Wildhack wasn't. Can you picture him, Fran Brown and Bryan Hodgson in one room. Very impressive. Whoops, I already said that once.

And FLJ.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

If it's Hop especially, I can't believe it was Blair's decision. Anyway, Hop fits no part of Wildhack's description of the job opening.

I don’t think so, but if that was the choice by someone not swayed by emotion and nostalgia, I would be ok with it. Not excited, but ok.

 

[orangefog]

Hope this wasn’t too misogynistic

It sure is. She could be rude to a waiter OR a waitress.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

View attachment 260992

The missed an opportunity to call it “UT OH”

 

[kingtidge]

That doesn’t pass the smell test. I don’t buy it at all.

Yeah. we'll see.

I bet Blair wowed the interview... and mebbs being young and not making a ton of scratch at Toledo, meant we could get him at a reasonable price methinks...

 

[Newhouser]

Let's be real his track record on hiring coaches doesn't matter. He needs to hit the hoops one which I think is already done, and football when Fran gets poached or cooked.

 

[phil77]

Let's be real his track record on hiring coaches doesn't matter. He needs to hit the hoops one which I think is already done, and football when Fran gets poached or cooked.

The Hoops coach will have his name tied to it but it will not be his hire. I am pretty sure we are way past that point. He will be given the name of our coach.

 

[LpoolNative]

Let's be real his track record on hiring coaches doesn't matter. He needs to hit the hoops one which I think is already done, and football when Fran gets poached or cooked.

You think they have their guy already for basketball?

 

[Jasoncuse]

Let's be real his track record on hiring coaches doesn't matter. He needs to hit the hoops one which I think is already done, and football when Fran gets poached or cooked.

And make sure we are a part of the haves over the next 5 years

 

[Starman]

Makes sense
I found this on Toldeos board

Blair's Coaching hires rated:

Women's BB- C(not much room for a downturn at this job at Toledo)
Soccer- D-
Swimming- C-
Football- no information
Softball- D
Women's Golf- too little information
Rowing- too little information
Volleyball- A

Lyke must haaaaaaaate him, with all of the poor attention to non revenue sports

 

[baggerbob]

Looks like we gotta pay Toledo $50K to take him (plus whatever we agree to pay him). Looks like he was making $365K at Toledo:

50,000 is peanuts to get a young up and coming AD, who can raise money along with Fran and whomever the basketball coach is.
We need to establish a new reputation as a school on the rise, not a school who is lost in the past. That's where we have been since about 2005.

 

[RedtheGOB]

That’s why getting younger is so key. People are concerned about experience and it’s important but the landscape is so drastically different that 20 years on the job isn’t all that

Exactly. Try explaining to a 70 year old what college sports looks like now. If you were only half paying attention you would have no clue.

-Players being paid 10 mil a year, will likely be 15 mil soon.
-Drafted pro G League players coming back to college
-30 year old Euro kids coming over to hoop
-Kids suing the NCAA and winning with local judges that are also big donors to the local schools suing
-Tournaments that are practically doubling in size

A 70 year old grew up playing basketball with no 3 point line, no shot clock and a 16 team NCAAT ha.