Louisville AD makes another shocking move after FSU rejection

Vince Tyra has submitted his letter of resignation to Louisville, per Cameron Teague of the Louisville Courier Journal. It is effective Dec. 8, so he formally left the job on Wednesday.

According to Teague, Louisville’s board of trustees met Wednesday and voted to let Tyra out of his non-compete clause, opening the door for him to take Florida State’s open AD job. The board also got rid of his three-day notice to terminate employment, allowing him to resign that night.

Tyra took over as interim athletic director in 2017 after Louisville fired former athletic director Tom Jurich due to a widespread corruption scandal. He moved to the full-time role in 2018 and has held that position ever since. Tyra has fired both head football coach Scott Satterfield and head basketball coach Chris Mack.

The 56-year-old Louisville native worked in private equity prior to joining the world of college athletics. He played baseball at Kentucky from 1985-1988.

Tyra turns down Seminoles

After it was assumed the Louisville athletic director would head to Tallahassee following this resignation, Tyra rejected taking the position at Florida State on Thursday in a surprising move.

Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde reported Florida State University had a “mutual and serious” interest in Tyra to fill the same position. Originally, Forde stated that a resolution could’ve come as soon as last Monday. Obviously, it hasn’t happened — and now seems seriously in doubt. 

According to Forde, Tyra was looking to leave Louisville due to “strained relations” between himself and Louisville President Neeli Bendapudi. However, news broke on Thursday that Bendapudi was leaving Louisville to become the next president of Penn State.

Evidently, the turn of events regarding Bendapudi influenced Tyra’s decision to turn down Florida State. As for the Seminoles, their search remains ongoing. They are looking to replace former athletic director David Coburn, who had held the position since 2019.

On3’s Stephen Samra contributed to this report.