Pitt AD Heather Lyke was hired for the role in 2017, and many around the program "believe Pitt’s recent success starts at the top” with Lyke, according to a profile by Noah Hiles of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Many of Lyke’s peers say that she “demands the best from herself and those around her.” Hiles wondered with a “soon to be expiring contract and a polished resume, could her days in Pittsburgh be numbered?” Her name “comes up” whenever a major school needs an AD. One of Lyke’s main objectives as AD “was to adjust the athletic department’s attitude.” Lyke said, “People were just really comfortable being mediocre.” She added, “The thing that people kept telling me was, ‘We weren’t ready to get into the ACC,’ that we were never prepared. When I got here, we were heading into year six in the ACC, so I asked, ‘When do you think we ought to get ready?’ Because I thought it was time.” Pitt’s recent success in numerous sports “has made its brand the strongest it has been in decades.” Last year, Pitt “placed 52nd in the Learfield Directors’ Cup." Lyke also is “in the midst of perhaps the most ambitious project of her career,” Pitt’s Victory Heights campaign. Lyke said regarding other job opportunities, one always has to "look at opportunities.” Lyke: “I’m not going to dismiss that. That’s reality. I want to be at a place that has great expectations, and I want to be at a place that does it the right way” She added, “I know we can build a quality team here” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/27).
