LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – Vince Tyra has set a self-imposed deadline of hiring a new coach this week, though he wouldn't say who that coach might be.
He says the plan is for that new coach to represent the university at the men's final four in San Antonio.
“I’m very fortunate,” Vince Tyra said. “I’ve inherited a great stable of coaches, athletes, facilities. Tom has left us in a great position without a doubt.”
Vince Tyra says in his 6 months as the interim athletic director he has identified one thing that needs to change.
“In business, if you create the right culture the grass will kill the weeds,” Tyra said. “Those that are there won’t be a part of what we want to accomplish successfully going forward.”
Killing the weeds as he put it will help clean up the image of the University of Louisville after multiple scandals.
“Running a clean program certainly has cultural aspects to it,” Tyra said. “Who you hire and who you recruit will solve some of the issues that we may have. Things are going to happen along the way. Your knowledge of that, and how you deal with that, is important.”
But in the eyes of former players like Jerry Eaves that’s not the only thing that needs to change from the Jurich Era.
“We had a lot of close door situations with Coach Pitino and Tom Jurich,” Jerry Eaves said. “They pushed people away and they didn’t let alumnus around.”
An open-door policy could help win over not only former players but coaches as well.
“We’ve had a great relationship to this point,” UofL women’s coach Jeff Walz said. “I don’t expect anything to change. Now it gives us some certainty and some security of knowing who is going to be the athletic director. Not just for me, but for all of the coaches.”
While hiring a new men’s basketball coach is the first goal on his list, winning over the hearts of fans isn’t far behind.
“We’ve certainly got a disjointed fan base and the only thing we can do is earn their credibility back with good decisions and doing what you think is right,” Tyra said.
It must be pointed out that the University spent $150,000 on a search firm that led them back to Tyra.
Per the terms of his agreement with UofL Tyra will be paid $850,000 per year over the next 5 years to be their athletic director with the potential of $150,000 in bonuses per year that is to be approved at the discretion of the board.