PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh has fired athletic director Heather Lyke, a surprise move that came just months before Lyke’s contract was set to expire.
Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel made the announcement.
Gabel thanked Lyke for her leadership, but also noted that she felt it was time for a fresh start as the landscape of college sports is rapidly changing.
“We need a new vision and a new leader for our athletics department,” Gabel said in a statement.
Lyke came to Pitt in 2017 and helped the Panthers find their feet in the Atlantic Coast Conference after struggling a bit in the first few years following their departure from the Big East.
The football program won its first ACC title in 2021, and its decision to hire Jeff Capel as coach of the men’s basketball team in 2018 helped revive that program. The women’s volleyball team has become a national powerhouse, and the men’s soccer team has reached the College Cup twice, in 2020 and 2022.
Lyke’s most ambitious project was “Victory Heights,” a $240 million facility currently under construction next to the Petersen Events Center. When completed, Victory Heights will serve as home to 16 of Pitt’s 19 intercollegiate programs and will seat up to 3,000 people for volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics.
The building, which opened in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2025.
Lyke, however, won’t be around to see her vision become a reality. She was in the final months of a contract that ran through 2024, but had recently explored other options, most recently when she was a finalist for the athletic director job at Northwestern.
The Wildcats ultimately hired Villanova athletic director Mark Jackson for the job.
Gabel said the school will launch a “comprehensive search” for Lyke’s replacement. Jennifer Tuscano will serve as interim athletic director until the search is complete.
