Syracuse hires top Notre Dame assistant for key football oversight role
· Yahoo Sports
As Syracuse continues to make significant changes throughout its athletic department, the Orange are adding a top Notre Dame staffer to their upper administration, USA TODAY Sports has learned.
Yulander Wells, who has spent the past three-and-a-half years as Notre Dame’s deputy athletic director with oversight of athletics strategy, is joining new Syracuse athletic director Bryan Blair’s inaugural staff, three people familiar with the move told USA TODAY Sports.
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An announcement including Wells’ addition and those of other new Syracuse executives is expected this week.
Wells will serve as Syracuse’s chief operating officer and have oversight of football.
Football oversight at a Power conference program is another step up the ladder for Wells, who arrives at Syracuse after recently overseeing men’s basketball and business strategy at Notre Dame.
His time with the Fighting Irish spans the end of the Jack Swarbrick era and the transition to current Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, the former Irish walk-on punter and ex-NBC executive.
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.
Wells’ experience prior to Notre Dame includes time at Harvard, as well as South Florida and in a controller role for the University of Florida.
He joins Blair amidst a time of dramatic makeover at Syracuse. Blair arrives from Toledo, officially taking over for the retiring John Wildhack on July 1.
The Orange also have a new men’s basketball coach in former standout-player Gerry McNamara following the firing of Adrian Autry, also a former Orange basketball player under Jim Boeheim.
In his role working with Syracuse football, Wells is going to work directly with third-year coach Fran Brown as the Orange seek to climb up the ranks of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Brown is just two years removed from a 10-win debut campaign as head coach, earning both the Steve Spurrier Award and Paul “Bear” Bryant Newcomer Coach of the Year honors.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Notre Dame deputy AD Yulander Wells joins Syracuse amid leadership changes