With Arizona Athletic Director Greg Byrne moving on to Alabama, what does that mean for Arizona moving forward? We begin to break that down.
It seems to be a tough go for Arizona fans, as the months of seemingly bad news keep coming. On Sunday night, we learned that Arizona Athletic Director Greg Byrne would be moving on to Alabama to replace Bill Battle.
Byrne originally joined the Wildcats in 2010 from Mississippi State, replacing former athletic director Jim Livengood. Serving as the schools’ eleventh athletic director, Byrne oversaw the funding and expansion of the much needed Lowell-Stevens Football Facility.
After seven great years, it appears Byrne will be heading back to the South, and Arizona will now be tasked with replacing him.
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As fans, it is always tough to lose someone like Byrne. He has certainly been instrumental in the success of Arizona Athletics over the years, and business aside, we’ve grown attached to our lovable AD.
The news of Byrne first broke via social media, as Arizona Daily Star beat Greg Hansen made the announcement of his impending departure via social media. It was almost instantaneous that fans started responding with strong reactions to the news.
https://twitter.com/jsimon45/status/820822534597722112
@CConstan3 hope this is as accurate as point guard u reporting trier would be back.
— Sandzz (@Sandzz10) January 16, 2017
Now the question is who does Arizona turn to next? Names are already beginning to surface, whether they are viable or not, it will be interesting to see who the University picks.
Mark Harlan and Chris Del Conte, too. https://t.co/9PhreSbXKM
— Ryan Finley (@ryan_finley) January 16, 2017
Perhaps one name that is most interesting and gaining the most traction is, Mark Harlan. Harlan, if you were unaware is the athletic director currently at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Additionally, Harlan is actually an Arizona graduate.
Harlan has strong ties to Arizona already, and would perhaps be a hire the boosters and fans would approve of. He has already been proving himself to be a worthy athletic director while at USF.
How about Shawn Eichorst, the Athletic Director at Nebraska? Didn’t his Head Football Coach Mike Riley snag Donte Williams away from Arizona? Big move! But it seems Arizona doesn’t have the deep pockets Nebraska has, so he may not be interested.
Other names floated by the Arizona Daily Star:
- Hunter Yurachek – Athletics Director, Houston, was AD at Coastal Carlina (Arizona played CC in the College World Series last season)
- Mark Rhodes – Athletic Director, Baylor, UA Grad, Tucson Native
- Mike Ketcham – Senior Associate Athletic Director for Arizona Men’s Basketball and Administration/Major Gifts for Football, experience at Arizona, but only AD experience was at the High School level
- James Francis – Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Internal Operations at Arizona, UA Grad, played football for UA and has 20 years experience in Arizona’s athletic department serving under AD’s Livengood and Byrne
- Erika Barnes – Interim Athletic Director at Arizona, been with the Arizona Athletic Department since 2005, worked with Brian Jeffries as Color Analyst for Softball
- Tom Jurich – Athletic Director Louisville, hired both Rick Pitino for Men’s Basketball and Bobby Petrino for Football
- Mark Hill, Assoc. Athletic Director for Internal Operations, Kentucky, former UA Trainer and husband to former Arizona World Series Softball MVP Jenny Dalton-Hill,
- Chris Del Conte, Athletic Director, TCU, was Senior Associate Director at Arizona from 2000-2009, been with TCU since then, TCU pays well, a former track athlete at UC Santa Barbara.
Next: Greg Byrne is Reportedly Heading to Alabama as new AD
At Zona Zealots, we will miss Greg immensely, and only wish him the best. As for whomever our new Athletic Director will be, we only hope for continued success and a strong commitment to Arizona Athletics on and off the field. Bear Down, Arizona!