About me
Since his arrival as vice president and director of athletics at The University of Toledo, Bryan B. Blair has begun a process of engaging the University and the Toledo community with the goal of positioning the Rockets as one of the premier Group of Five programs in the country.
Blair, who became the 14th athletic director in the history of the University of Toledo, is the first AfricanAmerican to hold the post. When he arrived at Toledo in May of 2022, he was just 37 years old, the youngest FBS athletic director in the nation at the time. He joined the Rockets after serving as the deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at Washington State University from 2018-22.
Among the initiatives that have begun under Blair’s leadership is the founding of the 1923 Society, a philanthropic initiative designed for the purpose of generating new revenues to support Rocket studentathletes in their academic, athletic and personal pursuits. Blair also created “Dining With the Deans,” an ongoing series of dinners that give Rocket student-athletes an opportunity to meet and share ideas with University leaders in an informal setting. The Athletic Department also entered into a partnership with RealResponse, which is providing Rocket student-athletes the opportunity to communicate with the administration in real-time, and houses regular surveys regarding the student-athlete experience.
Blair has put his mark on the Rockets with several high-profile hires, tapping former Duke assistant Jessica Bracamonte to become head coach of the softball program and longtime Ohio Northern Head Coach Mark Batman to lead the women’s soccer program. In addition, Blair hired former University of Texas Associate Athletic Director for Development Al Tomlinson to serve as deputy athletic director, and brought in Nicole Alderson, a former associate athletic director at Grand Canyon, to assume the role of executive associate athletic director and chief operating officer.
The Rockets have enjoyed unprecedented athletic and academic success in Blair’s first season on the job. Toledo won MAC Championships in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s tennis and women’s tennis, the first school in the history of the NCAA-FBS to win league titles in those six sports in a single season. The football team went on to win the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl, becoming the first Rocket team to win a MAC title and a bowl game in 21 years. Women’s Basketball defeated No. 5 seed and Big 12 champion Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Rockets first win in the NCAAs in 27 years.
Toledo was awarded the Reese Trophy as the top men’s athletic program in the Mid-American Conference for the second consecutive year, and set a school record with 166 points in the Learfield Directors’ Cup Division I standings.
Rocket fans supported their teams in droves, as Toledo led the MAC in home attendance in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, the first school in league history to achieve this feat.
In the classroom, the Rockets had the best academic year in school history, setting a record with a 3.401 grade point average in the fall semester, then topping that with 3.472 GPA in the spring.
At Washington State, Blair led a team of sport administrators responsible for day-to-day oversight of 17 varsity sports programs and oversaw several departmental units focused on student-athlete success. Among his responsibilities was managing the university’s Nike contract, serving as the chief diversity officer in athletics, and overseeing the development and execution of WSU’s athletic strategic plan. During Blair’s tenure, the Cougars excelled on and off the court, competing for NCAA championships, setting cumulative GPA records, doubling yearly fundraising to more than $30 million, and securing 50 of the top 70 largest gifts in WSU athletic history.
Prior to his term at WSU, Blair was the senior associate athletic director at Rice University from 2014-18, which was his second stint at that school. He also served at Rice for the first time as a compliance coordinator from 2011-12. While serving as senior associate AD at Rice, he served as a member of the athletics department’s senior leadership team, while overseeing sports medicine, strength and conditioning, sports nutrition, compliance, and seven of the department’s 16 NCAA Division I sports programs. In addition, Blair served as the advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and helped secure a multimillion-dollar partnership, one of the largest in Rice Athletics history.
In between his stints at Rice, Blair worked at the University of South Carolina as the assistant director of compliance services from 2012-14. He also worked at the NCAA Offices in Indianapolis as an academic and membership affairs postgraduate intern from 2010-11.
A rising star in intercollegiate athletics, Blair was selected to serve on the National Sports Forum’s Steering Committee and the Board of Directors for the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association. In 2016, Blair was chosen for the nationally acclaimed D1A Institute (now “LEAD1”). The goal of the institute is to help the participants, nominated by their universities’ athletics directors, be better prepared to move into the role of athletics director. After the Institute, Blair was recognized by LEAD1 President and CEO, Tom McMillen, as a “Future Leader of College Sports.”
Blair was selected among 25 senior-level administrators from across the country to participate in the prestigious 2017 NCAA Pathway Program. The program is designed to elevate those currently in seniorlevel positions within athletics administration to the next step in reaching their goal of becoming directors of athletics. The year-long program is an intensive, experiential learning opportunity for selected participants representing NCAA Divisions I, II and III.
Blair holds a law degree from the University of South Carolina and earned his undergraduate degree in history at Wofford College. He played four seasons as a nose tackle for the Wofford football team from 2003-06. He was a team captain as a senior in 2006 and was named the team’s Defensive Lineman of the Year.
Blair and his wife, Jenna, have two children, Brielle (5) and Beau (2).
