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Pittsburgh has hired veteran athletic director Allen Greene as the school's next AD, the university announced Friday. Greene has been the senior deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at Tennessee, and he has served as the athletic director at Buffalo and Auburn. He twice worked at Ole Miss and worked for seven years at Notre Dame. He will start in his new role Nov. 1 and is taking over for Heather Lyke, who was fired last month. "I am inspired by the storied history of Pitt Athletics and am fully dedicated to helping our Panthers reach even greater heights in the future," Greene said in a statement. "I am looking forward to meeting and working on behalf of Pitt's student-athletes, coaches, staff and campus leaders." Greene brings a strong background in football, finances, NIL and fundraising. Increasing revenue was one of the biggest objectives of Pitt's search for a new athletic director. Greene also brings relative experience, as he has worked eight years as an athletic director: five at Auburn and three at Buffalo. Greene "stepped away" at Auburn in August 2022 in the wake of a negotiated departure. Since then, he has worked at Ole Miss and Tennessee, where he has been on the front lines at two schools that have been at the forefront as college athletics have been professionalized. Ole Miss has benefited significantly from NIL rules and built a strong roster, while Tennessee athletic director Danny White has been innovative in revenue generation. Pitt chancellor Joan Gabel pointed to "a new era in college athletics" when she relieved Lyke of her duties, calling for a "new vision." "In my conversations with Allen and with many others who know him well, it is clear that he will lead us successfully into the new world of intercollegiate athletics," Gabel said in a statement. Jennifer Tuscano has served as the interim athletic director since Lyke's departure. Greene is a former baseball player at Notre Dame who played professionally after getting drafted in New York Yankees organization.
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