On August 1, 2023 Brian Fernandes was named the Director of Athletics and Recreation at Bristol Community College. Fernandes stated, "I would like to thank the leadership team at Bristol Community College for their confidence in me to lead the department. I am ready for this opportunity to build on the tradition and success of the programs by elevating our student-athletes". Fernandes plans to include a strong focus on student success and athletic recruitment. He is responsible for maintaining student-athlete academic guidelines, eligibility compliance and ethics standards. 

Fernandes has been with Bristol since 2014 as an assistant coach and Head coach since 2020. The Bristol Community College athletics department currently offers Women's Volleyball, Men's & Women's Soccer, Men's & Women's Cross-Country and Men & Women's Basketball. The Bristol Bayhawks compete in the North East Region XXI of the NJCAA.

Brian Fernandes received his Bachelor of Science degree in 2006 and Master of Business Administration degree in 2020 from Johnson & Wales University. Fernandes has a wide range of experience in Higher Education from recruitment, coaching and partnerships. Fernandes past experience was working at Johnson & Wales University in admissions and then education partnerships. In 2018, JWU reached an agreement with the Boston Bruins to become their official education partner. Fernandes started his career working in ticket sales for the Boston Celtics in 2007.

Fernandes became the Head Men's Basketball Coach for the 2019-2020 season. Coach Fernandes has a 54-45 overall record and had seven student-athletes earn All-Region honors in his tenure. In the 2021-2022 season, Fernandes led Bristol to a 10-1 record start. On January 24, 2022 the Bayhawks were Nationally ranked top 15 in the Country. Bristol has finished a top 4 seed twice in Region XXI, hosting two home playoff games during his four seasons at the helm.