Pitt welcomes new athletic director Allen Greene, discusses funding and NIL

Pitt introduced its new Athletic Director, Allen Greene, at an opening press conference in the Petersen Event Center on Wednesday morning. Greene spoke about himself and his plans to help Pitt athletics flourish in the NIL era of college sports.

Chancellor Joan Gabel hired Greene on Oct. 18, over a month after former Athletic Director Heather Lyke was abruptly fired by the chancellor on Sept. 9. Gabel introduced Greene to the audience and spoke about the importance of athletics at Pitt. 

“As I’ve consistently said, I consider athletics the front porch of the institution,” Gabel said. “For us to think about how that front porch is changing, the pace of change, the expectations or how it’s changing is a very big part of the overall strategy of the institution.”

Gabel lauded Greene’s resume and said hiring a fiscally responsible AD “was a high priority.”

“​​The overall sense of financial acumen was very high priority,” Gabel said, “but not at the expense of the culture of the department, or the alignment with centering students, or being able to find the competitiveness and the nature of being within a world class university.”

Gabel introduced Greene, who answered questions regarding his personal life, funding, NIL and his projects at prior universities.

Past decisions, including former AD Heather Lyke’s Victory Heights project, will now fall to Greene. At the press conference, he did not specifically cite a plan of action when asked about his ideas to take over the project.

“I don’t have a full understanding of our financial picture,” Greene said. “Once I spend time going through our balance sheet, it will give me a better understanding of what resources need to go where and how we best allocate those.”

When asked about funding for NIL and projects like Victory Heights, Greene shared that he is confident the Pitt community will “answer the bell.”

“As this world changes we are going to continue to educate our folks in the community and help them buy into our overall vision,” Greene said. “I don’t ask for money, never have. I explain a vision, express a vision and let people enjoy the journey along with that vision.”

“Pittsburgh has a rich history of demonstrating that it takes care of its own,” University Board of Trustees chairperson John Verbanac said. “We’re confident that Pittsburgh is in support of the University of Pittsburgh and this athletic program.”

Greene talked about his commitment to the coaches and how he plans to work ahead of the changing world of college athletics in a “very innovative way.”

“As I mentioned to our coaches this morning, we want to take calculated risks. Now is not a time to sit back and put our feet up on the table and see what’s happening in the world,” Greene said.“We don’t want to react. We want to be proactive. We want to find a way to best position ourselves. Those calculated risks are exactly that. We may not be perfect, we may make mistakes, we may make a poor decision, but we’re going to make decisions. We’re going to execute them in an appropriate manner.”

Some Pitt athletic program coaches were in attendance, including head men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel who expressed the importance of his team having NIL and funding from Greene.

“It’s the reality of the world that we are in today,” Greene said. “Without having the resources to acquire talent, then you’re basically putting your coaches in a deep position.“I want to tell the community directly from me that NIL is going to be one of the top priorities that we have to make sure that our coaches have the resources they have to compete at the national level.”

Despite yielding two top-five programs in men’s soccer and volleyball this year, Greene was firm in his stance on allocating the majority of the school’s resources to football and men’s basketball — the traditional revenue makers in college athletics.

“[Non-revenue sports] helps make people feel good, but we also know football and men’s basketball are going to be the drivers [of revenue] and I want to make sure that those programs are set up and built for success. Not just in the conference, but nationally,” Greene said.

Revenue sports coaches from Pitt and previous universities Greene worked for commended his character and his attributes outside of his professional role.

“I think he’s the whole package, he’s got it all,” Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi said. “I think he’s a superstar because he’s a great person [and] he’s going to help raise money.”

“Allen is a very talented guy,” Capel said. “He has done a really good job wherever he has been and he has been unbelievably respected by colleagues everywhere [and] people that he has worked with [and] people in the profession. Anyone that I ask about Allen raved about him as a man, not just [him as a professional].”

Greene ended his statement with a summation of his goals for the future direction of Pitt’s athletic department.

“I look forward to working with our coaches and our student athletes, with our staff and our community, to develop a vision and a strategy that is going to help us achieve these things and do so in a way that is going to make the Pitt community proud,” Greene said. “We’ve talked about the changing landscape of college athletics, it’s hard to understand where the heck we’re going. We don’t know…so it’s our responsibility to look around the corner, see what we’re doing and others, and it’s also our responsibility to act. I look forward to doing all those things with the Pitt community.”