Tobruk Blaine's 'Beyond Football' program transforms Arizona Wildcats off the field

This week, the Star is spotlighting five individuals who are a part of the Arizona Wildcats football program, but don’t receive the same amount of attention as, say, Brent Brennan or Noah Fifita.

Our series, “Behind the Bear Down,” is focusing on the glue pieces of Arizona football on a weekly basis in the fall — most of them year-round. Up next: Tobruk Blaine, director of player of development.

The post-playing career is inevitable for every athlete.

Over time, opportunities dry up for athletes. Sometimes, unfortunately, wear and tear on an athlete’s body will thrust them into life beyond their respective sport.

For Arizona football, not everyone is going to have the experience that four Wildcats — Tetairoa McMillan, Jonah Savaiinaea, Tyler Loop and Jacory Croskey-Merrit — had at the NFL Draft in April. Even if they do, the NFL is often referred to as Not For Long.

“I tell every player I recruit and every player that plays for us, I want them to chase their NFL dream with everything that they have — absolutely everything that they have,” Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said in April. “I also want them to build this Plan B at the same time. Football is such an interesting game. If you’re lucky and you play for six years (in the NFL), you’ve played three times the average career length of an NFL football player.

“Say you’re lucky and you play six or eight years, but now you’re 28-30 years old, what are you going to do for the next 50 years of your life? How are you going to find fulfillment? How are you going to contribute to society? How are you going to raise a family?”

It’s not uncommon for football players to feel conflicted about life after the game. That’s where Tobruk Blaine comes in. Blaine is Arizona’s director of player development and “is just really helping athletes have someone in their corner helping them navigate the concept of what their life will look like when football stops, because they all know — we all know — that at some point, they’ll no longer be a football player,” she said.

“The number one thing is that I’m present inside the building alongside the athletes and make sure I’m available to them on a daily basis, whether that’s them popping into my office to touch base or schedule time with me,” Blaine said. “I’m present in the building and available to the athletes for anything they might need, questions they have or events they want to be a part of.”

The backstory of Blaine’s first name, Tobruk, is her mother met someone named Toby, whose father fought in World War II and was stationed in Tobruk, Libya.

“My mom just really liked the name,” Blaine said. “I wish there was a cooler story. ... I love my name. I love the uniqueness of my name and I’ve grown into it. I couldn’t imagine having a different name. Far and few between, it doesn’t happen often, but I’ll get someone who goes, ‘Tobruk? Like, in Libya?’”

Blaine grew up in Boise, Idaho and became a cheerleader at Oregon State, then carved out a career path as a high school educator for 10 years and nearly became a vice principal, but accepted a job as the head coach of Boise State’s cheer, dance and mascot team.

“It was a dream come true for me,” Blaine said.

Blaine said, “a lot of Tucson reminds me of my childhood.”

“How everyone rallies behind the A, that’s how it was in Boise,” she added. “I have such great childhood memories of being involved in a community like that.”

After four years at Boise State, “I realized I had a bigger calling,” said Blaine. Former Boise State athletic director Mark Coyle “was the one who put the nugget in my brain about what more is possible and how I can integrate myself into an athletics department at a deeper level,” Blaine added.

In 2017, Blaine joined head coach Brennan’s staff at San Jose State as a director of player development, where Blaine “combined my coaching experience and education experience,” she said. While at SJSU, Blaine welcomed two daughters, Landyn and Colby, with her husband, Ben Thienes, Arizona’s chief of staff.

Blaine started the “Beyond Sparta” program, which focused on creating opportunities for players to receive internships or apprenticeships. Blaine established relationships with Fortune 500 companies and created an internship program in the rich tech industry in the Bay Area.

Blaine’s program also prioritized community outreach and financial literacy courses, which is more pertinent than ever with collegiate athletics ushering in the revenue-sharing era following the House vs. NCAA settlement.

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“I was able to build a curriculum that had learning outcomes, lots of structure and was structured and centered around campus, community and career development,” Blaine said.

Once Blaine joined Brennan’s staff at Arizona, she changed her curriculum to “Beyond Football.”

“The reason Beyond Football exists is because of Brent Brennan,” Blaine said. “He let me have the autonomy to build it to what it is today. It was ultimately his idea. ... He saw so many of his football athletes hit a brick wall when it was time for them to leave their sport.

“As we all know, our entire roster isn’t going to have the opportunities like Tetairoa McMillan. We have to think, ‘What does life look like when football stops?’ He wanted to make sure we were building a bridge for the transition. ... Truth is, football is a big part of their identity.

“Brennan saw that for so many years, so he wanted Beyond Football to run in parallel with their development as an athlete to give them a broader perspective on who they are, what they bring to the world and excite them about their value outside of the game.”

Former Wildcats, including longtime NFL linebacker Lance Briggs, have returned to Tucson as guest speakers to talk to the team about life after football. Other guest speakers have been local business owners to share their stories with the Arizona football players.

Beyond Football is “a core part of our program,” Brennan said.

“The speakers are all super impactful,” Brennan said. “We’re not just educating them on job stuff, there’s also a financial literacy component.”

Added Blaine: “We are arming our athletes with tools to navigate financial literacy in a way we weren’t doing prior to NIL. ... That allows them to open up their minds to how lucky they are to be in these positions. They can not only create generational wealth for themselves and their family, but what it means to impact community members and underserved populations in Tucson. A majority of our team want to leave a lasting impact. They don’t just want it to be on the football field.”

Examples of Beyond Football’s impact include quarterback Noah Fifita’s “First Down Faith Football Camp,” co-hosting a bone marrow drive to support defensive back Ayden Garnes, who donated bone marrow three years ago.

Arizona tight end Sam Olson is enrolled in the master of real estate development program at the UA and used Beyond Football “to try and build connections in Tucson and get my foot in the door for real estate development,” he said in April.

Additionally, Beyond Football helped Genesis Smith kickstart his own foundation and begin a holiday campaign, “Christmas Cats,” to donate gifts to families in Tucson and Phoenix during the holiday season. Smith also hosted a three-day camp at Doolen Middle School in the spring. Campers attended the Arizona spring showcase in April and toured the UA football facilities.

Smith “has embraced being from Arizona and the idea of representing the state,” Blaine said.

“He comes from a family of servant leaders,” she added. “He’s really stepping up.”

Smith is one of hundreds of student-athletes to make an impact with Blaine’s Beyond Football program over the years.

“Beyond Football is a part of who we are, it’s a part of our identity,” Blaine said. “As you get to know the program and get to know the impact we’re making, you’ll realize so much of what we do on a day-to-day (basis) is in alignment with what we’re doing with Beyond Football. ... A lot of times, programs like mine are check-the-box programs. They look good from the outside looking in, and there’s no NCAA regulations or mandates that require us to do the work we’re doing.

“The thing I’m most proud of, the athletes are buying into me and buying into what we’re trying to do. It shows every day.”