 Byrne in 2021 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Athletic director |
| Team | Alabama |
| Conference | SEC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1971-11-29)November 29, 1971 (age 53) Pocatello, Idaho, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Arizona State University (1994) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1994–1995 | Fiesta Bowl |
| 1995–1998 | Oregon (Asst. AD) |
| 1998–2002 | Oregon State (Assoc. AD) |
| 2002–2005 | Kentucky (Assoc. AD) |
| 2006–2008 | Mississippi State (Sr. Assoc.) |
| 2008–2010 | Mississippi State |
| 2010–2017 | Arizona |
| 2017–present | Alabama |
Greg Byrne (born November 29, 1971) is an American sports administrator who is theathletic director at theUniversity of Alabama.[1] Prior to this appointment, Byrne was the athletic director at theUniversity of Arizona from 2010-2017,[2] the athletic director atMississippi State University from 2008–2010 after serving as associate athletic director for the preceding two years. Previously, Byrne held associate director of athletics positions atUniversity of Kentucky, andOregon State University.
Byrne was born inPocatello, Idaho.[3][4] He attendedSheldon High School inEugene, Oregon,[5][6][7] and earned his bachelor's degree atArizona State University in 1994 and then his master's degree atMississippi State University in 2009.[8] In 1995 Byrne was named the regional director of development for theUniversity of Oregon athletic department, serving as a regional fundraiser for the U of O in regions inSouthern Oregon,Northern California,Portland metropolitan area, along with areas inSeattle. Byrne then moved toOregon State University as an associate AD for development in 1998 where his duties included fundraising. From 2002 to 2005, Byrne was the associate AD for development and fundraising at theUniversity of Kentucky.
In a brief departure from his athletic administration career, Byrne was the national director of sales for a litigation case management and research software company in 2005.[9] In 2006, Byrne joinedMississippi State University as associate athletic director for external affairs and was subsequently named as athletic director in 2008 following the move of longtime MSU athletic director Larry Templeton to an advisory post to the President of the university. Byrne is married to the former Regina Misa ofJunction City, Oregon, and has two sons, Nick and Davis.[8] Byrne's fatherBill Byrne is the former athletics director atTexas A&M University.
Byrne was the athletic director forMississippi State University. On June 7, 2008, Byrne hiredJohn Cohen as head baseball coach to replaceRon Polk, who retired the preceding March. Polk, who endorsed his assistantTommy Raffo upon his retirement, protested the hire and waged a very personal and public attack on Byrne.[10]
On December 10, 2008, Byrne hiredDan Mullen as head football coach to replaceSylvester Croom who resigned after five years and a 21–38 record at Mississippi State.[11] Byrne received many plaudits for hiring Mullen, who was considered a rising star in coaching.[12] Among Mullen's accomplishments, he coached NFL first round draft pickAlex Smith atUniversity of Utah, recruited 2007Heisman Trophy winnerTim Tebow toUniversity of Florida where he also won two National Championships.
On March 22, 2010, Greg Byrne was hired at theUniversity of Arizona (replacing longtime Arizona AD Jim Livengood, who accepted the AD position atUNLV some months prior) and officially started in his new position on May 1, 2010. Byrne took over a long-term $378 million sports expansion project at Arizona, announced the previous fall, that would include an expansion of the north end zone stands atArizona Stadium. The expansion would include a four-story building that would house locker rooms and football offices, among other things.[13] In January 2011, Byrne announced that a new 5,356-square-foot (497.6 m2) video board would be installed above the south stands in time for the 2011 season. It is the sixth-largest video screen in college football.[14][15]
Also under Byrne, another, more immediate and major change to the Wildcat football program occurred: eight-year head coachMike Stoops was relieved of his duties on Oct 10, 2011 after the Wildcats opened the season with a 1–5 record. Co-defensive coordinatorTim Kish was named as interim head coach.[16]
On November 21, 2011, Arizona announced the hiring ofRich Rodriguez to replace Stoops. Rodriguez previously served as the head football coach atSalem University (1988),Glenville State College (1990–1996),West Virginia (2001–2007), and theUniversity of Michigan (2008–2010); he was also assistant coach,offensive coordinator, and quarterback coach forTulane University (1997–1998) andClemson University (1999–2000) (both under head coachTommy Bowden).
Rodriguez' West Virginia teams played in (and won) three consecutiveBCS bowl games. Rodriguez was an analyst forCBS Sports during the 2011 football season after a less-than-successful and disappointing tenure at Michigan. His hiring at Arizona was first announced by Greg Byrne onTwitter[17] while a press conference officially announcing him as the head coach was held a day later atMcKale Center in Tucson.[18]
In 2012, after making the decision to move the Arizona Wildcats baseball team from their on-campus stadium to the off-campusHi Corbett Field, the Arizona Wildcats possessed the third-highest attendance on the West Coast and hosted both a Regional and Super Regional. The team went on to win the2012 College World Series, Byrne's first championship as Athletic Director.
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Early in his Alabama tenure, Byrne extended the contract of head coachNick Saban making him the highest-paid coach in college football history. Byrne also made changes to the Alabama baseball program, hiring head coachBrad Bohannon. In 2019, he firedmen's basketball coachAvery Johnson and hiredNate Oats. That same year, the football team went on to win theCollege Football Playoff national championship game, Byrne's second championship as Athletic Director. In January 2024, he quickly hiredKalen DeBoer ofWashington to serve as successor to legendary football coach Nick Saban following his unanticipated retirement.