Tobruk Blaine joined the San Jose State University football staff in July 2017 as the program's first Beyond Football Coordinator. In June 2021, she was promoted to the new position of Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Development. (https://www.beyondsparta.com/)
As the Beyond Football Coordinator, she is responsible for enhancing the lives of football student-athletes. The program's success led to taking its concepts department-wide to Beyond Sparta serving more than 450 student-athletes who are encouraged to explore what is around them, identify interests, and inspire themselves and others through a culture of volunteerism in a greater community. Student-athletes will develop career-focused proficiencies and cultivate knowledge, relationships and skills necessary to establish a successful personal and professional life beyond the game of football.
Blaine came to San Jose State with a background in coaching, teaching, fund raising and program building. She was a high school and college cheerleading coach at Eagle and Rocky Mountain High Schools in Idaho and at Boise State University. Her high school teams won the Idaho 5A state cheerleading championships twice for Eagle High (2005, 2006 and 2008) and twice for Meridian's Rocky Mountain High (2010). The 2016 and 2017 Boise State teams were named the United Spirit Association's (USA) national champion in the Division I Small Coed cheerleading category. Blaine was named the 2006 state of Idaho Cheerleading Coach of the Year for leading Eagle High to its championship.
While coaching at Eagle and Rocky Mountain High, she was a health sciences teacher. Her teaching style and philosophy was geared to students better understanding and aligning their approach to state and national health education standards. She developed effective student-teacher programs and lesson plans for students to meet and exceed the state and national standards. In 2012, she was one of 18 teachers from the state of Idaho honored at Boise State University's annual Barbara Morgan Mentor of the Year Awards program.
An effective fund raiser for the Boise State spirit squad program, she annually raised more than double the program's annual operating budget to support the university's cheerleading, dance and mascot's program activities.
The 2002 Oregon State University graduate majored in health promotion and education. She has master's degrees in health education from Oregon State and educational leadership from the University of Idaho.
She holds certifications from the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Blaine is certified by the American Red Cross in first aid and CPR.
She and her husband, Ben, have two daughters, Landyn and Colby.