Syracuse University’s top two athletics leaders say the first six months of their tenure have been less about making declarations and more about taking in the temperature of the place.
Chancellor Mike Haynie and athletic director Bryan Blair arrived in March, and both say they’ve spent the time since then moving through the Syracuse community, talking and listening. Haynie said he has made a point of being visible rather than tucked away in an office.
“I have spent a lot of time being out and about and meeting people and understanding what it is that this idea of being part of the Syracuse community, what does that mean? I’m not going to find that out sitting behind my desk,” Haynie told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.
He said that approach is meant to reshape how the university connects with students, staff, faculty and fans.
“I’m going to find it out by having myself or Bryan or any of the other leaders more publicly engaged with our students, with our staff and faculty and in the case of athletics, with our fans. That’s where we’re going to learn what makes this place tick, and that is a culture change because that had not been the culture, I think, previously.”
Blair pointed to an early example of that shift. Before Syracuse football’s home opener against New Hampshire on Sept. 5, he and Haynie visited several tailgates, and Blair said fans told them it was the first time a sitting chancellor or athletic director had come by.
“There’s an appreciation for just coming out and enjoying what they enjoy, and I think that’s mutual,” Blair said.
He also described the intensity of the Syracuse fan base in a way that reflected just how much the community means to him already.
“The passion of this place is unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. And I’ve been in the SEC, Pac-12.
I’ve been all over the place. But people love Syracuse and Central New York to a higher degree than anywhere I’ve ever experienced.”
The two leaders are now taking what they’ve learned and applying it to the future of Syracuse athletics. Blair and Haynie laid out their vision in a joint interview with Brent Axe on the “Syracuse Sports” podcast.
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