Who could be considered for Pitt's athletic director opening and what challenges are they facing?

Pitt Chancellor Joan T.A. Gabel will face challenges on several fronts while seeking to fill the school’s vacancy at athletic director. Two are largely financial and one is more basic, but just as difficult to navigate: finding the right person.

On the money side:

• The $250 million Victory Heights project — championed by former AD Heather Lyke so vigorously that she paid for it with her job — is under construction next door to Petersen Events Center. Only 17 months ago, Lyke told reporters that $12 million of the total cost had been raised.

Finding the remainder for a facility that will not house or benefit the revenue sports — football and basketball — will be difficult for Gabel and her new AD.

• There is also the significant matter of paying for revenue sharing with student-athletes that the NCAA and the power conferences agreed to do earlier this year. The implementation of the plan remains stuck in the courts, but ESPN.com reported that it will cost each school roughly $20 million.

On the positive side, Lyke has left the football and men’s basketball programs in stable hands, with coaches Pat Narduzzi and Jeff Capel signed through 2030. Other programs on campus are more successful than those revenue sports, including women’s volleyball, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation, and the men’s and women’s soccer programs that each have had recent deep runs in the NCAA Tournament.

There will be calls for Pitt to hire an athletic director who has ties to the university either as a graduate or long-time, loyal employee. Here’s a look at some possible candidates:

• One man who might be considered is Chris LaSala, a West Virginia graduate who has been with Pitt’s football program for 28 years, nine as associate athletic director for football administration. He works closely with Narduzzi on a daily basis.

• Pat Bostick, an honors graduate with two degrees from Pitt, has worked in athletic administration at the university since 2012. A former Pitt quarterback and current radio color analyst on football broadcasts, Bostick has built a strong relationship with donors and is Senior Associate Athletics Director of Development, Major Gifts.

• Pitt graduate Louis Riddick, who has served in the front office of multiple NFL teams, is a nationally recognized name who might interest Gabel. Riddick, a football analyst for ESPN, played defensive back at Pitt from 1987-90 and twice in the past seven years has been a featured speaker at Pitt football’s annual kickoff luncheons.

• Another Pitt graduate with personnel experience in the NFL who could translate to college administration is Doug Whaley. A former pro personnel coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers and general manager of the Buffalo Bills, he is close to the Pitt football program as senior advisor of player administration for Pitt’s NIL collective, Alliance 412. He played defensive back at Pitt (1990-93) after graduating from Upper St. Clair High School.

Pitt hasn’t had a Pitt graduate serve as athletic director since Frank Carver, who held the position from 1959-68 and was replaced by West Point grad Casimir Myslinski.

Myslinski served until 1982, but since then, no Pitt AD has held the job longer than nine consecutive years (Ed Bozik, 1982-91). Bozik was followed by Oval Jaynes (1991-96), Steve Pederson (two terms, 1996-2002 and 2007-14), Jeff Long (2003-07), Scott Barnes (2015-16) and Lyke (2017-24).

Two of the past three ADs (Pederson and Lyke) have been fired. Barnes, Pederson (after his first term) and Long left for the same job at other institutions.

While Gabel starts the interview and vetting process, Jennifer Tuscano, the interim AD, will run the department.

Tuscano has served in several compliance, academic, sports performance and administrative capacities at Pitt since 2004. She also was a member of Lyke’s executive staff. Tuscano is a 1999 graduate of Pitt-Johnstown, where she played basketball for four years.