University of Toledo Vice President and Director of Athletics Bryan B. Blair was named to the Sports Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” Class of 2024, it was announced Monday.
Since his arrival at The University of Toledo, Blair has helped position Toledo Athletics as one of the premier Group of Five athletic programs in the country. In the last two years, Toledo leads the nation amongst all FBS institutions in combined conference wins for Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball. In addition, Toledo has won nine Mid-American Conference Championships, earned the MAC’s Cartwright Award as the top overall program in the league and set numerous academic and fan attendance records.
Blair
Additionally, Blair has been the catalyst behind creative initiatives that have helped elevate Toledo into the national spotlight.
“I’m honored to be recognized amongst such an amazing group of sports executives, particularly given the impact that past winners of this honor have had on shaping the sports industry,” Blair said. “This award is a celebration of the countless mentors, colleagues and teammates who have provided me guidance, support,and motivation throughout my career. I humbly accept this recognition on behalf of The University of Toledo and our outstanding coaches, staff, student-athletes and supporters whom I serve. Thank you to the Sports Business Journal along with Dr. Gregory Postel, Pat Chun, Joe Karlgaard and countless others for their assistance in making my dream a reality.
“Lastly, thank you to my family. My parents have always been supportive role models who pushed me to go farther than I could have imagined. My wife, Jenna, my best friend, has partnered with me to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics, while raising our two children, Brielle and William Beau. I am truly blessed.”
The SBJ Forty Under 40 Award was first established in 1999 to honor the most successful and promising executives in the sports business under the age of 40. Honorees are chosen amongst hundreds of nominees and include league commissioners; team presidents and senior executives; top media executives; brand-side marketers and the heads of the industry’s top agencies. Blair is only the second MAC athletics director to ever receive the award and the first in over 16 years.
A profile of Blair will be featured in the June 17 issue of the Sports Business Journal. He also will be honored at the SBJ’s annual awards ceremony on Friday, Nov. 22, at Pier Sixty in New York City.
Blair’s initiatives at Toledo include the creation and implementation of “Rise Together,” a strategic plan that outlines a roadmap for success focused on student-athlete well-being and success, community engagement and facility enhancements; establishing the 1923 Society, a philanthropic initiative designed to generate new revenues to support Rocket student-athletes; a partnership with RealResponse, a communication platform that provides Rocket student-athletes the opportunity to communicate with the administration in real-time and respond to surveys regarding the student-athlete experience; and initiating the #TeamToledo campaign to increase collaboration between the Athletic Department and the greater Toledo community.
Under Blair’s leadership, Toledo’s student-athletes have had unprecedented success on and off the field of competition.
In the 2022-23 school year, Toledo won a school-record six MAC Championships in football, women’s cross country, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, men’s tennis and women’s tennis, becoming the first school in the history of major college sports to win league titles in these six sports. The Rockets also led the league in attendance for Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball.
So far in the 2023-24 school year, Toledo has won MAC titles in women’s cross country, women’s basketball and men’s basketball, and won the MAC West Division crown in football.
The Rockets overhauled the fan experience for Toledo Football, re-imagining the student tailgate experience and overhauling the fan experience highlighted by the nationally acclaimed “Touchdown Tank.” While Toledo Football once again led the league in attendance, men’s and women’s basketball achieved sold-out crowds in the same season for the first time in Toledo history.
The Rockets also have excelled in the classroom under Blair, with Toledo student-athletes earning a new school record 3.423 GPA in the fall of 2023. Because of this success, last year, in addition to winning the Mid-American Conference’s Cartwright Award for excellence in academics, athletics and citizenship, UT was awarded the Reese Trophy as the top men’s athletic program in the MAC.
In October 2023, Blair was selected for the Toledo “20 Under 40” list, and in August 2022, was named by The Athletic as one of College Sports 40 Under 40.
Blair was named Vice President and Director of Athletics at Toledo on May 1, 2022, becoming the first African-American to hold the post. At age 37, he was the youngest AD in the NCAA-FBS. He joined the Rockets after serving as the deputy athletic director/chief operating officer at Washington State University. He also held administrative positions at Rice University, the University of South Carolina and the NCAA.
Blair holds a law degree from South Carolina and earned his undergraduate degree in history at Wofford College. He played four seasons for the Wofford football team from 2003-06, where he was a team captain as a senior and was named the team’s Defensive Lineman of the Year. Blair and his wife, Jenna, have two children, Brielle (5) and Beau (3). His hobbies include powerlifting, spending time outdoors, fishing with his kids, driving his Corvette and creating barbeque masterpieces on his custom-made smoker.
