New AD

[Wildcat05]

Rivals is reporting that we have a new AD, Greg Byrne formally the AD at Mississippi State University.

Anyone know about this guy? Is this a good hire?

 

[Dback Jon]

Arizona State Grad...

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/ua/articles/2010/03/22/20100322arizona-wildcats-hire-ad.html

STARKVILLE, Miss. - The University of Arizona hired Mississippi State's Greg Byrne as its athletic director on Monday.

The 38-year-old Byrne, who graduated from Arizona State in 1994, was hired as Mississippi State's athletic director in February 2008. His tenure in Starkville included the hiring of Florida assistant Dan Mullen as the football coach.

 

[Mulli]

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Interesting hire. Apparently a real up and comer. Here is a post from someone a lot closer to the situation then any of us....

Hey Guys! Ole Miss fan here!
Ole Miss is definitely Mississippi State's biggest rival and I can tell you that our fanbase is VERY happy to see Byrne leave Mississippi State.

While at Mississippi State, Byrne reenergized their fanbase with numerous fundraising projects and made some very good hires considering where he's attracting them to (just visit Starkville, Mississippi and you'll know what I'm saying). He first hired Cohen for baseball, and then Mullen for football. Both are very solid hires considering.

Byrne also didn't play too much into politics. He's going to do things his way. His biggest problem at Mississippi State was he was in the SEC and, although doing a great job, couldn't raise the funds to keep up with Alabama, Florida, Georgia, etc.

Byrne is also the kind of guy that is very interactive with the fans, something you guys will like. i have a best friend that is a Mississippi State fan and sent him an email about some matter he was having with season tickets or something, and Byrne not only wrote him back, but took care of the matter himself and called him person-to-person to let him know.

With a budget like Arizona's, there's no doubt that Byrne will make his mark at Arizona, trust me. If ya'll don't like him, trust me, we'll trade you for Pete Boone.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I could care less where a guy went to school as long as he's raising money, building facilities, and hiring good coaches.

 

[Renz]

I could care less where a guy went to school as long as he's raising money, building facilities, and hiring good coaches.

Amen. Looks like a good hire at first glance.

And the best part about Byrne? He ain't Jim Livengood!

 

[Gaddabout]

You couldn't hire someone more connected, really. His father is a fund-raising legend, and is the one that really put Oregon on the map. Greg worked for the Fiesta Bowl and knows every mover and shaker in Phoenix.

 

[devilalum]

I just threw up a little in my mouth.

 

[Lefty]

A couple of articles regarding Greg Byrne's introduction.

http://azstarnet.com/sports/college/wildcats/article_ad7df452-3770-11df-b5df-001cc4c03286.html

http://tucsoncitizen.com/wildcatrep...-devil-new-arizona-ad-appreciated-lute-olson/

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Wolf in sheep's clothing.

Never should've hired a Sun Devil.

 

[Russ Smith]

Wolf in sheep's clothing.

Never should've hired a Sun Devil.

What happened? Do you mean Gary Williams leaving and people speculating Miller might be a candidate? I hadn't really considered that to be likely do you?

 

[Dback Jon]

Wolf in sheep's clothing.

Never should've hired a Sun Devil.

????

Elaborate, please

 

[Dback Jon]

What happened? Do you mean Gary Williams leaving and people speculating Miller might be a candidate? I hadn't really considered that to be likely do you?

Why would Miller take a step down to Maryland?

Maryland would never escape UNC and Duke's shadow in the ACC.

In the Pac-12, Arizona and UCLA are the top dogs.

 

[Russ Smith]

Why would Miller take a step down to Maryland?

Maryland would never escape UNC and Duke's shadow in the ACC.

In the Pac-12, Arizona and UCLA are the top dogs.

I agree but apparently some people think Miller to MD and then Pastner to UA. Mao made a comment on the Shabazz thread about Pastner being there to greet him so I'm wondering if that's what he meant.

Another rumor is Jamie Dixon to Maryland, then Miller to Pitt, and Pastner to UA.

And of course the immortal Jessie Wildcat is starting threads on multiple scout boards under other names saying Ben Howland wants the MD job. And he's citing as his source a post on the Zagsblog site by... Jessie Wildcat. So he's citing himself as a source.

If the MD job is really that coveted I'm surprised. I know the area is loaded with talent, but competing with UNC and Duke in conference, and Georgetown in recruiting.

If I were Miller or Dixon I'd stay put.

 

[ozzfloyd]

Miller to Pitt is never happening. Not exactly sure what happened, but apparently him and the school had a major falling out years ago.

 

[Lefty]

Miller is not leaving. He has a top recruiting class coming in and probably a top-10 class every year. People are so gullible in believing he is not happy because Greg Byrnes did not give his assistants a raise. Next year with the new tv money coming in, the assistants will get their rightful raises.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

The beef is between Miller's Dad and Pitt. Maryland is a step up from UA as long as Arizona's AD continues to put football first. Still think it's an outside chance he leaves simply because uprooting the fam twice in two years is hard but Byrne has targeted football which I and many alumni think is borderline insane.

That's why Miller will leave someday.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Unbelievable. Not the way I wanted to end my day.

Going through these revolutions is absolute BS. Arizona is at its all time apex of desirabilty (what with the Pac 12 TV contract, recent tourney run, two years of locked in Top 5 recruiting classes and Williams likely to be the first #1 pick in school history) if Miller is to leave for Maryland - a second tier ACC school - now.......well I can't write what I want to say on this family friendly board.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Again - never hire a Sun Devil to do a Wildcat's job.

When Sean Miller leaves Byrne won't last much longer anyways because nobody will donate money to him after all this but the ultimate sin is Byrne's desire to turn us into Arizona State Lite. I hope others join me if Sean leaves this weekend by canceling their football/basketball tix as well as withholding any donations to the athletic department as long as Byrne is the man in charge. I will enjoy sending Byrne and Shelton an e-mail suggesting as much as well along with detailed reasons why.

 

[Russ Smith]

Again - never hire a Sun Devil to do a Wildcat's job.

When Sean Miller leaves Byrne won't last much longer anyways because nobody will donate money to him after all this but the ultimate sin is Byrne's desire to turn us into Arizona State Lite. I hope others join me if Sean leaves this weekend by canceling their football/basketball tix as well as withholding any donations to the athletic department as long as Byrne is the man in charge. I will enjoy sending Byrne and Shelton an e-mail suggesting as much as well along with detailed reasons why.

How serious do you think it is that miller will leave?

I'm pretty surprised I assumed if anything he's just use this to get the raise he was recently denied(apparently).

 

[Arizona's Finest]

The. Sky. Is. Falling.

 

[Mulli]

Whoa, that is nutso. Yeah, even as an ASU alum, I wouldn't let anyone associated with ASU near my bball program. Yikes.

 

[HooverDam]

Even as an ASU fan I'd admit UA seems like a more appealing job than Maryland. It seems so odd that Miller would go there, coming off a great year, bringing in a big time recruiting class and now this huge Pac 12 money on the way.

This Maryland site seems to think its a strong possibility from the headline:
http://maryland.247sports.com/Article/BREAKING-Terps-Closing-on-Miller-24841

I wonder if the main issue wouldn't be more about Miller (or his wife/family) preferring the East Coast rather than UA's AD focusing on football. UA has very good hoops facilities, will likely give raises to all the Hoops Assistants fairly soon, and Miller has all the perks in the world.

Byrne is an amazing moron if he really wants UA to focus on football first. They ought to focus on being elite in basketball and just making a bowl game 4 out of 5 years in football and be happy with that. Unless Byrne is some amazing secret agent for ASU he's a high functioning ******.

Plus you guys will hire Pastner immediately if Miller leaves, so all hope isn't lost. He seems like a good young coach and an energetic recruiter who could probably keep most of your class together.

 

[Russ Smith]

Washington Post is reporting mutual interest MD and Miller.

And Nick Johnson just posted this on Twitter.


@nickjohnson11

"Like I said before!!! You can never trust anyone, you out here for yourself!"


Color me VERY surprised if he leaves, completely taken by surprise.

 

[ajcardfan]

Washington Post is reporting mutual interest MD and Miller.

And Nick Johnson just posted this on Twitter.


@nickjohnson11

"Like I said before!!! You can never trust anyone, you out here for yourself!"


Color me VERY surprised if he leaves, completely taken by surprise.

Yeah, I'd also be very surprised. But, now that it's reached this point, I have to guess that it's 50/50, at worst, that he does make a move.