If you aren’t moving forward, you’re falling behind.

That’s the battle that West Virginia Director of Athletics Shane Lyons inevitably faces with the never-ending arms race that is facilities across the landscape of college football.

A battle that Lyons believes that the Mountaineers must continue to improve in the coming years based on where the program currently sits on the totem pole against conference foes.

“Looking at football in the Big 12 we’re last from an overall facility football complex,” he said. “That’s hard for me to say – I don’t want to be last in anything but that’s the true reality.”

Lyons makes the reference to the television commercials that things from a facility standpoint are just “OK,” for now but in order to take the next steps it must be better than OK when you’re trying to attract high level football players to the school.

There are certainly pieces that are the exception to what Lyons is stating such as the new team room, the training room and training table area as well as the weight room but as a whole the football facilities must continue to improve compared to the schools that the program competes against.

West Virginia joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012, increasing their annual revenue from only around $7 or $8 million per year in the Big East to nearly $38 million in 2018. When you consider those years in the early 2000’s until 2012, the Mountaineers were behind the eight ball compared to teams that were already making more money in power five leagues such as the Big 12, ACC and Big 10.

Those teams made anywhere between $15-25 million per year which while not a huge increase in one season over the span of a decade makes for a sizable gap.

“Take that by ten years and that’s $100 million that they’ve had more time over the last 10-15 years,” Lyons said. “We had $7 million up until 2012 and now that’s what I’m trying to play catch up to.”

That’s why Lyons and the athletic department continue to focus on improving facilities in the near future and beyond. He points to the improvements made with baseball and soccer and the results that have followed from the improvements there as a reference of what updated facilities can provide for programs.

“Football is OK and we’ve had success but do we want to be just an OK program? If that’s what we have my feeling is that’s what we’re going to be just an OK program. But if we invest in what we’re doing with our student athletes – what they compete and train and practice in every day we’re going to get better,” he said. “That’s the dice I’m rolling, trying to get better.”

Lyons credits the football program for the success they have been able to accomplish over the years but doing more with less is not a model that he wants to have for the future. And that starts with being able to recruit a higher level of athlete by showing them facilities and a clear vision.

“When they come in here we’re showing them where we’re heading and do you want to be a part of this? I think that’s exciting,” Lyons said.

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