Orange Report: Off the Top of the Dome
7/1/2026 1:59:00 PM | General
Hello Orange Nation!
Welcome to what will become a regular communication – the Orange Report: Off the Top of the Dome! Each message will include information and highlights regarding Syracuse Athletics. I hope you get a better understanding of all that's on my mind and feel more informed about all the amazing things our coaches, staff and student-athletes are doing to make Orange Nation proud! (Please forgive the length of this initial message – I promise the others will be shorter!)
While I was formally announced on March 12 and have certainly been hard at work, this month (July 1) completes the official transition between John Wildhack and myself, as he enters a well-deserved retirement. John is an A+ human being who bleeds orange as an alum, donor, parent and leader. He brings a unique perspective and expertise that has served Syracuse and the ACC well. Most importantly to me, he has aided every step of my transition with transparency, humility and a servant's heart. I wish John, his wife Amy and their family nothing but the best as they embark on a new chapter. I am confident we'll see a lot of him and his family in the stands during various games, matches and competitions in the years ahead.
First 90 Days: Listen – Learn – Lead
Many of you have asked, "what have you been up to since March?" Aside from trying to close out my chapter in Toledo, learning all I can about just what makes Syracuse, the Orange and New York special, hire a new Head Men's Basketball Coach, buy a home in New York, and transition my family, not much.
In all seriousness, the past few months have been the ride of a lifetime. The passion and love of the Orange knows no limits and my focus has been on listening, learning and then leading. From our first athletics department all-staff to University Board of Trustee meetings, from presentations to community business leaders to one-on-one meetings with our head coaches, faculty, campus leaders, Deans and staff, the last few months have been a wonderful whirlwind. I will continue to progress through my 90-day plan, looking to learn as much as possible about our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and refine our shared vision for the bright days ahead.
Vision
I am still listening and learning so it is too early to share with you my fully-developed vision. However, Syracuse is one of the most unique Universities and departments in the world. The attributes speak for themselves:
My vision is based on four key pillars that support the aspirational nature of Syracuse Athletics to be a leader in this modern era of intercollegiate athletics.
The recipe for success moving forward is relatively simple when you have the right people, the right culture, the right strategy and add additional resources to the mix. That is why I'm so excited to be able to recruit several incredible teammates to our senior leadership team. Nicole Harris, Charles Small and Yulander Wells are talented and experienced and will have an immediate impact on our efforts to take Syracuse Athletics to new heights. Championship programs are built with elite people, and Nicole, Charles and Yulander bring experience across the ACC, B1G, Big 12 and SEC, as well as Notre Dame. With the right people in place, the coming months will see us collectively engage a broad group of key stakeholders, both internally and externally, to create a strategic plan, business plan and facility master plan. Each of these efforts will be interdependent and critical as we map out the future of Syracuse Athletics.
NIL: One Orange Alliance
It wouldn't be an AD update without touching on the topic of NIL. In May, we proudly announced our partnership with One Orange Alliance (OOA). We are incredibly grateful for Colby Clark and our teammates at OOA. College athletics is more fluid than ever before and having a supportive third party that can help find and facilitate NIL opportunities for our young people is more valuable than ever before. Gone are the days of collectives, as "above the cap" NIL opportunities that match value and valid business purposes require increased corporate support and partnership. We are quietly but quickly building out a number of different verticals including content generation, business network memberships and more. While the rules continue to evolve, we will continue to build models that allow us to diversify our efforts and we will never be caught flat-footed when the opportunity to attack the chaos arises. While some of our efforts will be most targeted to the business community, several initiatives will involve our individual fans, alumni and supporters, providing each of you various options on how you want to best support your favorite student-athlete, program or initiative.
Bragging Rights
I'd like to recognize these fantastic accomplishments from our department over the past few months:
I'm incredibly proud to serve as your 12th Director of Athletics. Leading a storied department like the Syracuse Orange is not for the faint of heart. The future of Syracuse Athletics will not be built by any one student-athlete, coach, administrator, donor or fan. It will be built by all of us, together. Pressure is a privilege and knowing the entirety of Orange Nation is locking arms to attack the future gives us all the confidence in the world. With your continued and elevated support, I'm confident we will build something special.
I'd like to conclude with one of my favorite quotes:
"To achieve all this is possible, we must attempt the impossible. To be all we can be, we must dream of being more." – John C. Maxwell
Watching the Knicks and NYC celebrate over the last few weeks was awe inspiring. I couldn't help but think what the celebration will be like when New York's only Power Four team excels at that level. What buildings can we light up across the state? What parade routes can we form? What iconic moments can we frame?
The ceiling of Syracuse Athletics is limitless, but only if we dream of reaching heights previously thought to be impossible. I'm excited to be on this journey and to accomplish the "impossible", together!
Â
Go Orange!
Bryan
Â
P.S. - If you're excited about where we're headed, I'd encourage you to take the next step and become an even bigger part of Orange Nation.
Welcome to what will become a regular communication – the Orange Report: Off the Top of the Dome! Each message will include information and highlights regarding Syracuse Athletics. I hope you get a better understanding of all that's on my mind and feel more informed about all the amazing things our coaches, staff and student-athletes are doing to make Orange Nation proud! (Please forgive the length of this initial message – I promise the others will be shorter!)
While I was formally announced on March 12 and have certainly been hard at work, this month (July 1) completes the official transition between John Wildhack and myself, as he enters a well-deserved retirement. John is an A+ human being who bleeds orange as an alum, donor, parent and leader. He brings a unique perspective and expertise that has served Syracuse and the ACC well. Most importantly to me, he has aided every step of my transition with transparency, humility and a servant's heart. I wish John, his wife Amy and their family nothing but the best as they embark on a new chapter. I am confident we'll see a lot of him and his family in the stands during various games, matches and competitions in the years ahead.
First 90 Days: Listen – Learn – Lead
Many of you have asked, "what have you been up to since March?" Aside from trying to close out my chapter in Toledo, learning all I can about just what makes Syracuse, the Orange and New York special, hire a new Head Men's Basketball Coach, buy a home in New York, and transition my family, not much.
In all seriousness, the past few months have been the ride of a lifetime. The passion and love of the Orange knows no limits and my focus has been on listening, learning and then leading. From our first athletics department all-staff to University Board of Trustee meetings, from presentations to community business leaders to one-on-one meetings with our head coaches, faculty, campus leaders, Deans and staff, the last few months have been a wonderful whirlwind. I will continue to progress through my 90-day plan, looking to learn as much as possible about our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and refine our shared vision for the bright days ahead.
Vision
I am still listening and learning so it is too early to share with you my fully-developed vision. However, Syracuse is one of the most unique Universities and departments in the world. The attributes speak for themselves:
- Academically rigorous, private school with the ability to be nimble and flexible in a fluid landscape
- An elite national brand that resonates across the globe
- The JMA Wireless Dome with limitless potential
- Unique academic advantages in fields adjacent to sports business
- Passionate fans, alumni, a city and a region that care deeply about this university and its teams
- The only Power Four school in the great state of New York
My vision is based on four key pillars that support the aspirational nature of Syracuse Athletics to be a leader in this modern era of intercollegiate athletics.
- Restore and maintain national competitive relevance. While we will seek to be competitive in all 20 sports, a special focus will be given to Football and Basketball as critical revenue, community engagement and brand drivers for our institution. The history of Syracuse Athletics is among the most impressive of any institution, with notable figures from Jim Brown to Jim Boeheim. With that said, there are few institutions that attempt to be great at both football and men's basketball at the highest levels, particularly in this modern landscape that emphasizes player compensation and revenue generation. Our uniqueness is an asset here and one we will leverage.
- Build a modern athletics enterprise, both in how we allocate resources across player talent and department operations, and in how we generate more revenue to support our aspirations. Plainly, we must spend more than ever before while spending more efficiently than ever before. While aspects of our enterprise will resemble more of a pro sports organization than ever before, we will keep the student-athlete experience for all 550+ of our young people at the core of our mission, while leaning into the use of data, AI, technology to be as efficient as possible.
- We must weaponize the dome. Few institutions possess a venue like the JMA Wireless Dome. It is one of the most recognizable buildings in college athletics, and we have only begun to scratch the surface of its potential. Our goal is simple: create an environment that is impossible to replicate anywhere else. We want every student, alum and fan to feel that being in the Dome is an experience worth planning their schedule around. We want the Loud House to become louder. We must create a one-of-a-kind fan experience that you can't get from the couch/TV and one that maintains its role as a cornerstone of the SU student experience. We must create an intimidating home court/field advantage that is a nightmare for every visiting team that ventures to the Loud House. I've spent the last few months watching NBA/NHL playoff atmospheres, World Cup fandom and even a Vegas show – all the while dreaming of what we can create here. There is no silver bullet to increase attendance and revenue generation. To truly weaponize the Dome, we will seek broad feedback on your experience, while studying various technology/infrastructure enhancements and develop a multi-year plan to build an experience unlike anything in college athletics.Â
- Integrate our academic advantage into an athletic competitive advantage that will become a focal point. Syracuse has some of the most ambitious, talented students on any college campus, particularly in areas such as sports management, data analytics, communications, and entrepreneurship. Just think about the amazing platform created by our newest collaboration, the Center for the Creator Economy. This unique partnership between Whitman and Newhouse creates a scalable content creation and digital entrepreneurship platform which is needed more than ever in today's demanding name, image and likeness (NIL) environment. Our SU students can be a competitive advantage that most other institutions can't replicate, while SU Athletics provides unmatched hands-on learning experiences as we're increasingly strategic and intentional in our efforts.
The recipe for success moving forward is relatively simple when you have the right people, the right culture, the right strategy and add additional resources to the mix. That is why I'm so excited to be able to recruit several incredible teammates to our senior leadership team. Nicole Harris, Charles Small and Yulander Wells are talented and experienced and will have an immediate impact on our efforts to take Syracuse Athletics to new heights. Championship programs are built with elite people, and Nicole, Charles and Yulander bring experience across the ACC, B1G, Big 12 and SEC, as well as Notre Dame. With the right people in place, the coming months will see us collectively engage a broad group of key stakeholders, both internally and externally, to create a strategic plan, business plan and facility master plan. Each of these efforts will be interdependent and critical as we map out the future of Syracuse Athletics.
NIL: One Orange Alliance
It wouldn't be an AD update without touching on the topic of NIL. In May, we proudly announced our partnership with One Orange Alliance (OOA). We are incredibly grateful for Colby Clark and our teammates at OOA. College athletics is more fluid than ever before and having a supportive third party that can help find and facilitate NIL opportunities for our young people is more valuable than ever before. Gone are the days of collectives, as "above the cap" NIL opportunities that match value and valid business purposes require increased corporate support and partnership. We are quietly but quickly building out a number of different verticals including content generation, business network memberships and more. While the rules continue to evolve, we will continue to build models that allow us to diversify our efforts and we will never be caught flat-footed when the opportunity to attack the chaos arises. While some of our efforts will be most targeted to the business community, several initiatives will involve our individual fans, alumni and supporters, providing each of you various options on how you want to best support your favorite student-athlete, program or initiative.
Bragging Rights
I'd like to recognize these fantastic accomplishments from our department over the past few months:
- Our student-athletes wrapped up another phenomenal semester in the classroom showing the holistic student-athlete opportunities this institution provides. Over 74% of our student-athletes earned above a 3.0 GPA and 43 had perfect 4.0 GPAs this spring.
- Our men's lacrosse team earned its second-straight trip to Championship Weekend, returning the program back to the sport's ultimate stage. Additionally, attackman Joey Spallina concluded his career by breaking the program's all-time points record, previously held by Orange legend Mike Powell.
- Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Regy Thorpe had an outstanding first year leading our program, as the team spent the majority of the year inside the top-10 nationally and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Both lacrosse teams led the country in attendance this season by a wide margin. I had the opportunity to attend some of our games down the stretch and I was encouraged by the excitement and pride of Orange Nation. I know our coaches and student-athletes are thankful for the support you showed them and the home field advantage you created.
- Women's rowing had their best finish at the NCAA Championships in program history, taking ninth. Our program has now finished inside the top-15 nationally in five of the last-six seasons.
- Men's rowing also placed ninth at the IRA National Championships, highlighted by a historic fourth-place result from the second varsity eight and top-10 finishes from all four Orange boats.
- Our track and field team saw 14 members of the team qualify for NCAA competition and three runners – Benne Anderson, Jamir Brown and Elijah Mallard – advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon. Brown also won the ACC title in the 110-meter hurdles.
I'm incredibly proud to serve as your 12th Director of Athletics. Leading a storied department like the Syracuse Orange is not for the faint of heart. The future of Syracuse Athletics will not be built by any one student-athlete, coach, administrator, donor or fan. It will be built by all of us, together. Pressure is a privilege and knowing the entirety of Orange Nation is locking arms to attack the future gives us all the confidence in the world. With your continued and elevated support, I'm confident we will build something special.
I'd like to conclude with one of my favorite quotes:
"To achieve all this is possible, we must attempt the impossible. To be all we can be, we must dream of being more." – John C. Maxwell
Watching the Knicks and NYC celebrate over the last few weeks was awe inspiring. I couldn't help but think what the celebration will be like when New York's only Power Four team excels at that level. What buildings can we light up across the state? What parade routes can we form? What iconic moments can we frame?
The ceiling of Syracuse Athletics is limitless, but only if we dream of reaching heights previously thought to be impossible. I'm excited to be on this journey and to accomplish the "impossible", together!
Â
Go Orange!
Bryan
Â
P.S. - If you're excited about where we're headed, I'd encourage you to take the next step and become an even bigger part of Orange Nation.
- Stay Connected – Subscribe to receive Syracuse Athletics news and future editions of the Orange Report.
- Show Up – Purchase your football or basketball season tickets—or join us for a game this year—and help make the Loud House louder than ever.
- Invest – Support the student-athletes, teams or initiatives that mean the most to you through a gift to Syracuse Athletics or One Orange Alliance
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