The University of Louisville has named Vince Tyra the permanent athletics director. Tyra had served in an interim role after previous AD Tom Jurich was placed on leave then fired last fall.
The university's Board of Trustees approved removing the 'interim' tag on Monday. Tyra will receive a five year, $850,000 annual contract.
One of his first decisions as permanent athletics director will be to hire a men's basketball coach. UofL announced they would not retain interim head coach David Padgett last Wednesday.
Here is the full release from UofL announcing the hiring:
Vince Tyra Named Vice President and Director of Athletics at UofL
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following a nationwide search, the University of Louisville Board of Trustees has approved the appointment of Vincent Tyra as UofL’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics and athletics director.
The UofL board approved a five-year agreement with Tyra (pronounced TIE-ray) at a special meeting March 26 following recommendations from a university-wide search committee and the UofL Athletics Association Board of Directors.
Tyra has served as interim athletics director since Oct. 3, 2017.
A Louisville native with strong business and athletics credentials, Tyra has been highly active since assuming his interim position, using his business acumen, passion for Cardinal Athletics and background in athletics to lead UofL during a period of transition.
“We are convinced that Vince Tyra is the right fit to lead the UofL athletics program,” said UofL’s Interim President Greg Postel, MD. “He has provided strong leadership while continuing to move the Cardinals forward in all sports, building upon the legacy of previous athletics successes and taking the time to personally reach out to the UofL fan base and donors as much as possible. The feedback we received from donors, community members, employees, athletes, the ACC and colleagues throughout the country has been extremely positive.”
While in his interim capacity, Tyra has taken steps to stabilize the future of the Cardinals by extending the contracts for key UofL coaches and making moves to efficiently restructure the administrative and support staff, with an emphasis on enhancing the student-athlete experience. He has monitored UofL’s ongoing capital projects, including the Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium expansion to be completed in late summer and outfitting of a broadcast center on campus in advance of the launch of the ACC Network in August, 2019.
Tyra is just the third athletics director for the Cardinals in the last 38 years, following Tom Jurich (1997-2017) and Bill Olsen (1980-1997).
“It’s an honor to take the reins of such an outstanding athletics program with its rich tradition of success,” Tyra said. “I look forward to continuing to work with our coaches and staff to put an outstanding product on the field while ensuring the success of our student athletes and representing UofL in a manner that will make the entire university family proud.”
Prior to his appointment at UofL, Tyra served as an operating partner since 2007 for Southfield Capital, a Greenwich, Conn. based private equity firm that invests in lower middle market companies. In his role there, Tyra served as chairman of the board of many investments, including Hallcon Corp, RCR International, Total Fleet Solutions, Dealer Financial Services, and BioPharm Communications. Tyra most recently served as chairman of the board and interim Chief Executive Officer of Elite Medical, a company based in Clearwater, Fla.
Tyra operated as a corporate advisor from 2013-16 for ISCO Industries, a privately held piping supply company based in Louisville. He also formerly served as the president of Retail and Activewear for Fruit of the Loom in Bowling Green, Ky.
Tyra has served as a member of the University of Louisville Foundation Board of Directors and chaired the organization's Finance Committee. He joined the board in February 2017, but stepped down from the position after his appointment with Cardinal Athletics. He has served on the board of Industrial Services of America, a Louisville-based scrap metal recycling company.
A standout athlete, Tyra graduated from Trinity High School in Louisville in 1984 as the state’s top baseball prospect and was inducted into the school’s hall of fame. He was a four-year baseball letterman (1985-88) and two-time team captain at the University of Kentucky, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in health administration in 1988. He started 37 career games as a pitcher, tied for 14th all-time at UK.
A long-time supporter of UofL Athletics, Tyra is the son of Charlie Tyra, a consensus All-America at UofL who led the Cardinals to the 1956 National Invitation Tournament Championship. Charlie Tyra is one of four players, along with Wes Unseld, Darrell Griffith and Pervis Ellison, whose jersey numbers have been retired at UofL
Tyra and his wife Lori have five children: Sydney, Audrey, Olivia, Spencer and Cooper.