Pitt’s many coaching changes begin to pay off

AD Lyke injecting life into all corners

No facet of Heather Lyke’s effort to remake the Pitt athletic department in her 26 months at the school — from reintroducing blue and yellow as the athletic department’s color scheme to cutting one program and adding another to introducing ambitious facilities plans — has been as far-reaching and impactful as her litany of coaching changes.

Since taking over as athletic director in April 2017, Lyke has hired eight coaches. One of those vacancies, wrestling, predated her tenure, but three were created by firings (men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer), two by retirements (gymnastics, diving) and another by resignation (baseball). Taken together, the moves paint the picture of an athletic director who wants to improve the school’s teams and mold them in her own image, something she would prefer to do as quickly as possible.

With five of those eight hires now a full year into their respective reigns — and the other three two seasons in — Lyke has been encouraged by what she has seen.

“It’s hard to look at them all in totality, but I would say as a whole, we’re headed in the right direction, some of them further along than others,” she said Wednesday.

“There’s no question we’re going to be better in two or three years with this caliber of head coaches.

“They’re just recruiting a different caliber of athlete. They’re selling belief and vision.”

New coaches such as Jeff Capel (men’s basketball), Lance White (women’s basketball) and Randy Waldrum (women’s soccer) took over wholesale rebuilds, with White losing his top scorer just a handful of games into the season.

Jodi Hermanek’s softball team was without its top pitcher for much of the season, an all-important loss in that sport.

For any struggles, there have been unmistakable bright spots. The men’s basketball team, before an elongated dip, posted upsets against ranked Florida State and Louisville. Baseball came on late in the season, even winning a series against a top-15 North Carolina squad.

Waldrum is bringing in what Lyke said is a 22-player recruiting class next season. In his second year with the program, wrestling coach Keith Gavin led his team to a No. 16 finish in the national rankings.

One hire Lyke has yet to make is for the women’s lacrosse program, which will begin competition in the 2021-22 academic year. When the program’s creation was announced in November, the university said it would hire a coach following the conclusion of the 2019 NCAA championship, which was played May 26.

That process is ongoing, with Lyke noting there was a prospective coach on campus Wednesday.

Method to the madness

While the 11 a.m. kickoff that came attached to Pitt’s Sept. 7 home game against Ohio undoubtedly raised eyebrows and some ire, the unusual time has a reason behind it.

The game will take place on the yet-to-be-launched ACC Network, which Lyke said pushed the Panthers into an earlier time slot so that four games could be aired on the network that day. With the Pirates having a home game at 7:05 that night, Lyke said they would have been forced into an earlier kickoff time regardless.

The ACC Network also will be the home of one of Pitt’s highestprofile upcoming matchups, as Lyke said the Panthers’ 2022 season opener against West Virginia, the first meeting between the longtime rivals since 2011, will be carried on the nascent channel.

“We’ve scheduled certain games at certain times as marquee matchups that the network has targeted as, ‘We want to put that on,’” Lyke said.

“That’s going to be a marquee game.”

Color change well received

Pitt’s color switch from navy blue and gold to its more traditional blue and yellow — a change that came complete with new uniforms for its assorted teams — was a move made after years of pleading from fans, and two months since the move was revealed, those same fans have responded positively to it.

The university said merchandise sales were up 183 percent online and in stores from where they were the previous year, with Lyke noting the changes, including the introduction of a secondary panther head logo, have played well with both older fans savoring the nostalgia and younger fans excited for change.

“Frankly, the panther head has done much better than I expected,” Lyke said.

“I was a little nervous about it. Everybody knew we were going to the other colors, right? My boss said, ‘Heather, that’s the worstkept secret in Pittsburgh.’ That was no surprise.

“But the script ‘Panthers’, I think you’ll see some fun things with that coming up, and the panther head has been selling really well.”