Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra is working U of L out of a funding jam

By temperament and training, Vince Tyra is prepared for trouble. He has experience, after all, as a relief pitcher.

“When I came out of the bullpen, I didn’t really care how (runners) got on base,” the University of Louisville’s athletic director said. “I just had to get the guy out in front of me. I was just focused on the batter.”

Considering the jam Tyra inherited at U of L, the analogy is apt. With the university already serving NCAA probation for one salacious scandal and facing the possibility of further sanctions over an incriminating FBI investigation, Tyra went to work 18 months ago beset by high anxiety, unprecedented upheaval and disappearing donors.

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In baseball terms, the bases were loaded with no outs. Looking back, Tyra jokes, “Might have been a couple guys on second base.” Yet with a sales pitch as effective as his peak fastball, Tyra appears to have worked his way out of danger.

L&N Federal Credit Union’s $2 million naming rights deal announced Thursday will result in a rebranding of U of L’s volleyball arena and represents the fifth seven-figure sponsorship Tyra and his staff have closed in the last year. The total value of those five deals is $17.5 million. Another $4.2 million has been raised from individual donations between $1,000 and $300,000 over the last 12 months.

Money remains tight in Cardinal athletics, and not only because of Bobby Petrino’s $14 million buyout, as Tyra advised the University of Louisville Athletic Association Friday morning. Yet after landing only one seven-figure deal amid the first-year fallout from the firings of Tom Jurich and Rick Pitino, and having multiple individual donors renege on their pledges, U of L athletics has not only regained traction with major sponsors but picked up its pace.

According to athletic department figures, the last 12 months have been the most productive period for million-dollar deals in at least a decade, and by a wide margin. In coaxing commitments from PNC Bank ($5 million), Kentucky Farm Bureau ($2.5 million), Planet Fitness ($3 million), UPS ($5 million) and L&N Federal Credit Union ($2 million) since last May, Tyra’s seven-figure deals have outstripped every other 12-month period since 2009 by at least $6 million.

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It may also have laid a foundation for future funding by showing potential donors the confidence and commitment of corporate sponsors.

“It’s made our other conversations with future corporate donors and high net worth individuals much easier,” he said.

Conscious of the division caused by the abrupt departures of Jurich and Pitino and the hard feelings that have since festered, Tyra’s general strategy has been to maintain contact with established donors but to refrain from soliciting them until he has formulated a specific wish list. To that end, hiring the Populous architecture and design firm earlier this month will result in A) an extensive facilities study, B) a list of priority projects and, then, C) a bigger push for donor dollars.

“I don’t want to do it until we have a project in mind,” Tyra said. “I’m not looking to raise money just to raise money. I think you should be strategic in when you do it, as noted by engaging with Populous. The reason I want to spend the money there is because it gives us a road map of all the projects we need over the coming years, whether they be $200,000 or $10 million.’’

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If Tom Jurich was the architect of Louisville athletics, Tyra’s role is renovation. Few people in his field have started work with so much damage to undo and so many bridges to rebuild, but the heaviest lifting may be behind him.

“You never know when you get into these things what you’re going to endure,” Tyra said. “It’s a test of your leadership. I just use my personal example, being a former baseball pitcher. ... You solve it one out at a time, one problem at a time. All the noise, all the negativity, it doesn’t wear on me.”

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/tims.