SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Syracuse University hired Bryan Blair as its athletic director on Thursday, at a time the ACC school is searching to regain relevance and with its once-proud men’s basketball program in transition.
The 40-year-old Blair takes over after spending the past four years holding the same job at Toledo, where in 2022 he was nation’s youngest AD. And Syracuse is counting on Blair’s youth and familiarity with the NCAA’s changing revenue landscape to guide Orange athletics into the future.
“Bryan Blair is the athletics leader for this moment and for the future of Syracuse University,” Syracuse chancellor-elect Michael Haynie said in a release. “He is a fierce competitor who knows how to build winning programs, a visionary who approaches the business of college athletics with genuine creativity and ingenuity.”
Blair replaces John Wildhack, who had previously announced he is retiring in July following a 10-year tenure.
One of Wildhack’s final decisions was firing men’s basketball coach Adrian Autry on Wednesday. Autry was fired after three largely unsuccessful seasons in which he struggled in replacing Jim Boeheim.
The Orange endured consecutive seasons with losing records for the first time since 1968-69. And they’ve now gone five seasons without earning an NCAA Tournament berth for a program that was once a March Madness fixture, with Syracuse winning the title in 2003.
Syracuse’s football team also took a step back with a 3-9 finish in coach Fran Brown’s second season, and a year after going 10-3.
At Toledo, Blair oversaw an athletic department that combined for 16 Mid-American Conference titles in four years — more than the Rockets won over their previous decade. They included a football championship and two bowl victories.
On the business side, fundraising at Toledo increased by 282% under Blair. And he was credited for establishing what was described as “a sophisticated NIL ecosystem” by securing national partnerships with Powerade and an auto-lease arrangement for women’s basketball.
“The opportunity to lead Orange athletics at this moment is incredibly exciting because the potential ahead is extraordinary,” Blair said. “The best days of Syracuse athletics are ahead of us.”
Blair previously served as deputy AD and COO at Washington State, and also had stops at Rice and South Carolina, where he worked closely with women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley. He attended law school at South Carolina, and has a degree in history from Wofford College, where he played football.
___
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports