Pitt hires Kelly Brennan

[PITTLAW]

How about announcing some new programs to generate fan interest. Will she wait until the opening kickoff to announce stuff like that.

Have you heard of new ideas ? New hires usually bring those to a new organization? Well if she has any this is a perfect time to share some of that information! Email! Mailing! Personal Text Messages! etc. Even if people are on vacation PITT fans will atleast have some idea of whats to come. Why keep it a secret unless you dont have much to offer?

People make plans for September now.
I book all my home game hotels about 10 months ahead. Many aren't that prompt but if we're to increase attendance telling people about stuff in August or September is to late!
Getting back to the 2-3 yr comment. In our business a new top executive better be "killing it" in the first 3 months, certainly 6 months , or he or she doesnt get to stay 2-3 years.\

Sexism? It's just like all the other ism's for you losers! Its so easy to throw that stuff out since the " low information" posters bite on that stuff since many arent smart enough to think for themselves.

As I've said before I report to a C Suite woman the CFO, and 3 of my top five global directors are women. Fyi the C Suite female CFO is a 56 yr old single woman, never been married, smart, driven, great boss, GameCocks softball player, CPA, MBA, CMA, CEO material, impossible to keep up with, and we've worked together for ten years! Plus I've been married to a woman for 32 years who runs her own small media business and is very involved in helping younger women start businesses which I assist in too! Hate successful women I dont think so!

Gender isnt an issue competence and accomplishments are so I hope Lyke can get things moving.

If Lyke is up for the tuff PITT AD job she's going to have to start generating some new stuff soon or it'll be business as usual.

Narduzzi will put a winning team on the field but I'm sure he'd like some help filling up Heinz!

My prediction Stallings will be her longer than Lyke!
We'll see won't we. Hope I'm wrong but I doubt it since I'm not wrong much!

The key issue at PITT is the track record is terrible and the only way to fix that is to hire someone who is willing and capable of making positive changes. Waiting, waiting!

Unfortunately college athletics is not a good comparison to the business world--completely different animals. In business, you don't like the employees or the job they are doing--you fire them and hire new ones. Besides for having no money to do that for the coaches....it would be against NCAA rules to get rid of your players and go out and recruit new and better players. The AD is not even close to being on the same level as a CFO or CEO....way far down the ladder from there [especially at Pitt].

Pitt's new AD is saddled with the coaches in place when she was hired. She is saddled with players already on the rosters. She is saddled with home schedules she has to sell. Completely powerless to change a single thing I have mentioned. Considering the attendance issues Pitt faces in both sports...the new AD will have to be a miracle worker to show much improvement. I'd love to hear what new programs and ideas would get people to fill the Pete with paying customers, and to a lesser extent, Heinz Field. The one area she can hopefully positively impact right away is fundraising...because in college sports, money can fix a lot of problems. We shall see how she does...but I am expecting better and improving things coming out of the Pitt AD's office. Hail to Pitt!

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Unfortunately college athletics is not a good comparison to the business world--completely different animals. In business, you don't like the employees or the job they are doing--you fire them and hire new ones. Besides for having no money to do that for the coaches....it would be against NCAA rules to get rid of your players and go out and recruit new and better players. The AD is not even close to being on the same level as a CFO or CEO....way far down the ladder from there [especially at Pitt].

Pitt's new AD is saddled with the coaches in place when she was hired. She is saddled with players already on the rosters. She is saddled with home schedules she has to sell. Completely powerless to change a single thing I have mentioned. Considering the attendance issues Pitt faces in both sports...the new AD will have to be a miracle worker to show much improvement. I'd love to hear what new programs and ideas would get people to fill the Pete with paying customers, and to a lesser extent, Heinz Field. The one area she can hopefully positively impact right away is fundraising...because in college sports, money can fix a lot of problems. We shall see how she does...but I am expecting better and improving things coming out of the Pitt AD's office. Hail to Pitt!

You make alot of informed posts and I do read all of them ( like them or not).

Agree with the statement in Red,she took the job, and I'm sure MIRACLE WORKER was in the job description! And if it wasnt all Lyke had to do was Google PITT AD or PITT Athletics and it should or would have been obvious.
Years ago I was offered the position of County Manager Finance Japan. I wasnt provided much info so I researched the position and noticed there were three people in that spot in less than five years. I told my wife this job requires a MIRACLE WORKER and turned it down.

Lyke is the person who should answer your ? She's the PITT AD.

One post that I always think about was a post from a local Pittsburgh significant business owner who said he never recieved anything from PITT athletics requesting the purchase football tickets for employess or offer's for employee ticket deals???

This is the stuff a savy AD and his or her staff capitalizes on. Are the EMU staff that Lyke just hired savy or motivated enough to chase this stuff down. Or maybe staff from a successful P5 are more in tune with what needs to be accomplished!

This is maybe the low hanging fruit? Who knows was this a miss by PITT athletics? I have no idea since I dont live in the area but everything has to be considered!

Hope she or the next person up, is up to the challenge, but we're ( PITT) running out of time and people!

Fyi- I also agree with the business world isnt like the University environment. In high performance business entities which is my world and my team's world, its what have you done for me and the entity TODAY! Yesterday, last week, last year is history!

I have a 70 yr old cousin who graduated from U of Penn, Wharton, Oxford and worked for a major state U all his life and I was always amazed at how things work in U's compared to the business world.

 

[NTOP]

Heather hired a woman from EMU for a position obviously designed to maximize donations at the highest level.
My complaint for years has been that Pitt never really had an athletic "department".
It didn't.
I'm sure the refrain from some will be that Heather should focus more on hoops or stop hiring people she knows...
Ok.
But for me the creation of an infrastructure means far more than this one hire.
I see Pitt taking athletics seriously. Attention to detail was unheard of in the past, there was no strategic plan and thus nothing good was built to last.
Nothing works without a sufficient foundation and based on what I see Pitt is investing in the business of athletics. In the end, fundamentals matter.
Especially when they don't exist.
Pitt is making good business moves.

Please....sounds like sugar-coating to me. Shouldn't strategic planning be the work of the AD?? A bit of cronyism?? I hope not, we need a good AD. Let's hope Heather is the answer, but this turns me off a bit.

 

[NTOP]

So why only now do you clarify and narrow your original broad comment?

It wasn't me who misunderstood, it was you who miscommunicated.

You have a habit of doing this. And also, the lie comment was more about you justifying your wrong words than you being a viscous liar. My mom does that sometimes. I have experience with such behavior.

"Viscous"??? You need to move out of your Mom's garage.

 

[PITTLAW]

Please....sounds like sugar-coating to me. Shouldn't strategic planning be the work of the AD?? A bit of cronyism?? I hope not, we need a good AD. Let's hope Heather is the answer, but this turns me off a bit.

Pitt just did a major strategic plan for athletics: Inspire Pride. Build Champions. The Strategic Plan for Pitt Athletics 2016-21. It was done at considerable time and expense and adopted by the BOT. You think a new AD is going to scrap that and call do-over? Not practical, or necessary. Lyke will live or die based upon her efforts and those of her staff. Like Narduzzi, she needs to be afforded some latitude and provided some time to see what she can do with the team she has assembled. Her first ten priorities must be raising way more money. Hail to Pitt!

 

[Black_Man_Panther]

More accurate.
Always better to wait for results to see it the move works

I think you have to look at the fundraising this bunch did at EMU - which was pretty impressive.

And like the original poster said... the Pitt AD office was full of employees that have been around *forever* w/ NO track record of doing anything substantial.

 

[pitt-girl]

Pitt just did a major strategic plan for athletics: Inspire Pride. Build Champions. The Strategic Plan for Pitt Athletics 2016-21. It was done at considerable time and expense and adopted by the BOT. You think a new AD is going to scrap that and call do-over? Not practical, or necessary. Lyke will live or die based upon her efforts and those of her staff. Like Narduzzi, she needs to be afforded some latitude and provided some time to see what she can do with the team she has assembled. Her first ten priorities must be raising way more money. Hail to Pitt!

The handful of people I've talked to that have met her all came away impressed. Does that mean anything? Probably not as Scott Barnes also swept away the alumni his first few months. Totally agree that she must be afforded the same latitude as the previous AD. In some ways being the Pitt AD is a no win given the historically poor support by its alumni and local fans. I wish her the best. God knows she'll need it.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

"Viscous"??? You need to move out of your Mom's garage.

Reread what I wrote. I think you reacted more than you comprehended.

But enjoy this week's White Knight award.

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

Some have based their criticism on the fact she's largely been absent from public eye.

I personally think that's unfounded. The last two were mugging it up often on radio and tv and print. It frankly came off really insincere. Particularly when they'd bray about competing for championships.

It was laughable to hear Pederson spewing that BS on the Fan while Pitt was in the midst of a two (three?) month search (no-search) for a defensive coordinator only to end up with Matt House. Later, Barnes was doing similar up to the infamous Stallings hire.

Better to hear nothing than to hear egregious lies.

Her best purpose is to work the phones and get into the offices and power lunch schedules of those in the region (as well as the most accomplished national Pitt alumni) to work donations and deals. Like the barge company family. Dunno if that started with Barnes or she made some immediate impressing to secure that donation but THAT'S what is needed. Not BS self -aggrandizing with Joe Snarky on the radio.