Shane Lyons out as West Virginia AD amid struggles

West Virginia has agreed to separate with athletic director Shane Lyons, sources instructed ESPN. Lyons has been West Virginia’s athletic director since 2015, however a mix of price range points and the varsity’s struggling soccer program led to a change in course. The college has not decided on coach Neal Brown’s future, sources instructed ESPN.

Lyons’ departure highlights the Brown’s unsure standing as he is 21-24 in 4 seasons and one loss away from clinching this system’s third shedding season in his 4 years.

Brown did topple Oklahoma to snap WVU’s nine-game shedding streak to the Sooners, however at 4-6 the Mountaineers stay a longshot to achieve a bowl recreation.

Lyons is anticipated to get replaced on an interim foundation by Rob Alsop, who’s the varsity’s Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, sources instructed ESPN. The position of somebody from President Gordon Gee’s govt workers is an indicator of how distinctly the varsity needs to alter instructions.

The college is anticipated to instantly start an athletic director search, with the employed anticipated to return shortly if the varsity does make a change in soccer coach. It has grow to be a standard development lately to expedite a search and allow them to be paired with a brand new coach that they assist select.

Brown’s buyout if dismissed after the common season – anticipated to be practically $17 million – looms over the departure of Lyons. Whereas there’s off-set within the contract that might reduce that quantity for WVU, there’s been aggressive second-guessing for WVU giving Brown an extension in April of 2021 when Brown had a report of 11-11. That pushed his deal by means of 2026 and assured a big portion of the contract.

If WVU strikes on from Brown on this cycle, it is going to be a major monetary pressure on the athletic division. One of many criticisms of Lyons is that he wasn’t inventive and aggressive sufficient to find new income streams, as somebody with a robust enterprise background could also be coveted within the seek for WVU’s subsequent athletic director.

Lyons is a well-respected administrator who got here to West Virginia from Alabama, the place he’d served as deputy athletic director from 2011-2015. Lyons’s profession consists of a number of prestigious appointments, as he has chaired the Massive 12 athletic administrators, served on the NCAA Division I Council and the NCAA Soccer Oversight Committee. He is additionally part of the present roster on the NCAA Transformation Committee.

Additionally, the interim, comes from a political background. He is a West Virginia graduate, each undergraduate and regulation faculty. He is labored in numerous roles for Earl Ray Tomblin and Joe Manchin once they served as governor.