By Bryan B. Blair, Vice President and Director of Athletics
August 27, 2024
 

Dear Team Toledo, 

With the new school year now underway, our Rocket teams are poised for another incredible year in their sports, in the classroom and in our community. The anticipation for the upcoming season of Toledo Athletics is at an all-time high, and I hope you are as excited as I am! 

In my two-and-a-half years as your athletic director, I have been blown away by the #TeamToledo spirit that our community has shown in rallying around and supporting our Rockets. We are truly blessed to have some of the greatest fans in the country supporting an amazing group of student-athletes and coaches who make us all proud to be Rockets. 

Why all the enthusiasm? Well, it's not an exaggeration to say we are in a "Golden Era" of Toledo Athletics. Just think about what our student-athletes have accomplished in just the past two years alone:  

• 11 MAC Championships, the most ever in a two-year span in our history. 

• The most combined conference wins (76) for ANY FBS school in the country in the sports of football, men's basketball and women's basketball over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. 

• The Cartwright Award as the top overall athletics program in the Mid-American Conference in 2022 and 2023. Plus, the Reese Trophy as the best men's program in each of the past three years and the Jacoby Trophy as the best women's program in 2024. 

• Two bowl appearances and a first-round victory in the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament.  

• A first-round NFL draft pick in Quinyon Mitchell in 2024. 

• In 2022-23, we led the MAC in attendance in football, men's basketball, and women's basketball, the first and only MAC school to claim this feat. Last year, we achieved sellouts in both men's and women's basketball for the first time in Toledo history.  

• Department grade-point averages above a 3.4 in three of the past four semesters, including a record 3.472 in the spring of 2023.  

• The 2023 MAC Institutional Academic Award for the highest grade-point average in the league.

• A record 4,800 hours of community service hours in the 2023-24 school year. 

• A 101% increase in athletics fundraising over the last two years, with a 71% increase in annual Rocket Fund support over the last three years. 

 
These are just a sample of our accomplishments as the list could go on and on. But the success of our program is more than just championships and records. It's about the positive impact that Toledo Athletics has on the lives of our student-athletes, as well as the impact our program has on our community.  

 

 

A year ago, we laid out our vision for the future in our strategic plan ("Rise Together") in which we stated that the ultimate purpose of Toledo Athletics is to graduate champions who will change the world, with a mission to transform lives while elevating the University and community through the power of sports as guided by our core values of RISE: Resiliency, Integrity, Servanthood and Excellence. 

We set out to reach our goals by following these "flywheel" principles. Thanks to the efforts of everyone – student-athletes, coaches, staff, supporters, alumni, faculty, fans – we have made tremendous strides in all these areas.  

1. Recruit, retain, and develop the best teammates: We welcomed 17 new staff members in the past year, including two new head coaches, Jacy Dyer (women's swimming & diving) and Ginny Boggess (women's basketball). Six of our head coaches were named MAC Coach of the Year in their sports in 2023-24, while the football team's recruiting class was the highest rated in the history of the MAC.
2. Generate student-athlete success: The achievements of our student-athletes has been without historical precedent, as noted above. In addition, with the hiring of Dr. Eugene Henderson as our new Senior Associate Athletic Director For Student-Athlete Experience and Traci Korte as our first-ever Director of Student-Athlete Development, we have greatly enhanced our academic and personal development efforts on behalf of our student-athletes. 
3. Elevate our brand: Toledo Athletics is a well-known national brand, as our football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams were seen by millions of viewers in 40 national television appearances over the past two seasons.  In addition, more than 12 million viewers witnessed Quinyon Mitchell's selection in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. We have added resources that will improve our brand awareness, most notably our new Nancy & Jim Lapp Creative Studio, which debuted in 2024.  
4. Enhance "Team Toledo" engagement: We are a perennial attendance leader in the Mid-American Conference in football and basketball, a highly visible indicator of fan engagement. But our community engagement overall is reaching new heights, as evidenced by the record number of volunteer service hours logged by our student-athletes last year.  We have also rolled out new programs such as the Leadership Fan Council. We also recently announced the addition of women's rowing as a varsity sport, something that would not have happened without the shared vision of Toledo Athletics, our University leaders, Metroparks Toledo and the Toledo Rowing Foundation.  
5. Resources: We have increased the number of 1923 Society members, our leadership giving society, realized record support for the Rocket Fund and launched a comprehensive adjustment to our ticket pricing and giving levels for the first time in over eight seasons. We continue to provide education on Name Image and Likeness (NIL) to our student-athletes and our Collectives, in addition to partnering with Opendorse which provides incredible support to our student-athletes.
6. Invest in infrastructure: In FY2023, Toledo Athletics hosted 515 events that attracted 300,000 visitors to our athletic facilities.  In alignment with the University, we have developed a facility master plan that lays out future growth for our athletic facilities as we continue to examine opportunities and partnerships that to bring people to our beautiful campus. 

   

The key to keeping this flywheel moving is for every part of #TeamToledo to do their part. When we all work together as one, we can accomplish anything. I've been saying that for over two years now, and it's a beautiful thing to see our dreams come to fruition.  

Of course, now is not the time for us to relax and pat ourselves on the back. On the contrary, in this ever-changing era of college athletics, it is more important than ever for us to move forward with a bold vision for the future. And your support of Toledo Athletics is more important than ever.  

There are so many things you can do to help us elevate Toledo Athletics, from joining the 1923 Society, to increasing your Rocket Fund contribution, to bringing friends and family to a Rocket sporting event, to simply flying a Toledo flag in your front yard. If everyone pushes on that flywheel just a little bit harder, there is no end to what we can accomplish. 

So to start the 2024-25 season out right, we want EVERYONE to come to the "Biggest Party in Toledo," the football home opener vs. Duquesne on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 7:30 p.m. The home opener is more than just the first game of the season, it is an event for all us to come together and celebrate our #TeamToledo pride. So come out early and tailgate with your friends. The pregame fun will include live music from the Skittle Bots, a Big Screen TV in Lot 10, bounce houses and other activities at "Touchdown Town" on Paul Hotmer Field, and the debut of our new Beer Garden. This will be one party you will not want to miss!      

College athletics is evolving faster than ever. You've probably read about the transformational changes, whether it's the transfer portal, NIL, or the proposed House settlement vs. the NCAA. The House settlement proposes the distribution of a percentage of athletics revenue to student-athletes, as well as providing damages to former student-athletes going back to 2016. It also increases roster limits for most sports. The full impact of these changes are still to be determined but it will likely have a significant impact on our department moving forward. Needless to say, your support of Toledo Athletics is more important than ever.

While the future is uncertain, I believe Toledo Athletics and the coaches, staff and student-athletes within it are built to navigate this new age of college athletics. Our unparalleled resiliency, innovative mindsets, and shared commitment to excellence allow us, this university, and the greater Toledo community to rally together in new and exciting ways.

Lastly, I'd like to wish all our student-athletes another successful season, both in their sport and in the classroom. Our goal for all of our student-athletes remains the same: to win a MAC Championship and to walk across the stage in Savage Arena to receive their diploma. When those two things happen, we can all take pride in being Rockets!

This Community. This University. This Athletics Department. 
Together, we will accomplish the "impossible." 

Go Rockets!