Lyons out as West Virginia AD amid struggles
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Pete ThamelESPN
West Virginia has agreed to separate with athletic director Shane Lyons, who has been at the school since 2015.
A combination of budget issues and the school’s struggling football program led to a change in direction. The school has not decided on coach Neal Brown’s future, sources told ESPN.
Lyons’ departure highlights Brown’s uncertain status as he is 21-24 in four seasons and one loss from clinching the program’s third losing record in his four years.
Brown toppled Oklahoma to snap WVU’s nine-game losing streak to the Sooners, but at 4-6 the Mountaineers remain a long shot to reach a bowl game.
The school announced that Lyons has been replaced on an interim basis by Rob Alsop, its vice president for strategic initiatives. The placement of someone from university president Gordon Gee’s executive staff indicates how distinctly the school wants to change directions.
The school said Gee plans to hire a new athletic director soon. The hire is expected to come quickly if the school does make a change at football coach. It has become a common trend in recent years to expedite a search and pair the new AD with a new coach they help choose.
Brown’s buyout if dismissed after the regular season — expected to be nearly $17 million — looms over the departure of Lyons. Although there is offset language in the contract that could lessen that amount for WVU, there has been aggressive second-guessing of the school giving Brown an extension in April 2021, when he had a record of 11-11. That pushed his deal through 2026 and guaranteed a large portion of the contract.
If WVU moves on from Brown in this cycle, it will be a significant financial strain on the athletic department. One of the criticisms of Lyons is that he wasn’t creative and aggressive enough in finding new revenue streams, so someone with a strong business background might be coveted in the search for WVU’s athletic director.
Lyons is a well-respected administrator who came to West Virginia from Alabama, where he had served as deputy athletic director from 2011 to 2015. Lyons’ career includes multiple prestigious appointments, as he has chaired the Big 12 athletic directors group and served on the NCAA Division I Council and its football oversight committee. He’s also a part of the NCAA transformation committee.
Alsop, the interim AD, comes from a political background. He earned undergraduate and law school degrees from West Virginia. He has worked in various roles for Earl Ray Tomblin and Joe Manchin in their previous terms as state governor.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are rolling. The Carolina Hurricanes are reeling.
Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves, and the Panthers beat the Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk also scored in another tone-setting opening 20 minutes for the Panthers, while Carter Verhaeghe had three assists in the win.
“It might have been natural for us to take a little bit to get going tonight, and it was the exact opposite,” said Tkachuk, whose putaway off the feed from Verhaeghe at the crease marked his first goal since Game 3 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning. “It was an unreal start from us. The goals aside, just the way we played in the first period was as good as it gets. Yeah, that’s just a hell of a road trip.”
Florida had already ripped home-ice advantage away Tuesday night with a 5-2 win, the opener in a rematch of the 2023 conference finals swept by the Panthers with four one-goal wins. Florida tightened its grip on the series with this one and now heads back south to host Game 3 on Saturday night.
Bennett scored a second time by skating in to clean up an attempt at the right post in the final minute of the second period to make it 4-0, ending a long shift in Carolina’s end prolonged by Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns being stuck on the ice after breaking his stick. Aleksander Barkov added a goal midway through the third as punctuation.
Bobrovsky had his third shutout of the playoffs this year and the sixth of his career, with Florida’s defense smothering a Carolina team that typically peppers the net with shots but found little daylight.
Florida has won four straight road games by a combined score of 22-4, this time sending Hurricanes fans fleeing for the exits early.
“It’s fun when you’re on the road and it goes quiet,” Verhaeghe said. “It feels like we’re doing our job.”
It wasn’t all great news for Florida. Veteran forward Sam Reinhart was knocked from the game in the first period after taking a hit from Sebastian Aho in the left leg, causing Reinhart’s knee to bend awkwardly.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after the game that Reinhart would be evaluated Friday and that there would be no update on Reinhart’s status until Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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