Bryan Blair wants to be the absolute best AD in the industry and after this conversation you will probably agree that one day he will be described as one of the best. Blair is the Deputy AD/COO at Washington State and he joined the Higher Ed Athletics podcast to share his preparation to the role and how he has been building his career through educating himself and establishing authentic industry relationships. Blair offers incredible advice on how to be a spouse and parent in this demanding industry. He explains how the skills developed from both law school and compliance are still useful regularly in his senior-level administrator position. Blair’s approach to choosing which books to read and how to extract industry knowledge out of them is something that has helped me in my career, too, and we both share some of our favorites. Blair shares his thoughts on what COVID may change about how we lead athletic departments in the future and ends the conversation by sharing what hypothetical case study he would create for future ADs. This is one of those interviews where several times I forgot we were recording a podcast instead of just a talk.

• 0:18 Integrating Family Life Into Demanding Positions
• 5:55 Using Law School & Compliance in Athletics Administration
• 12:47 Why Reading Books is Important to Your Development
• 20:58 Building Authentic Industry Relationships Pursuing Career Goals
• 32:15 Sport/Unit Administrator Oversight Ins and Outs
• 39:08 Industry Reflections & Changes Post-COVID
• 46:20 Creating a Case Study for Future Athletic Directors