Pitt hires former Auburn athletic director Allen Greene as AD

PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh has hired Allen Greene as its new athletic director.

The university announced this. Greene replaces Heather Lyke, who was let go in early September and has several months left on her contract.

Greene, currently senior associate athletics director at Tennessee, will start Nov. 1. Greene previously served as Auburn's athletic director from 2018-22.

“In Allen Greene, we have a proven national leader who embodies the Pitt Way and has the full experience and intangibles to elevate our athletics program competitively and in the classroom,” Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel said in a statement.

Greene will take over a department in the middle of a successful sports season. The soccer team is ranked 20th nationally and is off to its best start since 1982 at 6-0. The women's volleyball team is currently ranked No. 1 and the men's soccer team is ranked No. 4.

The Panthers also have their challenges off the field. The university is currently in the midst of a major project called “Victory Heights,” which will eventually house more than a dozen of the school’s Olympic sports, including gymnastics and wrestling. The $240 million project had difficulty finding independent financing.

“From my very first conversation with Chancellor Gabel, it was clear that Pitt holds the highest standards in every endeavor he undertakes,” Greene said in a statement. “It gives me enormous energy and is a challenge that I fully accept.”