Syracuse's incoming athletics director, Bryan Blair, continues to fill out his staff as he prepares to officially take over from retiring AD John Wildhack on July 1.
Per a report from USA Today, SU is hiring Notre Dame senior administrator Yulander Wells Jr. to be Syracuse Athletics' chief operating officer and have oversight over SU football.
Wells, who has been with the Fighting Irish for more than three years, will work directly with Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown, who led the Orange to a 10-win season in 2024. The 'Cuse slipped this past term, going just 3-9 amid an unfortunate injury to starting quarterback Steve Angeli.
NEWS: Syracuse is hiring Notre Dame @FightingIrish deputy AD Yulander Wells into its COO/Football Oversight position, @usatodaysports has learned. Significant add for the Orange: https://t.co/JkzmlqDu6P
— John Brice (@JohnDBrice1) May 7, 2026
According to USA Today, an announcement on Wells and additional hires at SU Athletics could come soon.
Syracuse Athletics will have new senior staffers under incoming AD Bryan Blair.
Wells was named Notre Dame's deputy athletics director for business operations, finance and revenue strategy in January 2023. The Fighting Irish is a powerhouse football program and an independent in that sport, while Notre Dame is an Atlantic Coast Conference member in many other sports, including men's and women's basketball.
While serving in the Notre Dame athletics department, Wells has been the sport administrator for Fighting Irish men's basketball, and he has overseen corporate sponsorships, among other things.
From USA Today: "Among Wells’ initiatives while in South Bend are Notre Dame’s lucrative, 10-year renewal of its exclusive apparel deal with Under Armour - a pact Under Armour controls after outbidding Adidas and Nike to maintain its Fighting Irish partnership."
Before going to Notre Dame, Wells was the deputy athletics director for external affairs at Harvard, and he was also the senior associate athletics director for administration and development at South Florida.
Wells earned a bachelor's degree and an MBA in operations management from North Central College in Naperville, Ill., where he was a three-year captain of the basketball program and also competed for the track-and-field team.
As I noted on Thursday, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Syracuse Athletics is hiring Dr. Charles Small as the department's deputy athletics director and chief strategy officer. Small, who is currently the senior associate athletics director for sport administration at Big Ten Conference school Washington, will also serve as the sport administrator for Syracuse men's basketball, whose new head coach is former 'Cuse star guard Gerry McNamara.
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