Call it the first hire of the rest of his career.
Or the third time’s the charm.
No matter, here’s betting University of Toledo president Gregory Postel nailed it with the appointment of Bryan Blair as the school’s new athletic director.
Count us impressed.
Like any university leader, Postel knows there are no guarantees.
In his previous post at Louisville — where he served as interim president in 2017 and 2018 — he made two high-profile athletics hires, both of whom he introduced in platitude and pomp-filled ceremonies very much like the one on Thursday at Savage Arena to welcome Blair.
Neither lasted four years; Athletic director Vince Tyra resigned, and men’s basketball coach Chris Mack was fired.
But history need not be a guide.
This is a different time, a different place, and, if you were to think up the ideal candidate to build on the work of outgoing Toledo athletic director Mike O’Brien — and smooth over any relations damaged by his ouster — they would look something like Blair, the magnetic 37-year-old top deputy at Washington State.
“He has the experience, he has the attitude, and he has the work ethic,” Postel said. “I think he’ll do very well.”
I think so, too.
Blair might be the youngest athletic director at a school with a Division I FBS football program, but, already, he’s amassed a full resume — including a law degree and stops at NCAA headquarters, Washington State, Rice, and South Carolina — and more rave reviews than the new Spider-Man movie.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith called him “outstanding.” Washington State AD Pat Chun declared him a “five-star recruit.” The coaches who have worked with him gushed.
“I know the women's basketball staff at South Carolina really well, and I know the women’s coach at Washington, Tina Langley, who used to be an assistant here under Mark Ehlen,” Toledo women’s basketball coach Tricia Cullop said. “And I got calls from all of them, saying he’s so genuine, he’s so thoughtful and caring, he’s a tremendous leader, and you’ll love him.”
When she met him, she did.
Same with the search firm Collegiate Sports Associates, which narrowed the field of applicants to 30. And the Toledo search committee, which then sliced it to three finalists. And, ultimately, Postel. All saw a man full of charisma and big ideas, but also humility and an appreciation that he’ll only be as good as the team around him.
Blair shared a story from the summer before his freshman year of college at Wofford in South Carolina, where he played nose tackle. On one of the first days of conditioning, he was laboring through a timed drill known as the beep test.
“About halfway through, I was gassed,” he said. “I was rethinking life and maybe this college football thing isn’t for me. I had a teammate, Jonathan Wheeler, come up and run beside me, and say, ‘Hey, you got this. Let’s go. Let’s keep pushing.’ I finished that test and eventually became a captain and a starter. Jonathan Wheeler saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. He saw an ability for me to step up in a way I didn’t know I could and he pushed me further than I thought I could go to achieve something greater.
“That's what I want to do for this athletic department. I want to run beside by my teammates and push us to be more than we think is possible. I want to get the absolute most out of our athletic department, this university, and this city pulling in one direction to make the unimaginable possible.”
And what is the unimaginable?
We’ll let him get his dress shoes wet before holding him to anything (although, for the record, he blew Postel and the search committee away with a point-by-point plan of exactly how he planned to approach his first 90 days in office. “Everyone was very prepared to interview,” search committee chair Doug Huffner said. “Bryan was more prepared”).
For now, he said, simply, he wants Toledo to be the top Group of Five athletic department in the nation.
Hey, no point in setting your sights low.
“The more I learned about Toledo, I said, ‘Holy cow, this is a way better job than most people realize,’” Blair said. “It’s a situation where a lot of people call it a sleeping giant. I’ll get my hands in and find out more, there’s just a lot of opportunity here that really excited me. And the cherry on top was to be close to family. [His wife, Jenna, is from Dayton]. It felt like I found the perfect fit.”
Toledo feels the same way.
First Published February 25, 2022, 1:48 a.m.
