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Pittsburgh announced Monday that it is replacing athletic director Heather Lyke, which likely signals that there’s pressure on head football coach Pat Narduzzi to turn around the program after a 3-9 record in 2023.
The school is reportedly seeking a “new vision” as the department prepares for the oncoming revenue-sharing era of college athletics.
“Today, I informed University of Pittsburgh director of athletics, Heather Lyke, that I was making a change in the leadership of our athletics program,” Pitt chancellor Joan Gabel said in a 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.”
Here’s the Pitt Statement. pic.twitter.com/JnwCLRCjuj
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 9, 2024
Lyke came to Pitt from Eastern Michigan in 2017, and the department has experienced success in a number of sports — reaching the Final Four in men’s soccer and women’s volleyball. Football also won an ACC championship under her direction in 2021.
Narduzzi has coached the football team at Pitt since 2015, compiling a 67-50 record, including that ACC title in 2021. But the Panthers stumbled to a 3-win season last year, and although they are 2-0 to start this season the onus is now on Narduzzi to win games, especially following Lyke’s dismissal.
“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,” Gabel said.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
