PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – “I hear that it’s hard. Hard is not impossible.”
When asked about the challenges of finding money in today’s world of college athletics, those are the words of Pitt athletic director Allen Greene on Wednesday.
“We surpassed our fundraising record ever last fiscal year and our intention is to do that every single year,” Greene said. “Yes, progress has been made. We got to make more progress. Our fans and our donors have stepped up and responded. We need more. There needs to be more.”
Greene won’t share specifics on how much they’ve raised and there is no reliable list of salaries of other ACC or other conferences football or men’s basketball teams. Don’t let it be confused that while all athletic departments are committed to every program, where the money goes now are to those two sports.
The parameters vary monthly, if not daily. While the commitment to fundraising for revenue share has dominated the last couple of months, as Greene put it, the rules of engagement have changed, yet again.
“And now the focus is above the cap NIL,” Greene said. “So what was a ceiling of rev share at $20.5 million is now a floor. Any program that wants to compete at the national level has to secure about the cap NIL dollars.”
“How that is playing out is from the community. We have a distinct advantage in our community that we have lots of local businesses in Pittsburgh.”
Pitt has changed its internal structure to get participation from those businesses. Greene said those partnerships are vital to Pitt’s success. He said the onus for success is not just the athletic department or the athletes and coaches, it’s on the community.
“We all have to put our money where our mouth is,” Greene said. “If we want to have a football program that makes it to the ACC Championship and makes it to the CFP. If we want to have a basketball program that makes it to the NCAA Tournament, then it’s incumbent upon all of us to come together and support these programs in this new era.”
He said the ability is there to succeed. It’s about trying to stay ahead of the next turns in the road and then communicating that to the fan base and community.
“Hard is not impossible.”