The Real Reason Why WVU Moved on From Shane Lyons

With most of the attention focused on WVU head football coach Neal Brown in regards to his future, the university made the somewhat surprising move to fire Athletic Director Shane Lyons on Monday.

There have been many assumptions as to why the university made the decision but interim AD Rob Alsop helped clear some of that up.

"The past few years of college athletics have seen a lot of change," said Alsop. "From the portal to Name, Image, and Likeness to another round of conference realignment. President Gee, in thinking about this, decided that with this ever-changing landscape that it would be a good opportunity to find a fresh perspective from the program."

It's clear that the main reason Lyons is no longer at WVU is because the administration wants someone who can adapt with the new era of college athletics. Have there been shortcomings on the field? Absolutely. But there have been shortcomings off of it as well. WVU has had a problem retaining some of its best talent over the last handful of years and much of that can be attributed to the lack of resources (NIL opportunities) to keep those student-athletes.

Did the two-year contract extension to Neal Brown play a factor in the move? Yes, it sure did. But the inability to retain talent and even bring in talent via the portal and high school ranks is an issue that WVU has yet to figure out how to tackle. Getting a fresh set of eyes, a new voice, and new ideas will ultimately help not only the football team but the entire athletic department thrive.

Just like the Big 12 Conference did with the hiring of commissioner Brett Yormark, WVU is looking to bring someone in that can get creative on the business side of things to generate revenue in what is considered to be a small media market with limited opportunities. The university plans to cast a "wide net" in its search to find that perfect candidate, but at the same time the desire is to hire someone who knows the importance of the athletic department to the people of this state.

"You want someone who knows, understands, appreciates the team that's here," Alsop said. "The culture that's been developed and we continue on that trajectory of empowering individuals to do the best that they can. We also want someone who can continue to be innovative and thoughtful in an ever-changing world."

Once again, following the path of the Big 12's hiring process of Yormark, WVU will use the same firm to help find its next Athletic Director.

"We have already retained outside council who in turn, have helped us and we have retained TurnkeyZRG to conduct the search. That search is already underway and as our release indicated earlier, it is anticipated that we will have a new athletic director within the next three to four weeks.

"In discussions with our search firm, we think that...it might be longer, but we think this will be a sought after position and we'll have identified the best candidates and come to a resolution moving forward."

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