The University of Pittsburgh is making a change at the top of its athletic department. On Monday morning, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel released a statement relieving Director of Athletics Heather Lyke of her duties. Chris Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the news.
“Today, I informed University of Pittsburgh director of athletics, Heather Lyke, that I was making a change in the leadership of our athletics program,” Gabel’s said in the statement. “Upon her arrival at Pitt in 2017, Heather guided our program through a unique period in college athletics and we thank her for her leadership during that time. Her tenure included successes from football’s first ACC championship to volleyball reaching its first-ever NCAA Final Four, while representing the University at the conference and national levels. However, as we enter a new era in college athletics, one that seems to change by the day, we need a new vision and a new leader of our athletics department. On behalf of all Panthers, we wish Heather and her family the best with appreciation for their service to Pitt.”
The move comes just weeks after Lyke had a public flirtation with the athletic director position at Northwestern. She was a finalist for the job, but ultimately Mark Jackson of Villanova was selected for the position. The now former Pitt AD was seen in Cincinnati this weekend supporting the football team's come from behind win over the Bearcats.
Lyke signed a contract extension in 2019 that kept her at Pitt through 2024. She was in negotiations with the school to receive a new contract extension throughout the past few months, with both sides not seeing eye to eye.
Under Lyke’s watch, Pitt’s athletic program saw a significant amount of growth in many areas. She started her tenure in March of 2017, and quickly had efforts to change Pitt’s branding. Ahead of the 2019 school year, the athletics programs adopted the royal blue and old gold color scheme with the iconic ‘Pitt’ script logo for all of its uniforms, a popular change welcomed by the fanbase.
Aside from Lyke’s efforts to change Pitt’s appearance, she also oversaw growth and success for many of the school’s athletic programs that have not reached the highest levels of success prior to her arrival.
Pitt volleyball has turned into a national power, advancing to the Final Four in three consecutive years. Both men’s and women’s soccer have enjoyed national success. The men’s team has had two College Cup appearances, while the women’s squad have advanced to the NCA A Tournament two seasons in a row for the first time in program history.
Last school year, Pitt produced a national champion wrestler in Nino Bonaccorsi. The football team captured its first-ever ACC Championship back in 2021 as well.
While the success stories have been plentiful, there have been some shortcomings during her tenure. Some coaching hires have fizzled out, with the women’s basketball team already shuffling through two head coaching hires she has made.
Lyke’s vision extended to Pitt’s infrastructure on campus. She rolled in an extensive initiative called, ‘Victory Heights’ which was to improve most of Pitt’s athletic facilities at the top of campus. A new auxiliary arena to house gymnastics, volleyball, and wrestling, is currently under construction next to the Petersen Events Center.
While replacing older venues like the Fitzgerald Field House seemed like an easy decision, the timing came at a weird crossroads of college athletics. With the introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) ahead of the 2021 school year and also revenue sharing with athletes that is set to begin next year, much of the resources Pitt has will be going to maintaining its position in the arms race with other peer institutions, thus leaving the elaborate Victory Heights plan looking more like a burden to the university.
While Lyke helped secure a $20 million dollar donation to the football program from alumnus Chris Bickel back in 2021, there had been some sentiments she has not embraced the new age of college athletics in regards to NIL, thus leaving Pitt behind some schools in donations on that end of the spectrum.
Gabel also said in her release, “Pitt Athletics has a long tradition of being one of the nation’s leading athletics programs, with world-class student athletes, coaches and staff, and amazing fans and donors, all anchored in one of the world’s top research universities. The program truly represents the front porch of our University, bringing in our community by serving as an important access point across campus, our region, our nation and the world. We are immediately initiating a national, comprehensive search for a new Panthers director of athletics, and we are confident that under the direction of interim director of athletics Jennifer Tuscano, Pitt Athletics will continue to do its part to elevate our University and win the Pitt way – both in the classroom and in competition.”
Prior to Pitt, Lyke served as the athletic director at Eastern Michigan from 2013-2017. She previously served as an assistant athletic director at Ohio State for 15 years.
