Behind the Blueprint: Bryan Filkner, Director of Recruiting Operations, SMU

In this episode of Behind the Blueprint, I chat with Bryan Filker, Director of Recruiting Operations, to unpack his rapid rise through multiple recruiting and personnel roles at SMU. Bryan shares how starting in the transfer portal grind shaped his understanding of roster building, while deeper involvement with recruits helped him discover the importance of relationships beyond evaluation. He also breaks down how SMU aligns recruiting operations with coaching vision and why transparency and authenticity have become key to roster retention in the portal era. Before we dive in a quick word from our partner, Coach Portal. Coach Portal is a platform built by coaches, for coaches, designed to simplify the job search and help coaches easily stay up to date on opportunities and job movement across the sport.