you're not giving AD lyke enough credit for the sports revitalization at pitt. there has been a sea change in the successes of the front door sports of mens fb and bb. the other sports have added talent and notarity. The ACC has to aware that the sports programs fielded at pitt are not to be taken lightly. as pitt fields better and better sportsteams it has to be attractive to other conferences,as well. the pitt admin. has to make it clear to her that she is a valued member of the staff-and she should rewarded accordingally.
AD lyke.
- Thread starter benchwarmer04
- Start date
PREACH BROTHER!
What she has done since coming to Pitt can not be understated. Some Pitt fans would say (have said), is "Gee, if it weren't for Pitt joining the ACC, none of this would have happened. Heather is the beneficiary of the move..."
Wrong....Many schools have switched conferences, and most have failed to elevated their programs. Pitt has been one of the few exceptions, thanks to Heather...
But alas...... When she leaves, she will be more appreciated than when she was here....Typical....
Not sure how anyone who watched the incompetence and malpractice of Barnes, Pederson, Jaynes, Bozik could be disappointed with Heather Lyke. MBB was the one critique, but her patience with Capel looks like it paid off. She has been a home run hire for Gallagher.
I only judge her by basketball and football since the other sports are revenue-losers and it wasnt looking good for Capel/Narduzzi but Duzz had a fantastic year 2 years ago and a somewhat acceptable year this year. And Capel has gotten off the mat and looks like he could be building something so for those 2 right now, her patience has paid off.
I appreciate how all last season you called Duzz a 7-win coach and now you’ve pivoted to “somewhat acceptable year.”
9 wins and a top 25 finish is somewhat acceptable?
I always thought she was doing a great job despite the basketball team's troubles. She has a big vision and seems intent on working to get there in a methodical way. And she's doing it in a way that doesn't dismiss the past.
Well said Dawg. You describe the situation perfectly.
She laughs daily at your short-sighted stupidity.
Heather shares your postings with her staff so that they can begin each meeting with a laugh.
Never change, SMF. You are good for morale.
Correct. Possibly the easiest schedule in school history. Possibly the worst upset by point spread in school history. I thought I was being nice in saying it was somewhat acceptable.
The easiest schedule in school history, for my money, is 2014. A total of three (3) teams on the schedule finished with a winning record, with two of them going 7-5 (Boston College, Iowa). Might’ve been the first time in school history that we didn’t play Notre Dame, Penn State, and West Virginia. And we finished 6-7 with a roster that included James Conner and Tyler Boyd.
Even if you think the schedule was a cupcake, give Coach Narduzzi credit for building a program that (finally) took advantage of it.
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SMF,
In the ever changing landscape of college sports, the overall perception of the athletics department is critical during these conference realignments. Football and To a lesser degree men’s basketball pays the bills but the overall perception of the department and school are critical if we don’t want to be left out. We are only as strong as our weakest link. The recent baseball, soccer, wrestling and volleyball successes should be accompanied with facility upgrades to ride that wave. Hopefully in time we get a right fit football stadium near or on campus. Acrisure is not a dump. Our facilities for the other sports are a dump. We upgrade those facilities to elevate the department and University. We plan for the future with an on campus stadium
Speaking of on campus stadiums, I just learned today that the 35K Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, that was built last year for $310M, has all full back seating not bleachers...this and the new Northwestern one are good designs to emulate...
Incorrect. Every other sport doesn't matter at all to prospective leagues. At all. If Pitt football and men's basketball were elite and every other program never won a game for like 10 years and played at all HS facilities, it wouldn't make us any less attractive. Only football and men's basketball matters. And really, men's basketball only matters a little.
Going the other way, I'll use another extreme example. Lets say football and men's basketball stay as is (8-4/NCAAT bubble) but every single other Olympic sport wins undefeated national championships for like 10 years in a row and are playing in all new pro-style facilities. If football and men's basketball don't improve, all those swimming and gymnastics national titles arent helping us land in a P2 league.
Lyke has been wonderful IMO. Is she perfect? No, but no one is. Does moving to the ACC help? Absolutely. But you have to take advantage of that, and many other schools that moved haven't.
This is the best Pitt athletics as a whole has ever been in my entire life, and maybe ever. And hopefully this is just the beginning.
This is the best Pitt athletics as a whole has ever been in my entire life, and maybe ever. And hopefully this is just the beginning.
Incorrect How an Athletic Dept. is viewed is a Package deal for all sports. As I have said to you numerous times Pitt is a great university. University is the key word here so pay attention. So unless FB and BB leave all the Universities to join what ever league you are forming deal with it. All sports matter especially in the perception of potential students as it is part of what draws them to pick a university . Not just the players.
Heather has done a great job raising the bar for all the sports.
I have been in and around higher education for over 40 years so I do kind of know a little.
A well known AD I know who has multiple National Championships under his watch also believes that it is not just about FB and BB.
Provided you don’t orient it so everyone is getting roasted like they did in SD.
The Northwestern rendering looks too good for that school. I’d imagine what gets built is much more basic. Still, a more basic recent design like Baylor is still gorgeous.
Lets use more extreme examples to illustrate my point:
Scenario 1: Football/bball - national championship caliber most years, olympic sports worst in the country
Scenario 2: Football/bball - worst in the country for a long time, Olympic sports win every national championship every year
Which is more attractive to P2?
Pitt on the field has been the biggest winner of P5 teams during the re-alignment shuffle with marked improvement across most athletics.
That’s because she has built the solid foundation and few people look at a foundation. They look at all the stuff that rests on it.
She is the best AD in Pitt history and it ain’t close.
Early on in my Pitt experience Pitt had an elite 8 appearance ('74) and a NC ( '76), to me that is were the discussion begins. Production matters, IMO
Yes but those accomplishments are lot harder to come by these days.
And the basketball Elite Eight was a complete one off that not only was not repeated, it didn't even come close to being repeated. No tournament berths in the 11 years before that, and none until seven years after it.
In basketball I don't see how the last six years (HL's) are better than '68-'82. Times may change that but as I said production matters......please don't give the inherited stuff because the mid 1960's football was as bad as the two years of Stallings.....
I am wondering why? Pitt was reeling in the mid 60's in football for example, all the bluebloods were firing away as usual and Penn State was picking up steam.....
The tournament was much smaller, 25 teams until 1975 when it went to 32 teams, 48 from '80 to '82
Back to the OP, here’s a question I had:
What is being done to ensure she remains at Pitt for the foreseeable future? IIRC, she signed a six-year extension in 2018 which has to be coming up in the next two or three years. With all the good publicity our athletic department has gotten lately, I would not be surprised if B1G/SEC schools went after her. This should be a top priority as soon as the search for a new chancellor is completed.
What is being done to ensure she remains at Pitt for the foreseeable future? IIRC, she signed a six-year extension in 2018 which has to be coming up in the next two or three years. With all the good publicity our athletic department has gotten lately, I would not be surprised if B1G/SEC schools went after her. This should be a top priority as soon as the search for a new chancellor is completed.
I thought the same thing. When we were winning 6 annually we would have killed for 9. Now, it is “somewhat acceptable “? That’s the mentality that causes great coaches to leave (Dixon, for example).
You have to consider the schedule. Winning 6 was a failure vs a weak schedule. I dont really count bowl exhibition games though it feels great to win especially how we did it. So 8-4 vs a very weak schedule is only "somewhat acceptable." 9-3 would have been acceptable. 10-2 was the expectation.
I’m very excited to see how you downplay next season’s success and continue to move the goalposts.
Most successful two seasons since the early 80s is better than “somewhat acceptable.”
pittdan77
Athletic Director
This is the absolute definition of hyperbole. It's not an either or. It really can be both but you just can't open your eyes and prefer to play the foil.
Yes.
To be clear my posts were to the claim that she is the GOAT.
Who hasnt given her credit???
I think she is the best AD Pitt has ever had in my lifetime.
I think the only bashers were the trolls, I dont think I ever read negatives about her.
In SMF's defense, if you hand him a calculator he's going to spend the next hour trying to turn on a TV with it.
I think Cas did a great job in getting coaches like Ridl/Majors/Sherrill. But the BIG item was actually encouraging boosters to have a place at the table. The other sports were ignored, as well as the facilities.
Heather's work is much broader, but a lot of that is the society has changed, too. I'd give her a slight edge over Myslinski. The idiots between those 2 were appalling.
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