Update, 6:46 p.m. — Since the publication of this post, Lynn Holleran, Carl Heck, Tom McGrath, and Michael Cross no longer have their Penn State profiles come up in an internet search. As of late Thursday night, all of them still had a link to their profile, but an error popped up when it was clicked on. Now, they’re nowhere to be found.

Orginal Story — When Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft arrived in Happy Valley last year, he brought along two of his high-ranking officials from his time at Boston College. He hired Vinnie James as deputy athletic director for internal operations and brought aboard Adam Miller as the deputy athletic director for external affairs and engagement.

What we didn’t know at the time, however, was that it was the beginning of a major shakeup among Penn State Athletics’ leadership.

Five assistant athletic directors — Scott Sidwell (external deputy athletic director), Lynn Holleran (deputy athletic director for administration), Carl Heck (senior associate athletic director for capital projects), Tom McGrath (associate athletic director for business relations), and Michael Cross (assistant athletic director for new business development) — are no longer in the Penn State Athletics staff directory.

Furthermore, when you google search and click on their Penn State profiles, the following error comes up for each of them, with the exception of Sidwell, whose profile doesn’t even come up in a search anymore.

Exactly two weeks ago, all five administrators were still listed in the directory.

In response to a request for comment, Athletics confirmed there have been “recent staff changes” but declined to give specific names or more specific information.

“Over the last several months, Penn State Athletics’ leadership has reviewed the department’s overall operation, including budget optimization and reorganization of the department’s structure, which has resulted in recent staff changes,” the spokesperson said. “We have no further comment regarding personnel matters.”

If the five previously mentioned officials were involved in the “recent staff changes,” they would depart Penn State after serving as prominent figures in Athletics during their tenures. McGrath is the longest-tenured of the five, having been in his role since 2014. Holleran and Cross have been at Penn State since 2015, while Sidwell and Heck came aboard in 2019.