Panther Talk: Heather Lyke, The AD We Need.. and Deserve

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From the days of Steve Pederson going back to the horrendous "Block Pitt" logo to the day of Scott Barnes hiring everyone's favorite head basketball coach, Kevin Stallings, Pitt has had a rough run with Athletic Directors. With a lot of turn over and lack of vision in the AD's office, Pitt sports have struggled with an identity for the past several years that has left an impact on the school.

March 20, 2017 is a day that will go down in history (hopefully) for Pitt athletics as Heather Lyke was announced as the school's new AD. Heather was known for her success with fundraising as AD at Eastern Michigan University, but she was a relatively unknown person to many Pitt fans when she was hired, leading to a lot of skepticism. As a Pitt fan, it is hard not to be skeptical about any AD hire with the failure of so many in the past..... but, we are here to tell you Chancellor Gallagher got this one right. Heather is not just the AD we need, but the one us Pitt fans deserve. Here are Heather Lyke's accomplishments so far in her 2 years here at Pitt:

1. Increased Donor Activity

It is well documented that Pitt has a lack of donors to their athletic department compared to other schools in the ACC, and Heather has made this a key goal to fix in her time as AD. If you attend any home football game, it is evident how she is trying to increase donor activity and recognition with multiple on field presentations of awards and etc. In addition, she hosts donors on road trips to  many away athletic events in hopes of receiving more money.

2. Coaching Hires

Just as Pitt fans were losing faith in Heather when doing the coaching search for a Men's Basketball head coach, she pulls of the big hire of Jeff Capel, and immediately won over any hesitant fans. Not only did she make a big hire for Men's Basketball, but she also has done the same in women's soccer and wrestling. Randy Waldrum was hired as the women's soccer coach with a history of winning National Championships at Notre Dame. Also, Keith Gavins was named the wresting head coach and he has a good history as an assistant coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. In addition, she also hired Lance White to lead the Women's Basketball program, and the jury is still out on him. Many of her hires have revolved around the philosophy of strong recruiting, thus far each coach has proven that they can compete for big time recruits and round-up very good classes in the coming years. 

3. Locking Narduzzi Up Long Term

This may be an unpopular opinion for some Pitt fans, but locking up Narduzzi long term was a great move. Not only does extending a coach show faith in them, but it potentially saves a lot of money if/when the coach starts moving the program to a higher level. After winning the Coastal and putting, what we predict will be, a very competitive team on the field in 2019, Narduzzi would've commanded a larger chunk of change. Right now, Pitt needs stability within its football program to build a pedigree, and Duzz is the right guy for the job. 

4. Thinking Outside of the Box

Heather has added so many changes that enhance the Pitt brand as a whole through various channels that previous AD's for sure never conceived; from Pittscriptforlife.com, to turning The Reveal into a full-on stage production, adding a bat-signal to the top of Cathy for the whole world to see, revealing the long-term "Victory Heights" plan for Pitt Athletics to thrive, to opening Pitt Studios followed by an eventual Pitt streaming service. The hard work she has put into these projects is why Pitt and us fans can and will have nice things!

5. THE COLOR CHANGE

If Heather has not won you over after the recent color change, she never will. What seemed like her first big decision in the position, Heather took Pitt's color identity crisis head on and fixed it within 2 and a half years of being here. She was quoted saying she realized at an ACC meeting that our old colors were very similar to those of Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, and she wanted Pitt to stand out... and Heather did just that. 

6. Her STYLE!

Us here at Those Guys You Know are not that big in to style, but let us tell you something, Heather sure does have some great Pitt style. So whatever she approves of, we assume it's stylish. Kudos to you, Heather!

Heather Lyke has done so much in just a little over two years, and we would not want anyone else as the fearless leader of our Athletic Department. Thanks for reading and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

-Aaron and Ryan, TGYK

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