Pitt’s Athletic Director Heather Lyke suddenly fired

Heather Lyke was relieved of her duties as the athletic director for the University of Pittsburgh. After being hired in 2017, Lyke’s eight-year tenure at the university has come to an abrupt end. 

When Lyke was hired as the athletic director, she began a tough turnaround of the athletic programs. Lyke replaced the former director Scott Barnes, who is most well known for hiring the least successful men’s basketball coach in school history, Kevin Stallings.

The reaction across the fanbase has been widely mixed. Many fans are upset due to the fact that her overall success across the entire department was overlooked.

Sophomore Gavin Ems was quite upset to read the news while studying at Mervis Hall.

“I think it is absolutely ridiculous. It seems that she was doing her best with the finances, but stuff was falling through the cracks,” said Ems. “She was doing great all around.”

Ems also believed her success in sports like soccer and volleyball was overlooked due to an unsuccessful 2023 football season.

This sentiment was popular across social media, as Pitt fans took to X with confusion and disappointment after the news was broken by Christopher Carter of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette broke the news.

Popular Pitt fan podcast “The Loyal Sons” had a succinct reaction, writing a simple “Excuse me?” in reaction to the news.

Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports took to X to voice her disapproval.

“Heather Lyke is one of the best in the business,” Auerbach stated in the post. “She’s been a leader on campus but also nationally as a member of various key NCAA committees navigating the changing world. She was also one of the very few female ADs in the FBS — so it’s disappointing on a few levels.”

Narduzzi was set to speak just hours after her firing and had nothing but praise for her.

“[I am] grateful and appreciative of Heather Lyke. Appreciate all she’s done here … She’s a strong, strong person and will land on her feet,” Narduzzi said.

It is unclear at this point why Lyke’s tenure has come to an end at the University of Pittsburgh. Journalists at Pittsburgh Sports Now have cited NIL and other financial concerns as possible reasons. 

Following Lyke’s hiring, she began to change every single program. Pitt women’s soccer has had the best streak of seasons in program history, making the tournament for the first time in 2022. Since then, the program has made it to the quarterfinals for the first time in program history in the 2023 season and were on track for another historic season. Landy Mertz and Amanda West became the first Panthers in the NWSL in program history in 2023.

Under Lyke, Jay Vidovich and Pitt men’s soccer have made the semifinals twice, in 2020 and 2022. Consecutive tournament appearances from 2019 through 2023 and consistent Top 25 rankings have led to the men’s team becoming a well reputed collegiate soccer program. 

Wrestling under Lyke won the first NCAA Wrestling Individual Championship when Nino Bonaccorsi won the 197-pound championship in 2023. 

Lyke oversaw the addition of women’s lacrosse at Pitt, and the program will enter its fourth season in the coming spring. 

Pitt football reached its best performance since the 1976 National Championship, winning a 2021 ACC Championship with quarterback Kenny Pickett. Pitt saw seven former players land on NFL rosters during the 2022 NFL Draft. Under Lyke, Pitt football only had two losing seasons in 2017 and 2023. 

Pitt basketball was in desperate need of help at the beginning of Lyke’s tenure, and the hire of Jeff Capel turned into one of the best decisions Lyke made during her tenure. Capel has now had two straight seasons with talented, winning rosters including a March Madness berth, two postseason wins and an NBA Draft lottery pick in Carlton “Bub” Carrington. 

Volleyball ultimately became the most successful program under Lyke. Led by coach Dan Fisher, Pitt volleyball has made three straight appearances in the volleyball Final Four, had top recruiting classes and routinely defeats top opponents by large margins. 

This move is likely to change the course of Pitt athletics significantly, for better or for worse. The Panthers could be on the way to being the next football powerhouse, or their non-revenue sports could completely falter. It’s a risky move with an unsure payoff. With the reason still unknown, it’s confounding news that we will likely not understand for a long while.