Big trouble in Little Pittsburgh?

[qdawgg]

I’m not proud but I am desperate

I wouldn’t even need a beer.

 

[wfschrec]

Wait…the BB coach is on the search committee to choose his boss?

That seems to be a conflict..

This isn’t that uncommon … when I was at WD I interviewed candidates that were slated to be my boss as a 360 interview process. Albeit it doesn’t happen everywhere but it does happen.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Wait…the BB coach is on the search committee to choose his boss?

That seems to be a conflict..

Actually it’s smart. Kill 2 birds with one stone.

We’re conditioned to think otherwise but most coaches like Boeheim jump at the chance to be AD a decade earlier. If we had made him AD and basketball coach we couldn’t have bungled the G Rob era. Boeheim would have been an amazing AD.

Donald is good marketing and would be the best possible hire they could make. What do the ADs really do and who cares about non revenue sports. Who would do a better job than him?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Actually it’s smart. Kill 2 birds with one stone.

We’re conditioned to think otherwise but most coaches like Boeheim jump at the chance to be AD a decade earlier. If we had made him AD and basketball coach we couldn’t have bungled the G Rob era. Boeheim would have been an amazing AD.

Donald is good marketing and would be the best possible hire they could make. What do the ADs really do and who cares about non revenue sports. Who would do a better job than him?

Aaron Donald is only on the search committee to find a new AD.

He's NOT being hired.

 

[#FRANchise]

Wait…the BB coach is on the search committee to choose his boss?

That seems to be a conflict..

Wasn't Dino on the committee that hired Wildhack?

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

I wonder why not Revis?

I love those dominant cornerbacks that in their heyday were the best player in the NFL. Revis Sherman Ty Law etc. All saw the game at a different speed.

Even Prime who was nice enough to gift Syracuse a starting tackle. He deserves a bottle of champagne too when we send one to Day.

 

[Niastri]

I wonder why not Revis?

I love those dominant cornerbacks that in their heyday were the best player in the NFL. Revis Sherman Ty Law etc. All saw the game at a different speed.

Even Prime who was nice enough to gift Syracuse a starting tackle. He deserves a bottle of champagne too when we send one to Day.

Sanders was the best cover corner ever.

His offense and kick returning skills sometimes get more attention, but he was so dangerous a threat to intercept balls thrown to his receiver that teams would just ignore their top receiver to avoid Sanders. All pros would get zero targets when Sanders was covering them.

Here is an interesting link I found taking about how great Sanders was. It's from when he was hired at Colorado and the article has some really impressive quotes from opposing coaches.

EDIT: The highlight reel has a lot of calls by John Madden. I really enjoyed hearing him call a game again.

New to CU Buffs football? Here’s just how good Deion Sanders was in his playing career

Before he was Coach Prime, Deion Sanders was Prime Time – one of the greatest playmakers the NFL has ever seen, a "triple threat" on the gridiron and an accomplished baseball player, too.

www.denver7.com

 

[NJCuse97]

This isn’t that uncommon … when I was at WD I interviewed candidates that were slated to be my boss as a 360 interview process. Albeit it doesn’t happen everywhere but it does happen.

I believe Shady was on the search committee for the Rutgers AD during his first tenure (probably on the current one too). He hired a guy from his (and my) high school. That said, Tim Pernetti, (who I don't speak with, but have known for a very long time) was a Rutgers football alum and as something of a precursor to AD hires like Wildhack, he had a marketing and sports TV background, and proved to be a pretty good AD, but his job was simply to support football and stay out of Schiano's way. He was fired as a result of only suspending Mike Rice in the wake of the player abuse scandal.

Tim Pernetti - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[NJCuse97]

Sanders was the best cover corner ever.

His offense and kick returning skills sometimes get more attention, but he was so dangerous a threat to intercept balls thrown to his receiver that teams would just ignore their top receiver to avoid Sanders. All pros would get zero targets when Sanders was covering them.

Here is an interesting link I found taking about how great Sanders was. It's from when he was hired at Colorado and the article has some really impressive quotes from opposing coaches.

EDIT: The highlight real has a lot of calls by John Madden. I really enjoyed hearing him call a game again.

New to CU Buffs football? Here’s just how good Deion Sanders was in his playing career

Before he was Coach Prime, Deion Sanders was Prime Time – one of the greatest playmakers the NFL has ever seen, a "triple threat" on the gridiron and an accomplished baseball player, too.

www.denver7.com

Article complete with a Nate Hemsley photo and caption call out!

 

[Cusefan95]

Actually it’s smart. Kill 2 birds with one stone.

We’re conditioned to think otherwise but most coaches like Boeheim jump at the chance to be AD a decade earlier. If we had made him AD and basketball coach we couldn’t have bungled the G Rob era. Boeheim would have been an amazing AD.

Donald is good marketing and would be the best possible hire they could make. What do the ADs really do and who cares about non revenue sports. Who would do a better job than him?

30 years ago, coaches becoming ADs wasn’t unusual. It’s not common anymore, because the role has changed. JB might have jumped at being AD when the incompetent Dr was hired - but even at that point the role had changed and it would have been a huge stretch. And I’m skeptical JB had the diplomatic skills that are a requirement for the job for it to have ever been a fit at any point in his lifetime. Jake was at least fairly competent, and about the only thing I remember him for is calling Syracuse a one-horse town that didn’t have any other option except to follow Syracuse sports - it’s a job where one bad press conference, of which JB had many, can define or end your career.

There isn’t enough money to pay me to take Wildhack’s job - the fundraising, marketing, media requirements, long term planning (in the current environment…that’s a heck of a lot, with heaping helpings of stress.

Short answer to the question of what ADs do is a lot. Way more than you apparently realize.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

30 years ago, coaches becoming ADs wasn’t unusual. It’s not common anymore, because the role has changed. JB might have jumped at being AD when the incompetent Dr was hired - but even at that point the role had changed and it would have been a huge stretch. And I’m skeptical JB had the diplomatic skills that are a requirement for the job for it to have ever been a fit at any point in his lifetime. Jake was at least fairly competent, and about the only thing I remember him for is calling Syracuse a one-horse town that didn’t have any other option except to follow Syracuse sports - it’s a job where one bad press conference, of which JB had many, can define or end your career.

There isn’t enough money to pay me to take Wildhack’s job - the fundraising, marketing, media requirements, long term planning (in the current environment…that’s a heck of a lot, with heaping helpings of stress.

Short answer to the question of what ADs do is a lot. Way more than you apparently realize.

Yeah just saying JB probably would have been an amazing AD. And guys who are NFL defensive MVPs like Donald and Revis well know you cant go wrong IMO id personally hitch my wagon to them. I actually think that is what makes Fran so good he’s cooking with that special sauce and sees the game on another level.

 

[qdawgg]

Yeah just saying JB probably would have been an amazing AD. And guys who are NFL defensive MVPs like Donald and Revis well know you cant go wrong IMO id personally hitch my wagon to them. I actually think that is what makes Fran so good he’s cooking with that special sauce and sees the game on another level.

Would JB have ever hired Fran Brown? I don't think so, IMO. JB is risk adverse and would have hired in the same way.

 

[MadNY3]

Is Pitt taking a play from the BC playbook, firing her for applying for the Ad position at Northwestern?

No. There was a mutual understanding that the contract wouldn’t be renewed and there was a window to get another job.

That has passed. And here we are.

No animosity. Just business, hence why Pitt has “strongly” identified candidates.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[sutomcat]

Sounds like a good hire. I hope so. Bad hires now can be catastrophic.

 

[oldpinepoint]

Sounds like a good hire. I hope so. Bad hires now can be catastrophic.

Like DG?

 

[two3zone]

Wait…the BB coach is on the search committee to choose his boss?

That seems to be a conflict..

They call it the reverse Uno card, perfect for situations exactly like this.

 

[Jcuse_44]

Like DG?

 

[DoubleDee]

Like DG?

But he did so much for the olympic sports

 

[Delmar]

There’s more going on here than is being reported and that might not ever come to light.

 

[OburgOrange]

There’s more going on here than is being reported and that might not ever come to light.

Go on…

 

[SuFTW]

No. There was a mutual understanding that the contract wouldn’t be renewed and there was a window to get another job.

That has passed. And here we are.

No animosity. Just business, hence why Pitt has “strongly” identified candidates.

We are immediately initiating a national, comprehensive search for a new Panthers director of athletics…

 

[SUFan44]

Sounds like a good hire. I hope so. Bad hires now can be catastrophic.

Why does it seem like a good hire? He failed at Auburn.

 

[kingtidge]

There’s more going on here than is being reported and that might not ever come to light.

I hope there are conspiracy theories... there has to be nowadays, no?

 

[BillSU]

REASONS WHY LYLE WAS FIRED AND OTHER INFO:

Ms. Lyke, 53, whose base salary was $1.06 million in 2023, was hired by then-Chancellor Patrick Gallagher in March 2017. She signed a contract extension in 2018, tying her to Pitt through 2024. During her tenure, the athletic department had plenty to brag about. Oct 13, 2024 Google

Lyke's strategies lacked detail and didn't sufficiently address the financial challenges the university — and Pitt athletics — face. Sources said Ms. Gabel took issue with how Ms. Lyke's proposed budget didn't involve enough new outside funding. Oct 13, 2024 Google

Heather Lyke's dismissal from Pitt comes after 'friction' with school chancellor. One of the "biggest reasons" why Pitt fired AD Heather Lyke yesterday was the "friction developed" between her and Chancellor Joan Gabel, Google

One of the "biggest reasons" why Pitt fired AD Heather Lyke yesterday was the "friction developed" between her and Chancellor Joan Gabel, according to Paul Zeise of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Lyke was a breath of fresh air for an athletic department reeling from a 10-year period of instability and uncertainty. Zeise wrote she was the “ right person for the job at the right time.” And she “deserves credit for bringing some stability to an unstable position.” She oversaw development project Victory Heights-- a 240,000-square-foot facility that will “include a new home venue for volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling.” As of April 2023, Lyke said that Pitt had raised around $12M of the $240M. Sources said that Lyke’s fiscal responsibility was “questioned by Gabel, and a number of expenditures on projects at the Petersen Events Center seemed excessive.” As the project was sold as a development project but has “not generated nearly enough donations and fundraising funds.” It is an “expensive endeavor” that, given the current financial landscape of college athletics, has been classified as excessive and even not needed by a number of people in Pitt’s administration, according to sources. The Victory Heights project was “especially problematic” because it will accommodate sports that don’t generate revenue, and the project will “likely have to be supplemented by university money to cover a shortfall in fundraising.” Lyke was looking for an extension, but a few weeks ago, it was leaked that she was a finalist at Northwestern. Sources said that also “did not sit well with Gabel,” and the friction between the two has “grown in the past six months” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 9/9).

FACTURED RELATIONSHIPS: In Pittsburgh, Tim Benz wrote a key issue was about Lyke’s plan to “fully embrace and effectively stream NIL fundraising and distribution.” According to people who have covered the news of her firing yesterday, she “didn’t have much of a plan to speak of in the first place.” Her relationship with the chancellor was “said to be rough (at best) by the end.” Then it was “relationships with some on the staff where Lyke could come off as demanding and lean extremely hard” on those who were much further down the totem pole of the payroll. Benz added it was her “apparent interest in just about every open job under the sun associated with a bigger school or a better conference.” So it “wasn’t what we all saw in terms of wins and losses” (TRIBLIVE, 9/9).