New Syracuse AD Bryan Blair is bringing in an experienced hire to oversee the football program.
The Syracuse Orange are looking to overhaul their athletic department and new athletic director Bryan Blair isn’t wasting time building up his staff, with the latest as a high-profile hire from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Yulander Wells is joining the Orange as their new chief operating officer (COO) with oversight over football, bringing a wealth of experience from one of the more prestigious programs in college athletics.
Wells will be a part of Blair’s inaugural staff and is rising to oversee a new sport in football after spending the last three and a half years overseeing men’s basketball and business strategy specifically, in addition to athletics strategy. As the Fighting Irish transition from Jack Swarbrick to new AD Pete Bevacqua, this will bridge the end of that transition. Prior to Notre Dame, Wells spent time at Harvard, South Florida, and University of Florida in a controller role. The intent will be for Wells to work directly with head coach Fran Brown to build Syracuse up in the AAC.
To read more about the important hire for the program, here’s the full story from Syracuse Roundtable writer Brady Farkas.
Wells was involved in key initiatives at Notre Dame which include renewing a 10-year deal with Under Armour over Adidas and Nike, and will look to step up in this new role overseeing football in a Power Four conference program. It’s an overhaul with a new AD, COO, and also new basketball coach, which Syracuse hopes, altogether, will accelerate their momentum in the AAC.