Bryan Blair went to bed around midnight last Sunday.
On Monday morning, he would begin his tenure as the University of Toledo’s 14th athletic director, a job title that Blair coveted for more than a decade.
As a go-getting youth, he interned at the NCAA, telling fellow interns that he was going to be a Division I AD. The ambitious, enthusiastic Blair experienced a meteoric rise, serving in compliance and administrative roles at Rice (twice), South Carolina, and Washington State in a seven-year span.
In Pullman, Wash., Blair found a mentor in Washington State athletic director Pat Chun who allowed him to tackle important duties as deputy AD and chief operating officer.