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Year One in the Books for WVU's Lyons
February 04, 2016 02:11 PM | Football
My, how time flies!
West Virginia University director of athletics Shane Lyons has now been on the job for a full year.
It was this time a year ago when Lyons was beginning to reacquaint himself with WVU athletics following a successful three-year tenure as Alabama’s No. 2 administrator.
Since then, a lot has happened on and off the field for the Mountaineers. Lyons touched on this and other topics during his exclusive 20-minute interview for Wednesday’s Mountaineer Football Signing Day Special, presented by United Bank.
The on-field stuff has been obvious – a Sweet 16 run for Bob Huggins’ men’s basketball program last season and a top-15 ranking this year; a return to the top 25 for Mike Carey’s women’s basketball program in 2016; another NCAA title for Jon Hammond’s dynastic Mountaineer rifle program in 2015 and No. 1 ranking so far this season; an Elite Eight run for Nikki Izzo-Brown’s women’s soccer program; a return to the top 25 for women’s gymnastics and another bowl victory for Mountaineer football.
The off-the-field stuff is now starting to become obvious, too – cranes and construction crews are seemingly everywhere. Work continues on the east concourse at Milan Puskar Stadium to improve the fan experience at Mountaineer football games and in the near future that work will transition to the west side of the stadium as well. The practice field was also recently renovated giving the team an improved venue to prepare for the season.
And, the field crown is in the process of being removed from Milan Puskar Stadium to make way for a brand new playing surface that will be ready for the 2016 season.
That’s just Milan Puskar Stadium.
Construction work is also about to begin at the WVU Coliseum, which entails the widening of the concourses with improved fan amenities planned for Mountaineer athletic events at the 45-year-old facility, the construction of a brand new Olympic Sports weight training facility that will reside next to the Shell Building and becoming a key tenant at Mylan Park in 2017 once it completes construction of an aquatics center and outdoor track complex.
What Lyons is currently overseeing is perhaps the most ambitious capital improvement campaign in athletic department history.
“A lot of good things are happening right now,” Lyons said Wednesday morning. “Year one for me was just focusing on the plans for our facilities. Year two, Mountaineer Nation will begin to see those facilities come out of the ground. Once basketball season is finished, we will begin the process of renovating the Coliseum. We are planning to build a new Olympic sports weight room, as well as everything we’re doing over here at football, I think those things are all starting to come together.
“The goal is to finish those in a first-class manner and just continue to look at what we can do as a department. Are there any additional revenue streams that can help us continue to operate at the highest level?”
Lyons has made it known that his No. 1 objective is having a department that is focused on the development and well-being of its student-athletes. How can West Virginia University help its student-athletes thrive on the playing field and succeed in life?
“I think it’s caring about the kid and REALLY caring about the kid,” he explained. “You can get that vibe when you come on visits and we want to be a school that cares about our student-athletes, both athletically and academically. Building facilities are not just important for the recruitment of the student-athlete, but also the wellness of the student-athlete for the four or five years they are at West Virginia University. They spend a lot of time at these facilities.
“These are 17- to 22-year-olds, 23-year-olds in some cases, and they do have issues in their life and how can we help them get through those issues as a department and build that family culture? I’ve said it since I went to school here – once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer, and that always holds true.”
Lyons addressed several other topics on Wednesday:
On the consideration of an early signing period for football … “I think having just one special day is not the right thing,” he said. “There are kids who commit early in the process and now we have to continue recruiting them until this one day. I’d like to see it where the signing period is a little bit longer. If a young man wants to sign with an institution they have a larger window to sign and then our coaches can focus on athletes that have not committed. I think that needs to continue to be looked at.
“It has been looked at over the last three to five years, but I think there is momentum gaining to have a longer signing period for football. When does that start? It could start in September and continue through December, but giving them a larger window gets us away from having to recruit committed kids for an extra three, four, five or six months. It would eliminate a lot of stress on a lot of people.”
On the academic success of West Virginia University’s student-athletes this past year … “Our graduation rates are up, our (Academic Progress Rate) scores were solid and we had 11 teams that had a 3.0 or higher grade point average out of 18 sports. The other five are around a 2.8 to 2.9 and it’s something we have been stressing a lot to our coaches. The important thing is to prepare our student-athletes for life, and that’s graduating. So making sure they are doing the work in the class room is very important.”
Concerning the geographic footprint of the Big 12 Conference along the East Coast … “Geographical footprints of conferences have changed so much over the last five years,” he said. “The Big 12 now has West Virginia, which brings it a little closer to the East Coast. The SEC goes into Missouri and now into Texas with Texas A&M, so obviously that’s changing recruiting. People want to play in the Power 5 conferences, so we’ve got to maintain who we are as a conference. Obviously having Oklahoma in this year’s playoff was very important for the conference and something we need to keep striving for.”
On the developing Big 12 brand in this part of the country … “The Big 12 brand has spread into the East Coast and the West Virginia brand has now spread into the Midwest and Southwest,” he said. “As long as we can continue as a whole – we are all in this together – of having teams ranked nationally that helps the brand of the Big 12 Conference. All of the athletes we are attracting across the board are looking for that national brand and the reputation of teams that want to compete for national championships.”
On continuing to emphasize West Virginia University's Big 12 affiliation as a great alternative when recruiting locally … “I’m glad to see us go back to our roots, even after we joined the Big 12. Go after those kids in the Baltimore area, the Ohio area, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina where we have had success in the past. Now they understand the Big 12 brand and what that means. I think our TV partners have done a great job of exposing the Big 12 Conference, and being a part of that has really helped us as an institution.”
On the future of the Big 12 and what it could look like … “We go back and forth on that: are we at a disadvantage by being at 10? I know there has been some discussion of that out there but you look at our league, overall, in football, men’s basketball, in women’s basketball, baseball … you can keep naming off the sports where this conference is very respected among the other Power 5 conferences.
“I’m not sure what that does if we go to 12 or we go to 14. We need to keep exploring it but at the same time, we shouldn’t just be adding to add. We need to look at where we are as a conference and where do we want to head? Part of that discussion in football is whether or not we want to add a conference championship game. The legislation has passed enabling us to do that as 10 members. Now the question is: do we want to do that? Those are things we’ve got to vet and talk about. I don’t think any decisions are going to be made immediately, however. I think as a conference we’re solid right now and we have to look at how we can continue to be solid in the future.”
On West Virginia’s adjustment to the Big 12 Conference since joining the league in 2012 … “I’ve had an opportunity to work in the SEC, the ACC, and culturally, West Virginia fits very well with the Big 12 Conference,” he concluded.
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