{"id":97628,"date":"2026-03-12T14:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/?p=97628"},"modified":"2026-03-13T08:57:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:57:59","slug":"utoledo-president-recognizes-athletic-director-for-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/03_12_2026\/utoledo-president-recognizes-athletic-director-for-leadership","title":{"rendered":"UToledo\u00a0President Recognizes\u00a0Athletic Director for Leadership\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bryan B. Blair, vice president and director of athletics at The University of Toledo since 2022, has accepted an offer to serve as Syracuse University\u2019s next athletic director.<\/p>\n

Recognizing Blair for leading a\u00a0transformational era for Rocket Athletics,\u00a0UToledo President James Holloway thanked him for his service\u00a0and positive\u00a0impact\u00a0on the campus and community.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Bryan\u2019s leadership, our student-athletes have achieved\u00a0historic competitive success, including 16 Mid-American Conference championships,\u00a0while\u00a0maintaining academic excellence with record-setting GPAs and the MAC Institutional Academic Award, in addition to\u00a0unprecedented sweeps of the Reese and Jacoby trophies,\u201d Holloway said. \u201cHe has been unwavering in his dedication to supporting\u00a0our\u00a0student athletes, our\u00a0University\u00a0community and\u00a0our\u00a0greater Toledo region\u00a0during his time as a Rocket.\u00a0We are a better university for having Bryan\u00a0on our\u00a0team,\u00a0and I wish him nothing but the best in this next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bryan

Bryan B. Blair, UToledo’s vice president and director of athletics since 2022, has accepted an offer to serve as Syracuse University\u2019s next athletic director.<\/p><\/div>\n

Holloway said UToledo will begin a national search for its next athletic director immediately and will maintain strong leadership of the athletic department during the transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cServing as the director of athletics at The University of Toledo has been one of the great honors of my professional life,\u201d Blair said. \u201cI am deeply grateful to Dr. Gregory Postel, President Holloway, our Board of Trustees, our incredible coaches and staff, our alumni and fans, and most importantly our student-athletes, whose commitment to excellence made our time in Toledo so incredible.<\/p>\n

“Toledo is a special place with passionate fans, tremendous community\u00a0support\u00a0and a bright future ahead. Jenna, Bri,\u00a0Beau\u00a0and I will be forever appreciative of how this Rocket family welcomed us with open arms. I will always be proud to be a Rocket and look forward to cheering on the continued success of this outstanding program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guided by\u00a0his\u00a0\u201cRise Together\u201d strategic plan, Blair\u00a0united the campus and community around his bold vision for the future of Rocket Athletics\u00a0to \u201ctransform lives while elevating the university and community through the power of sports.”<\/p>\n

Among\u00a0Blair\u2019s\u00a0many accomplishments, UToledo earned the Cartwright Award,\u00a0which\u00a0recognizes\u00a0the MAC\u2019s top overall athletics program,\u00a0three consecutive times.\u00a0Women\u2019s rowing was added as\u00a0the University\u2019s 17th varsity sport through a collaboration\u00a0with Toledo Metroparks\u00a0that strengthens\u00a0community ties.\u00a0He hired coaches to lead football,\u00a0women\u2019s basketball, volleyball, swimming, soccer, softball, golf\u00a0and rowing.<\/p>\n

Last year, UToledo\u00a0led the Mid-American Conference in attendance for football, volleyball, and women\u2019s basketball, and finished second in men\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

Blair\u2019s\u00a0commitment to improving the fan gameday experience included\u00a0a new student tailgate experience, having the\u00a0student-built\u00a0Rocket Motorsports\u00a0racecar\u00a0lead\u00a0the team on the\u00a0football\u00a0field,\u00a0and the introduction of a \u201cTouchdown Tank\u201d after each Rocket touchdown.\u00a0The Glass Bowl experience was expanded to a stadium concert with \u201cGlass City Live\u201d last summer,\u00a0featuring the Zac Brown Band\u00a0and drawing\u00a0nearly 18,000\u00a0fans to campus.\u00a0This past year,\u00a0Blair also\u00a0launched the\u00a0Venture Courtside Club in Savage Arena, transforming unused storage space into a premium hospitality experience.<\/p>\n

Blair led historic fundraising success. He secured more principal gifts during the past two years than in the previous 17 years combined. Annual Rocket Fund support increased by 71%, and the 1923 Society surpassed $13.6 million in pledges.\u00a0He also secured\u00a0corporate partnerships\u00a0with KeyBank and Marco\u2019s Pizza.<\/p>\n

\"Bryan

“Serving as the director of athletics at The University of Toledo has been one of the great honors of my professional life,\u201d Blair said.<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2024,\u00a0Blair\u00a0was named to the Sports Business Journal\u2019s\u00a0prestigious Forty Under 40 list, affirming his standing as one of the most influential and future-ready leaders in sports and entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder his\u00a0exceptional leadership, we have seen groundbreaking facility enhancements, innovative technology integration, and a philanthropic surge that has redefined what is possible for our institution,\u201d Holloway said.<\/p>\n

Prior to his appointment at UToledo, Blair served as Deputy AD and Chief Operating Officer at Washington State University. He also served in roles at Rice University, the University of South Carolina and the NCAA Office in Indianapolis. He earned a law degree from the University of South Carolina and a bachelor\u2019s degree from Wofford College, where he played four seasons of Division I football and was a team captain and Defensive Lineman of the Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bryan B. Blair, vice president and director of athletics at UToledo since 2022, has accepted an offer to serve as Syracuse University\u2019s next athletic director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284,"featured_media":97630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,56,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97628"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97628"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97639,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97628\/revisions\/97639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}