Louisville promotes Tyra to athletics director; men’s coach announcement expected this week

The University of Louisville on Monday removed the interim tag from Vince Tyra’s title, and made him its new director of athletics.

The Athletics Association met for more than two hours Monday morning, much of it in closed session. Just before noon it went into open session and its personnel committee unanimously recommended Tyra as the new A.D. The full association board then went back into closed session shortly before also voting unanimously for Tyra.

Tyra’s hiring was then approved by the Board of Trustees.

“I’m certainly very happy to be here, and I can’t tell you how proud and excited I am to be named the director of athletics at the University of Louisville,” Tyra said upon his introduction.

Tyra, a Louisville businessman and former University of Kentucky baseball player and graduate is the son of Charlie Tyra, a Cardinals basketball legend, who played in the mid-1950s and whose jersey was the first retired by the program.

“We were raised as Cardinals,” Tyra said. “We were U of L fans our whole childhood, my siblings and so forth, and I couldn’t be happier to lead this process with the university. It really came at a perfect time for me and my life personally and professionally.”

Tyra was reportedly one of three candidates presented by the search firm Korn Ferry to be considered Monday morning at a special meeting of the U of L Board of Trustees and Athletics Association. The other two candidates were not named. Louisville interim president Gregory Postel said 50 candidates were on the firm’s initial list.

Postel praised Tyra’s work as interim A.D., noting he had worked well with the administration and all of the university’s athletics programs and coaches and earned praise from NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference officials in his work with them.

“To put it simply, he has proven to be a perfect fit for U of L,” Postel said.

Tyra received a five-year-contract worth $850,000 annually plus bonuses.

One of Tyra’s first acts is expected to be the hiring of a new men’s basketball coach, which could occur as soon as Tuesday. Xavier head coach Chris Mack has been speculated as Louisville’s top choice. University of Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne, a former Louisville player, has also been mentioned as a candidate. Interim head coach David Padgett announced last week he would not be retained.

Earlier Monday, WAVE sportscaster Kent Taylor reported that a Mack representative had informed a recruit that “they are now actually recruiting for Louisville.”

Tyra would not comment on coaching speculation Monday, but noted he has a self-imposed deadline on when to make an announcement.

“We’re in the coaching carousel,” Tyra said. “We’re going to see the ticker tape at the bottom of ESPN every day with changes. There’s going to be people that drop off, and it just creates a domino effect.”

Tyra said it’s important to have a head coach named ahead of the Final Four because that event represents an opportunity for that person to represent the university there and potentially recruit top quality assistant coaches and staff.

Tyra has led Louisville athletics since the firing of former A.D. Tom Jurich in October in the wake of the FBI investigation into allege corruption in college basketball. Louisville was referenced in a headline-making indictment in September, but no one at Louisville has been charged in the alleged scheme.

Still, the taint of the inquiry compounded by the escort scandal that led to Louisville having to forfeit its 2013 NCAA title, proved to be the last straw for the university with Jurich and former head coach Rick Pitino.

A Trinity High School graduate, Tyra was once CEO and President of ISCO Industries, a piping manufacturer based in Louisville. He has also worked for Fruit of the Loom, BioPharm and several other companies.

Vince Tyra came onto the U of L Foundation board last February and became chairman of its finance committee. He has been credited with tightening the books of an organization that came under scrutiny under former U of L president James Ramsey.

This story was originally published March 26, 2018 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Louisville promotes Tyra to athletics director; men’s coach announcement expected this week."