Staff Directory
- Title:
- Director of Athletics & Recreation
- EMail:
- Phone:
- (973) 761-9498
- Alma Mater:
- Seton Hall '97
Bryan Felt, who has been synonymous with Seton Hall University for over 20 years, was named the Director of Athletics & Recreation in July 2019. He is charged with overseeing Seton Hall's 14 varsity sports programs, its administrators, student-athletes and coaches and the University's robust recreation programs. Felt most recently was the Director of Athletics at Saint Peter's University from 2017-19.
In four years under Felt's leadership, Seton Hall Athletics has seen growth in department revenue and fundraising, enhanced commitment to the student-athlete experience, record academic excellence and solid on-field success across multiple sports.
In less than two years at Saint Peter's Felt made a significant impact on the department. In men's and women's basketball, he hired new head coaches and instituted the department's first-ever season ticket plan. The excitement surrounding Peacocks basketball resulted in a 110 percent increase in ticket revenue and a 40 percent increase in home game attendance.Â
In addition to ticket revenue increases, Felt's stewardship also led to record fundraising as the department received a $5 million gift towards athletic facility improvements. Felt also contracted with Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment to further enhance the department's corporate partnership opportunities.
With a boost in fundraising, especially in funds going towards facility upgrades, Felt created a longterm plan to renovate all athletics facilities. Recently completed projects include a new varsity weight room, renovations to the basketball locker rooms and the installation of new scoreboards at the soccer, softball and baseball fields.
In the classroom, Saint Peter's has seen significant growth under Felt's leadership. The department reached a 92 percent NCAA Graduation Success Rate, the highest in program history, and the cumulative grade-point average sits at 3.16 at the end of the 2018-19 academic year with 45 percent of all student-athletes qualifying for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Honor Roll.
To enhance Saint Peter's reach and visibility, Felt also made improvements to the Peacocks All-Access Digital Network with the purchase of a custom mobile production van that will allow the department to broadcast all home events through the MAAC's partnership with ESPN3.
Prior to his appointment at Saint Peter's, Felt was a Seton Hall University employee for 16 years, first coming to South Orange as the Associate Director of the University Annual Fund in December 2001, then moving up to Director of the Annual Fund before being promoted to Executive Director of Pirate Blue in September 2004.
In September 2011, Felt joined the athletics department's senior administration as Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs and was promoted to Senior Associate Athletics Director in September 2015. He oversaw all components of the department's external units, including fundraising, tickets, communications, digital media and marketing. He also has served as the department's liaison with Learfield IMG College regarding corporate partnerships and University licensing and branding. Additionally, Felt was sport administrator for the softball program.
With Felt's fundraising oversight, the Pirate Blue Athletic Fund saw record growth each year. In addition, during Felt's tenure, the department successfully launched and completed two capital campaigns resulting in over $40 million of athletic facility improvements.
Felt is also the executive producer, writer and director of "Band of Pirates" the documentary chronicling Seton Hall men's basketball magical run to the 1989 NCAA national championship game.
Prior to coming to Seton Hall, Felt worked as a field producer for CNN where he covered the September 11th attacks in New York City. Prior to that, he was an Associate Producer for NBC News in the Special Reports division, producing coverage for several large events, ranging from political debates and national political conventions. He began his career in broadcast television working for MSNBC as a Production Assistant on the Big Show with Keith Olbermann.
Felt holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication and Master of Arts in Corporate and Public Communication from Seton Hall University.
A New Jersey native, Felt currently resides in New Providence, N.J., with his wife, Tara, and their three children, Tyler, Kyle and Kelsey.
