The upper levels of Alabama’s athletics administration saw a few top names leave for AD jobs.

Now, it has a former staff member making the move back to Tuscaloosa after holding one of those top jobs. Shane Lyons, who reportedly resigned under pressure as West Virginia’s AD last week, was hired as Alabama’s executive deputy director of athletics and COO.

Lyons worked under former athletics directors Mal Moore and Bill Battle as a deputy AD from 2011-15.

His departure from West Virginia was announced last Monday after seven seasons at his alma mater. Multiple news outlets in the state reported the move was made under pressure. The Metro News described a “tense meeting” with president Gorden Gee the Sunday night before the news was announced.

Lyons replaces J Batt as the chief operating officer after he was hired as Georgia Tech’s new athletics director last month. That came a few months after Executive Deputy AD Jeff Purinton left to be the Arkansas State athletics director.

Lyons was named 2021 NACDA athletics director of the year who has 35 years of athletics administrative experience. He served as chair of the NCAA Transformation Committee organized to chart a new future for the governing body.

Before leaving for West Virginia, Lyons’ role at Alabama included oversight of the budget and day-to-day operations of the department.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.