Friday morning the University of Pittsburgh announced Allen Greene as its new athletic director starting Nov. 1.
The hiring comes a little over a month after the previous athletic director, Heather Lyke, was suddenly removed from the position. Specific reasons for the firing were unknown, but sources pointed to factors in the new age of college athletics — such as NIL — as difference makers in the need for a new AD.
“In Allen Greene, we have a proven national leader who exemplifies the Pitt way, and who has all of the experience and intangibles to elevate our athletics program in competition and in the classroom,” Chancellor Joan Gabel said in a statement. “In my conversations with Allen and with many others who know him well, it is clear that he will lead us successfully into the new world of intercollegiate athletics.”
“I am tremendously grateful and honored to receive the opportunity from Chancellor Gabel to join the University of Pittsburgh, an institution and athletic tradition I’ve long admired,” Greene said in a statement. “It was apparent from my very first conversation with Chancellor Gabel that Pitt has the highest of aspirations in every endeavor it undertakes.”
In August, a report ranking the top NIL collectives in the country, places Tennessee at No. 2, Ole Miss at No. 6 and Notre Dame at No. 14. Greene has held tenures at each of these schools, most recently working for Tennessee.
Greene is no stranger to NIL initiatives. During his time as the senior deputy athletics director and chief operating officer with Tennessee, the school announced a 10% “talent fee” for football season ticket holders to help pay players.
As the Athletic Director at Auburn University, the school posted a record 22.9 million surplus for the athletic department in 2022, the largest reported number according to available data since 2005.
Pitt will serve as Greene’s third stop as an NCAA athletic director, working as the Athletic Director for the University of Buffalo from 2015 to 2018 and then as the Athletic Director of Auburn University from 2018 to 2022.
After resigning from his tenure at Auburn, Greene worked the majority of 2023 as the senior deputy athletics director/external relations and business development at the University of Mississippi before leaving for a short stint at Tennessee from December 2023 to now, where he will complete the final duties in Knoxville before joining the Panthers.