It took a lot to pry Joe Blair from Brentwood. TSSAA position was the job to do it
Cecil JoyceMURFREESBORO — There weren't a lot of jobs that could pry Joe Blair away from Brentwood High School.
A position at TSSAA, however, was one that did.
Blair, who had spent his entire professional career at Brentwood, was named the newest assistant executive director at TSSAA following Wednesday's Board of Control meeting.
"TSSAA was always one of those places where, the more I was around if and worked with the people there, if I got an opportunity, I would go for it," Blair said.
Blair, 48, will begin his new role on July 1, assuming the vacated spot left by Mark Reeves, who was promoted to executive director following the retirement of Bernard Childress.
The 1992 Cleveland graduate attended Tennessee Tech and started teaching at Brentwood right out of college. He was hired as a full-time teacher and assistant wrestling coach in 1997 before taking over as coach of the Bruins after G.P. West retired in 1999.
MORE:TSSAA must overhaul four-class system or concede it made mistake | Kreager
He was named the school's athletic director in 2017.
"He's knowledgeable, when you look at his job description and experience," Reeves said. "We've worked with him in a number of settings, particularly with championship events. He's been very instrumental with us in executing wrestling championships for a number of years.
"He's been in involved in a lot of committees that helped us with wrestling classification, and he understands the big picture. He's a family man and his values are aligned with what the organization is about. We’re excited to have him on board."
MORE:Bernard Childress' 'weak spot for kids' drove him to succeed with TSSAA | Kreager
MORE:Bernard Childress' retirement: Key dates during TSSAA executive director's tenure
Reeves was an administrator over both wrestling and soccer, as well as oversees education and sports medicine, before his promotion. Childress was over softball.
Blair will certainly step into the wrestling administrator role and could also take over both soccer and softball (a sport he coached for two years at Brentwood), but his exact role is still yet to be defined.
"He certainly understands the soccer world, being in Williamson County and an administrator there," Reeves said. "He also has a background in softball. As a math teacher, he's calculated in his decision making. We've worked close enough with Joe to know he will bring that to the table.
"What we do as a staff is evolve to our strengths. What (my) job description was written for isn't exactly what my role was in the beginning. But it looks like he will take over most of my responsibilities."
While Blair is excited about his new role, he will be sad to leave Brentwood behind.
"Brentwood has, and always will have, a place in my heart," Blair said. "It's where I started my career. It was going to take something really special and unique to make me leave there."