Heather Lyke

[bwh05]

This is accurate, and pretty much where I'm at. Happy to have her and she's been mostly competent, which unfortunately has been an improvement over what we've suffered though for a long while. She's certainly not irreplaceable, but it would be nice not to worry about it.

Not sure I'd be throwing money at her either if she's already making $800k. She's fairly compensated for a school like Pitt. FWIW, old MSU AD was at $750k.

the bar is exceptionally low here. Think about the morons we’ve had in charge. Yikes. She’s had mixed results & is very well compensated currently compared her actually worth.

If stays great. If she leaves, so be it. But she isn’t worth more than what she’s getting paid now.

 

[WannyandWalt]

the bar is exceptionally low here. Think about the morons we’ve had in charge. Yikes. She’s had mixed results & is very well compensated currently compared her actually worth.

If stays great. If she leaves, so be it. But she isn’t worth more than what she’s getting paid now.

NAILED IT!

 

[pitt90seven]

This is accurate, and pretty much where I'm at. Happy to have her and she's been mostly competent, which unfortunately has been an improvement over what we've suffered though for a long while. She's certainly not irreplaceable, but it would be nice not to worry about it.

Not sure I'd be throwing money at her either if she's already making $800k. She's fairly compensated for a school like Pitt. FWIW, old MSU AD was at $750k.

she was literally in the race for athletic director of the year nationally. at Pitt. when have we ever had anyone remotely close to even being in contention?

she's engaged with the Pitt community in a way that no other AD has in probably 35+ years or whatever it is. she's respected to the point that the ACC had her as one of the AD's representing the conference.

what in the WORLD are you talking about? she's exceeded every expectation that anyone had. pay her.

 

[WannyandWalt]

she was literally in the race for athletic director of the year nationally. at Pitt. when have we ever had anyone remotely close to even being in contention?

she's engaged with the Pitt community in a way that no other AD has in probably 35+ years or whatever it is. she's respected to the point that the ACC had her as one of the AD's representing the conference.

what in the WORLD are you talking about? she's exceeded every expectation that anyone had. pay her.

She is not worth a penny more than she gets now , sorry. I know just as many football and basketball first fans that think she stinks , so....

 

[joeydavid]

She is not worth a penny more than she gets now , sorry. I know just as many football and basketball first fans that think she stinks , so....

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[thebadby2]

She gone

There are bigger names than hers on MSU’s list, including Dave Heeke, the Arizona AD who happens to be from Lansing. Heeke has a lakefront vacation home in a really beautiful part of northern Michigan. He may bite at the chance to come home if the price is right.

 

[Panther_in_Kentucky]

Riddick, maybe. How would Wanny be at all qualified? And I do love the guy.

I want an effective leader and administrator. Not just a figurehead.

The best thing an AD does is unite the fan base and have a vision of where Pitt football and to a lesser extent basketball need to be. Wanny knows what it takes to win at the highest levels of college football. He's also a great guy and loves Pitt. Football is where it is at and Wanny knows winning football and loves Pitt. It's a match made in Heaven.

 

[Ski11585]

The best thing an AD does is unite the fan base and have a vision of where Pitt football and to a lesser extent basketball need to be. Wanny knows what it takes to win at the highest levels of college football. He's also a great guy and loves Pitt. Football is where it is at and Wanny knows winning football and loves Pitt. It's a match made in Heaven.

Wanny knows winning football? Since when? Like 1980? He’d be an utter disaster.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Wanny knows winning football? Since when? Like 1980? He’d be an utter disaster.

Well to be fair a lot of us know winning football. And also like many of us he knows it from a distance. In Wanny’s case the distance is 50 yards to the opposite sideline.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

she was literally in the race for athletic director of the year nationally. at Pitt. when have we ever had anyone remotely close to even being in contention?

she's engaged with the Pitt community in a way that no other AD has in probably 35+ years or whatever it is. she's respected to the point that the ACC had her as one of the AD's representing the conference.

what in the WORLD are you talking about? she's exceeded every expectation that anyone had. pay her.

So engaged that she appears to be shaking the university down for more money? She seems to be as satisfied with Pitt as the next opportunity dictates.

She probably could have made a more definitive statement to assure that this conversation is not even being had in the Pitt community.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

Wanny knows winning football? Since when? Like 1980? He’d be an utter disaster.

Wasn’t he coach of the year in the NFL since 1980? I think he has won a fair bit.

Try, for one day, to not be such an emotional child.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

There are bigger names than hers on MSU’s list, including Dave Heeke, the Arizona AD who happens to be from Lansing. Heeke has a lakefront vacation home in a really beautiful part of northern Michigan. He may bite at the chance to come home if the price is right.

But Lyke is a woman. MSU is likely strongly favoring hiring a women given their sex mess there.

 

[ThePanthers]

To me, the stability is extremely important with regard to all the changes that are happening in the collegiate sports landscape. Between covid, nil, ncaa governance change, alston case and realignment, as well as a major capital project going on, you'd think you'd want a well respected successful ad overseeing your athletics. Heather was named a finalist for the ad of the year, was selected to oversee changes I believe for the ncaa governance, and is well liked by our coaches and other administrators.

With regard to fundraising, we had a large donor (nish) come on this very board to document his experiences with Heather and has stated that she is one of the most engaged ads he has ever worked with and is doing a great job getting the large boosters aligned.


She has gotten the coaches, and especially football. The funds needed to be competitive in the conference, something that is difficult to do at pitt.

I just think sometimes people don't understand what they have as they are always chasing a unicorn that doesn't exist.

Just my opinion and the respect seems to also resonate with people both inside and outside of Pitt athletics that actually matter.

 

[Panthergrowl13]

She is still working on "Tarping" for Heinz Field to get it down to a capacity of 50,000 fans for Pitt Football Games.

Get it done Heather.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[WannyandWalt]

So engaged that she appears to be shaking the university down for more money? She seems to be as satisfied with Pitt as the next opportunity dictates.

She probably could have made a more definitive statement to assure that this conversation is not even being had in the Pitt community.

Not a dime more, bye!

 

[9nationalchampionships]

the bar is exceptionally low here. Think about the morons we’ve had in charge. Yikes. She’s had mixed results & is very well compensated currently compared her actually worth.

If stays great. If she leaves, so be it. But she isn’t worth more than what she’s getting paid now.

Lyke is the high 50s with compensation. The link below is for 2020 and is the latest available data.

She has down a great job of building out the athletic dept across all sports. She will be kept and will get a raise...... Bank on it!

2020 AD Salaries - ACC Football Rxhttps://accfootballrx.blogspot.com › 2020/05 › 2020-ad...

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

she was literally in the race for athletic director of the year nationally. at Pitt. when have we ever had anyone remotely close to even being in contention?

she's engaged with the Pitt community in a way that no other AD has in probably 35+ years or whatever it is. she's respected to the point that the ACC had her as one of the AD's representing the conference.

what in the WORLD are you talking about? she's exceeded every expectation that anyone had. pay her.

I'll be happy if she stays. Just pointing out she's well compensated already as far as ADs go. I wouldn't throw money at her to stay.

Sometimes you lose good employees. Go find and hire another good one.

 

[Ski11585]

Wasn’t he coach of the year in the NFL since 1980? I think he has won a fair bit.

Try, for one day, to not be such an emotional child.

Oh I’m sorry. Did I miss the part where Wanny won anything meaningful anywhere since the 80s?

What qualifications does to run an athletic department?

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Sometimes you lose good employees. Go find and hire another good one.

True, but Pitt's record at this process across the board is awful.

 

[pitt90seven]

So engaged that she appears to be shaking the university down for more money? She seems to be as satisfied with Pitt as the next opportunity dictates.

She probably could have made a more definitive statement to assure that this conversation is not even being had in the Pitt community.

you take care of good employees. it's called a retention strategy. what's wrong with a good employee asking for a raise?

 

[Burgh15]

Lyke is a good AD and has the improved the overall direction of the athletic programs as well as facilities. I also find it weird if she was in serious contention for the Michigan State job that she would be talking about it publicly—that never happens. Maybe this is a rare case?

 

[pitt90seven]

She is not worth a penny more than she gets now , sorry. I know just as many football and basketball first fans that think she stinks , so....

I know meatheads and idiots too.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

To me, the stability is extremely important with regard to all the changes that are happening in the collegiate sports landscape. Between covid, nil, ncaa governance change, alston case and realignment, as well as a major capital project going on, you'd think you'd want a well respected successful ad overseeing your athletics. Heather was named a finalist for the ad of the year, was selected to oversee changes I believe for the ncaa governance, and is well liked by our coaches and other administrators.

With regard to fundraising, we had a large donor (nish) come on this very board to document his experiences with Heather and has stated that she is one of the most engaged ads he has ever worked with and is doing a great job getting the large boosters aligned.


She has gotten the coaches, and especially football. The funds needed to be competitive in the conference, something that is difficult to do at pitt.

I just think sometimes people don't understand what they have as they are always chasing a unicorn that doesn't exist.

Just my opinion and the respect seems to also resonate with people both inside and outside of Pitt athletics that actually matter.

The stability is key also as it helps have internal replacements available.
Pitt rarely gets to that point in alot of areas and when someone moves on/up, they have to hire from outside and blow everything up.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

the bar is exceptionally low here. Think about the morons we’ve had in charge. Yikes. She’s had mixed results & is very well compensated currently compared her actually worth.

If stays great. If she leaves, so be it. But she isn’t worth more than what she’s getting paid now.

Heather has been "competent." Nothing more, nothing less. She is a major upgrade over the bumbling idiots we've had in charge but they make her seem better than what she is. She hired a good women's soccer coach and prevented Fisher and Vidovich from leaving (though they may not have necessarily had plans to leave). That's really it. Basketball is a historical disaster and football hasn't improved an ounce.

Pitt will be fine with a new AD, probably better off if they cancel the volleyball arena and focus money towards football and basketball.

 

[pittmeister]

All this thread has done is flush out the idiots....

Some of you are trolls...Some of you are posters with multiple names....Some of you are just plain stupid...

She's going to get a new contract and she's gonna stay...

 

[PeetWeet1]

you take care of good employees. it's called a retention strategy. what's wrong with a good employee asking for a raise?

A proper retention strategy rewards employees BEFORE they get a better offer.

 

[pittchagg]

Oh I’m sorry. Did I miss the part where Wanny won anything meaningful anywhere since the 80s?

What qualifications does to run an athletic department?

I think a lot of fans still think it’s the 70’s when guys like Bear Bryant, Paterno, etc. were AD’s to go along with coaching football. Wanny would have been a great AD if it was the 1980’s.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

All this thread has done is flush out the idiots....

Some of you are trolls...Some of you are posters with multiple names....Some of you are just plain stupid...

She's going to get a new contract and she's gonna stay...

That would be great if the new contract states she must cease and desist Victory Heights until she puts basketball and football teams on the field that we can be proud of.

 

[PittMan 72]

A proper retention strategy rewards employees BEFORE they get a better offer.

Yep. That’ll stop all others from pursuing talented people. 🤦‍♂️

You do your best to keep the talented people, who you want to retain, happy. Pitt will do what they feel is appropriate in this situation. So will Heather. We’ll see what happens.

 

[PeetWeet1]

Yep. That’ll stop all others from pursuing talented people. 🤦‍♂️

You do your best to keep the talented people, who you want to retain, happy. Pitt will do what they feel is appropriate in this situation. So will Heather. We’ll see what happens.

Of course it won’t stop it, but it sure as heck will reduce it. Also, they are far less likely to entertain other offers if they are:

A. Being fairly compensated
B. Unlikely to get a raise for looking around.

And yes, I get the cost minimization concept - they don’t pay anyone a cent more than you must method of compensation. Both can work. The first is going to be far batter at retention and recruitment.

 

[Ski11585]

That would be great if the new contract states she must cease and desist Victory Heights until she puts basketball and football teams on the field that we can be proud of.

I am continually perplexed as to why you think these all can’t happen at the same time.

 

[WannyandWalt]

Yep. That’ll stop all others from pursuing talented people. 🤦‍♂️

You do your best to keep the talented people, who you want to retain, happy. Pitt will do what they feel is appropriate in this situation. So will Heather. We’ll see what happens.

I am fine either way , she is nothing special to a football first fan , my opinion, she could take a dump on some of your lawns and you would thank her for the fertilizer! She is avg like the coaches she has hired or extended, so we have great coaches that needed extended, that's many of your same reasoning, NEITHER coach deserved nothing and got it from her, dumb, wonder why so many corporations in this country are struggling. When you all are agreeing with SMF, you know what side of the argument you are on. I do not think it matters at Pitt what she does, goes or stays , think about that before you respond

 

[WannyandWalt]

she was literally in the race for athletic director of the year nationally. at Pitt. when have we ever had anyone remotely close to even being in contention?

she's engaged with the Pitt community in a way that no other AD has in probably 35+ years or whatever it is. she's respected to the point that the ACC had her as one of the AD's representing the conference.

what in the WORLD are you talking about? she's exceeded every expectation that anyone had. pay her.

Who nominated her ? Just like these clowns in Hollywood, who nominates them ? SHE WOULD NEVER BE AD AT AN SEC FOOTBALL SCHOOL, VANDY maybe , read that again

 

[PittMan 72]

Of course it won’t stop it, but it sure as heck will reduce it. Also, they are far less likely to entertain other offers if they are:

A. Being fairly compensated
B. Unlikely to get a raise for looking around.

And yes, I get the cost minimization concept - they don’t pay anyone a cent more than you must method of compensation. Both can work. The first is going to be far batter at retention and recruitment.

The point is you pay people what you, as an employer, feel they’re worth to you. Absolutely you pay them fairly and competitively. She knows the market value.

If Michigan State wants to overpay in comparison with the market - and if $$$$ is her primary motivation and what she aspires to - then she’ll have to decide.

But I’m not a believer in trying to “buy loyalty”. You have to do your best to try to keep the ones you want to keep, happy. After that, it’s up to what the individual aspires to.

 

[BFo8]

Who nominated her ? Just like these clowns in Hollywood, who nominates them ? SHE WOULD NEVER BE AD AT AN SEC FOOTBALL SCHOOL, VANDY maybe , read that again

I don’t know about that. UNLV AD Desiree Reed-Francois was on the job 4 years and accomplished little other than a couple very questionable coaching hires. Yet a mere three months after signing a new long term contract she quit to become the AD at Missouri, an SEC program that takes football relatively seriously.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I am continually perplexed as to why you think these all can’t happen at the same time.

Because Pitt doesn't have the will to spend a billion on sports all at the same time.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

1 more thing on Heather:

AD's and coaches are usually tied together. When AD's leave, its very typical for fans to think: "oh no, Coach X wont want to work for a new AD so he will begin to look elsewhere." But at Pitt, if Capel or Narduzzi left, it would be no big deal. Those are her 2 guys. The leaders of the revenue sports. One is struggling very badly. The other is .500 every year. What does that say about the AD?

In some ways, a change would probably be good. Get a football/basketball AD in here and get those programs fixed while also paying Fisher, Vid, and Waldrum.

 

[CrazyPaco]

To me, the stability is extremely important with regard to all the changes that are happening in the collegiate sports landscape. Between covid, nil, ncaa governance change, alston case and realignment, as well as a major capital project going on, you'd think you'd want a well respected successful ad overseeing your athletics. Heather was named a finalist for the ad of the year, was selected to oversee changes I believe for the ncaa governance, and is well liked by our coaches and other administrators.

With regard to fundraising, we had a large donor (nish) come on this very board to document his experiences with Heather and has stated that she is one of the most engaged ads he has ever worked with and is doing a great job getting the large boosters aligned.


She has gotten the coaches, and especially football. The funds needed to be competitive in the conference, something that is difficult to do at pitt.

I just think sometimes people don't understand what they have as they are always chasing a unicorn that doesn't exist.

Just my opinion and the respect seems to also resonate with people both inside and outside of Pitt athletics that actually matter.

Frankly, Nish’s opinion and words mean far more than anyone else in this thread.

She wouldn’t have made this public if she wanted to leave, but Pitt will need to match. No non-alumnus is going to pass on a major raise at the point she is at in her career. I’m sure Pitt is already discussing things with her reading between the lines of her statement. Unless there are behind the scenes problems, it would be a good look for Pitt to fend off talent poachers, and a good signal to the coaches and staff in the department if she stays. Pitt needs to develop the attitude of place that is a destination, not another rung in a ladder. That said, again, her work at Pitt is tough to judge because so many end results are still not known.

 

[thebadby2]

But Lyke is a woman. MSU is likely strongly favoring hiring a women given their sex mess there.

That will be a factor for sure.

 

[WannyandWalt]

That will be a factor for sure.

And it shouldn't be! Hire the best person for the job regardless, gender or race should not be a factor, but if Mich St wants to overpay for a female , then more power to them , great to be an American, I support their right!