Augusta University’s new athletic director offers preview of plans

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - After longtime legend Clint Bryant retired from Augusta University’s athletic department over the summer, the Jags’ new athletic director is finally in house.

After a decades-long run under Bryant, Ryan Erlacher will step in looking to pick up right where Bryant left off.

“I like to work quickly and get things done,” he said Monday at a news conference. “And I learned early on that you’ve got to pace yourself a little but not burn yourself out.”

Erlacher is just the third athletic director in AU’s history.

He says maintaining success in the program will take getting everyone involved.

“The approach we’re going to take from my administrative standpoint is there really is no difference,” he said. “It’s support. It’s: How can I serve you better? It’s: What do you need? What can I do to help you have more success?”

Succeeding a longtime athletic director like Bryant has some benefits for the newest face of AU athletics.

“There’s going to be some things that we’re not going to tweak because we’re doing them very well,” he said. “And there’s gonna be some things that we may not want to tweak because they’re not broken. But maybe we can just a fresh view or a different idea, or what have you will help us elevate some areas a little bit.”

Before he was at Clayton State, he was an associate athletic director at Flagler College.

“I’m going to continue to push and move the needle and be happy with the successes we’re having but not settle on we can’t do better,” he said. “We’re always going to be able to try to get better. It’s about our student athletes at the end of the day.”

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