4 things to know about Bryan Blair, Syracuse’s reported AD target
Bryan Blair is a proven winner and has held many roles in the college sports landscape since graduating from South Carolina in 2010. Maxine Brackbill | Daily Orange File Photo
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
There’s soon to be a new sheriff in town. Reports surfaced Wednesday afternoon that Syracuse University is zeroing in on hiring Toledo Athletic Director Bryan Blair as its next director of athletics. He will reportedly succeed current AD John Wildhack, who announced in February he will step down from his role on July 1.
Blair, 40, beat out a few other candidates for SU’s vacancy, including Nick Carparelli — executive director of Coca-Cola Bowl Season — and Heather Lyke, a special advisor to SU’s chancellor and director of athletics.
With Blair’s introductory press conference yet to be determined, here are four things to know about his background before he starts running Syracuse Athletics:
1. He’s a proven winner
Since Blair was hired by Toledo in 2022, the Rockets have won 13 Mid-American Conference championships across all Division I sports — the greatest run in school history.
That includes conference titles in football, men’s basketball, tennis and cross country under Blair’s watch.
When it comes to Toledo’s top-two revenue sports, football and men’s basketball, the Rockets have stood out as one of the most consistent schools in the MAC. They won men’s basketball regular season titles in 2023 and 2024 right after Blair arrived, and also won the 2022 MAC football conference championship in his debut year.
Toledo football amassed a 36-18 record with Blair leading the athletic department, while its men’s basketball team has gone 82-49. Toledo football also leads the MAC with 17 current NFL players.
2. He revolutionized Toledo’s NIL space
Name, image and likeness isn’t typically kind to mid-major universities. But Blair ensured the Rockets wouldn’t fall far behind Power Conference schools in college athletics’ modern era.
Under Blair, Toledo became the first school in the MAC to have an NIL collective agency. The Rockets also employ a full-time NIL Strategy Executive, a rarity among mid-majors.
Many Syracuse fans are searching for a leader who will drastically improve SU’s NIL fundraising and spending. Since 2022, Blair helped increase the amount of financial gifts Toledo received from donors by 282%.
Now, he’s going to fundraise at a Power Four school.
3. He’s young but experienced
The 40-year-old Blair brings youthful energy to SU’s Athletic Department. He’ll be a change of pace from Wildhack, 67, but in more ways than just age.
Whereas Wildhack’s background was as an ESPN executive, Blair has significant experience working inside athletic departments. Before he became Toledo’s AD, he was Washington State’s deputy athletic director from 2018-22. There, he also served as the chief operating officer.
From 2011-14, Blair bounced around at Rice and South Carolina, working in each school’s compliance office. Then, from 2014-18, he was Rice’s senior associate athletic director.
He even worked for the NCAA out of college as a postgraduate intern in membership affairs. He earned a law degree from South Carolina after graduating in 2010, helping kickstart a well-rounded career thus far.
4. He’s an entirely outside hire
SU’s top two other confirmed candidates, Carparelli and Lyke, have connections to the city and the university. Blair, though, provides an entirely new perspective.
With him, Syracuse went the route of an outside hire — quite possibly a necessary decision given the hectic modern landscape of college sports where innovation is required.
The only immediate connection Blair has to the Orange is newly-hired SU football defensive coordinator Vince Kehres, who held the same role at Toledo from 2020-25. Other than that, Blair’s a completely fresh face.
Carparelli worked within Syracuse’s football program decades ago under former head coach Paul Pasqualoni. He was a graduate assistant in 1992 and 1993, then earned his MBA from SU in 1994.
As for Lyke, she was hired this past July for a high-ranking advisor role, working closely with Wildhack and Chancellor Kent Syverud. Lyke was also the Pitt AD from 2017-24. The Daily Orange previously reported on an alleged HR complaint filed against Lyke on Dec. 1, 2025, while employed by SU.
Blair will be tasked with building an athletic department that can succeed in the modern era. And changes could be coming.
