TOLEDO, Ohio — In the wake of sexual abuse and misconduct allegations against former University of Toledo soccer coach Brad Evans emerging last week, the university's new athletic director is responding.
Bryan Blair, who was named athletic director in February, said he has begun the process of making sure something like this never happens again.
In a July 6 report published by The Guardian, former Rockets women's soccer players and staff members shared numerous allegations against Evans of sexual abuse and misconduct.
Blair wasn’t at the university when the alleged misconduct happened, but he said he shared many of the same emotions as others while reading the articles.
“Disgust, anger, frustration,” Blair said. “I actually read it while I was in the weight room one morning, and then when I drove home and walked into my house, and my little girl runs up and hugs me. And I think about her one day, wanting to be a college athlete, and she could never live in that type of environment. So, I think like a lot of people, the shock, and all this anger. When you run through all these emotions and just can’t imagine how someone could go through this for all these years.”
Evans was allowed to resign from his position at Toledo in 2015. When he did, he provided a statement in which he admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a co-worker.
At the time of The Guardian's first report, Evans was employed by the Ohio Soccer Association as the head of coaching education. He was also the head coach of Ohio’s Olympic Development Program. After the reports surfaced, U.S. Soccer suspended Evans.
Blair said he cannot fix the past, but he is making it his mission to be available for all of his student-athletes whenever they need help.
“I’d love to have a relationship with a student-athlete that’s to the point where they say, ‘hey, I want to sit down and have a conversation, and I realize it may be uncomfortable, but I’m comfortable having it with you because I know I can trust you; I know you are going to take that information and do with it what you feel like you need to do to move my experience forward, but also the university,'” Blair said.
As Blair makes changes in the athletic department, the memories and pain linger for these women
“I’m sorry those experiences happened. There’s nothing I can do to take those away,” said Blair. “But, based on everything I’m reading, I cannot imagine going through that type of experience. But I can promise you and promise others that our commitment forward, every time, all the time, will be integrity first in everything that we do. That started again before this popped up, and that will continue far beyond that, that we won’t bend on that. That is a commitment, and we will try to get better at everything we do in order to maximize the student-athlete experience.”