Blair Named One of Nation's Best Athletic Directors
6/2/2026 9:15:00 AM | General
New Syracuse University Director of Athletics Bryan B. Blair was honored by Silver Waves Media as one of the top Athletic Directors in America.
It's the latest honor for new members of Syracuse's athletics administration, as new Deputy Athletic Directors Yulander Wells Jr. and Nicole Harris were previously on Silver Waves' Top-100 list for rising and future athletic directors this spring.
Blair, who was introduced in March and recently transitioned to Syracuse, is widely regarded as one of the most creative and accomplished leaders in Athletics: a builder of championship programs, a generator of innovative revenue strategies and a genuine believer in the power of higher education. Â
He comes to Syracuse having previously served as the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Toledo since 2022 and also has stops at Washington State, Rice, South Carolina and the NCAA.
Blair led a bold and comprehensive modernization of Rocket Athletics in his time at Toledo, marked by record-breaking revenue generation, championship success, strategic brand elevation, and a deep commitment to student-athlete outcomes.
He was previously named to the Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 list as one of the most influential and future-ready leaders in sports and entertainment.
The youngest FBS AD in the nation at the time of his hire, Blair's tenure at Toledo coincided with one of the nation's most dominant competitive runs. The Rockets won 16 Mid-American Conference championships – more than the previous decade combined – since his arrival, and captured the MAC Cartwright Award, based on the criteria of excellence in athletics, academics and citizenship, 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.
Academically, Toledo student-athletes set record marks in his tenure, maintaining a cumulative GPA above 3.3 for seven straight semesters. The Rockets earned the MAC Institutional Academic Award in 2023 with a 3.437 GPA and broke the school's GPA record three times since Blair's arrival, including a record 3.481 in the Fall of 2025 with every team above 3.2.
Blair hit the ground running at Syracuse, bringing Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara back to his alma mater to lead a new era of 'Cuse basketball. Blair takes over an athletic department that features a football program one-year removed from a top-20 national finish and 10-win season, a women's basketball program that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2026, men's lacrosse coming off its second-straight final four appearance and other recent successes including fourth-place NCAA Championship finish in men's cross country, two top-10 rowing programs and women's lacrosse, field hockey, men's soccer and track and field coming off NCAA postseason appearances.
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It's the latest honor for new members of Syracuse's athletics administration, as new Deputy Athletic Directors Yulander Wells Jr. and Nicole Harris were previously on Silver Waves' Top-100 list for rising and future athletic directors this spring.
Blair, who was introduced in March and recently transitioned to Syracuse, is widely regarded as one of the most creative and accomplished leaders in Athletics: a builder of championship programs, a generator of innovative revenue strategies and a genuine believer in the power of higher education. Â
He comes to Syracuse having previously served as the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Toledo since 2022 and also has stops at Washington State, Rice, South Carolina and the NCAA.
Blair led a bold and comprehensive modernization of Rocket Athletics in his time at Toledo, marked by record-breaking revenue generation, championship success, strategic brand elevation, and a deep commitment to student-athlete outcomes.
He was previously named to the Sports Business Journal's prestigious Forty Under 40 list as one of the most influential and future-ready leaders in sports and entertainment.
The youngest FBS AD in the nation at the time of his hire, Blair's tenure at Toledo coincided with one of the nation's most dominant competitive runs. The Rockets won 16 Mid-American Conference championships – more than the previous decade combined – since his arrival, and captured the MAC Cartwright Award, based on the criteria of excellence in athletics, academics and citizenship, 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.
Academically, Toledo student-athletes set record marks in his tenure, maintaining a cumulative GPA above 3.3 for seven straight semesters. The Rockets earned the MAC Institutional Academic Award in 2023 with a 3.437 GPA and broke the school's GPA record three times since Blair's arrival, including a record 3.481 in the Fall of 2025 with every team above 3.2.
Blair hit the ground running at Syracuse, bringing Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara back to his alma mater to lead a new era of 'Cuse basketball. Blair takes over an athletic department that features a football program one-year removed from a top-20 national finish and 10-win season, a women's basketball program that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2026, men's lacrosse coming off its second-straight final four appearance and other recent successes including fourth-place NCAA Championship finish in men's cross country, two top-10 rowing programs and women's lacrosse, field hockey, men's soccer and track and field coming off NCAA postseason appearances.
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