Bryan Blair could be the antidote to Syracuse's struggles

Syracuse tabbed its next athletic director to replace the outgoing John Wildhack in a surprising move on Wednesday.

Jan 18, 2014; Syracuse, NY, USA; General view of the Syracuse Orange logo prior to the game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind for Syracuse men’s basketball.

Adrian Autry was officially fired on Wednesday morning after weeks of speculation that he would be relieved of his duties as the Orange struggled through another season.

That was the expected news. Then, ESPN's Pete Thamel threw a wrench into the Syracuse news cycle by reporting Toledo athletic director Bryan Blair was expected to be confirmed at the same position at Syracuse on Thursday.

This came after weeks of speculation that Nick Carapelli was set to take the job. If Blair was the plan all along, SU did an excellent job keeping it under wraps.

Blair's credentials are impressive

Blair heads to Syracuse after four years as the athletic director at Toledo. He is widely considered an excellent fundraiser, which is something the Orange desperately needs right now. He was named to the Sports Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in 2024.

With the Orange generally struggling to compete in terms of NIL, Blair is a logical hire. According to his Toledo bio, new major and planned gifts have increased by 282%. Additionally, the 1923 Society, the MAC’s first NIL collective, has surpassed $11.5 million in pledges, with over half of the donors making their first major gift. He was tapping into new donors and building the infrastructure necessary for the Rockets to compete at the top of their conference.

That financial success played out on the field as well. He leaves Toledo after an impressive stretch. The football team went 36-18 in his tenure, including a conference title and two bowl wins. He will be familiar with Syracuse’s new defensive coordinator, Vince Kehres, who spent the previous five seasons at Toledo in the same role. 

How did teams at Toledo do outside football?

The men’s basketball program has had mixed results, posting fewer wins in each of the past three seasons than the year prior. Blair took over in the midst of four straight regular-season conference titles, but Toledo never got over the hump to win the conference tournament and reach the Big Dance. In Blair’s defense, the Rockets have not been to the NCAA tournament since 1980.

The women’s hoops team took a step back this season after a really impressive four-year run. The Rockets won three straight regular-season conference titles and won the MAC tournament to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament in 2023. 

In non-revenue sports, the women’s cross-country team has claimed five consecutive conference championships. The men’s team joined the women with back-to-back conference titles over the past two years. They’ve had three straight individual MAC titles as well. Toledo also claimed MAC titles in men’s and women’s tennis, plus the volleyball team won the MAC tournament during Blair’s four-year run as AD.

This could be a home-run hire for Syracuse

While the MAC is not on par with the ACC, Blair has the exact resume that Syracuse fans can be excited about in their new athletic director. If there is one knock on Blair’s experience, it’s that we don’t have a great sense of his ability to hire coaches. He brought in Mike Jacobs as the new football coach when Jason Candle took the job at UConn, but we haven’t seen Jacobs actually coach a game at Toledo yet to judge the hire.

He did bring in Ginny Boggess as the women’s basketball coach in 2024 after Tricia Cullop left for the Miami job. Boggess had a solid first season, but as I mentioned before, the team took a step back this season, going 15-14 overall and 9-9 in conference play. It comes on the heels of four straight seasons with at least 24 wins for the women’s program.

All told, this has the potential to be a home run hire for the Orange. Blair has the expertise necessary to overhaul the department from a financial standpoint, increasing spending and revenue, both areas in which Syracuse lags behind the majority of its ACC foes. He will be tested early with the men’s basketball coaching hire. Ultimately, Blair’s success will be judged in large part by his ability to revive a once-great hoops program. If he can manage that, he will go down as a legend.

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