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By Alex Byington Sports
TUSCALOOSA — A month and a half into Greg Byrne’s tenure as Alabama’s athletic director, his office in the far back-right corner of the Mal Moore Athletic Complex remains mostly empty.
The wood-paneled walls that line the large room remain barren of any personal pictures or keepsakes that would give away any hints about the man who now inhabits it.
Byrne hasn’t had a lot of time to redecorate since taking over the office space from former Crimson Tide AD Bill Battle in the beginning of March. But he sat down for 30 minutes Friday with The Decatur Daily to discuss several topics, including how he hopes to approach his new position.
Q: Nick Saban has been especially vocal of late on several of the NCAA’s new proposals regarding its new recruiting model — including restrictions involving high school coaches and school-sponsored summer camps — that were recently approved by the Division I Council on Friday. Where do you personally stand on several of the NCAA’s new rules?
Byrne: I know as a goal, the NCAA Council is trying to get their arms around some of the issues you deal with in all of sports, but including football. I think Coach Saban’s concerns about the camps are valid, because he runs a traditional camp. And he and his staff are out there coaching trying to develop young players, give young players the best opportunity to succeed at the levels they’re going to be able to succeed at. So I commend him for his passion for that. I think that’s a good thing for it. And so I also know he feels strongly about giving coaches opportunities to advance in their careers, and when you put limitations on that, that’s challenging. So I understand and appreciate where he’s coming from.
Q: Given your busy schedule, just what has your live been like since starting at the beginning of March?
Byrne: It’s been really exciting. I get here usually somewhere between 6-6:30 in the morning — when I’m in town — and I get a chance to try and read and answer some emails. … And I try to get a workout during that time. I’ve really been impressed with the coaches, I’ve been impressed with the staff. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the student athletes. And I’m easing into that, that’s not something you do a little bit at a time. The reception from the Alabama alums, and fan base and supporters has just been, you couldn’t ask for it to be any better. ... I’m trying to get out and meet everybody, too. One of the things I feel strongly about is we’re here to serve as an administration, we’re here to serve our university, we’re here to serve our coaches and student-athletes, and we’re here to serve our fans. Those are the three constants that have to be here for all this to happen. And I feel very fortunate to get to do that on a daily basis. I wake up each morning energized and ready to go and tackle the day. It really is a lifestyle with how I approach the job. And following Coach Battle, who did a great job and I have tremendous respect for, and Mal, who I used to sit in the SEC meetings with as a 36-year-old AD not knowing what I was doing, and Mal just couldn’t have been kinder and more supportive of me. I feel really honored to be here at Alabama.
Q: You recently took a facilities tour. First, what is your assessment of the university’s overall athletic facilities? And are there any facilities that you’ve you already earmarked for improvement?
Byrne: I don’t know as far as the priorities yet, that’s why we’re doing the tours. … I’ve been through Bryant-Denny Stadium, and we’ll go through more of it because I spent three hours there and didn’t even get to everywhere, I’ve been quite a bit through Coleman (Coliseum), but I still want to do more of it. I still haven’t been through the basement areas as well as I want and understand that. Obviously at baseball’s (Sewell-Thomas Stadium), it’s outstanding. It’s gorgeous, I’m blown away by it. I thought there were great things with the track, but there’s still things that (need work) in time. Part of what we have to get our arms around as well as we can is understanding every facility we have, every facility you bring on, there’s maintenance, there’s upkeep, there’s real dollars and cost to do that. Part of what I want to make sure that we do early on, whatever we have, let’s make sure we’re maintaining it. At times you can have an older facility, but it’s clean and has fresh paint and can look as good as it possibly can. But it’s important to stay on the forefront of what takes place from a facility standpoint.
Q: Have there been any thoughts or discussions about possibly building a new basketball arena to replace Coleman Coliseum, which is nearly 50 years old? How much is that on your radar already?
Byrne: Coleman is on the radar. What that means yet, I don’t know.
Q: What is your approach to scheduling, especially when it comes to football? The previous administration focused primarily on securing big-money neutral-site games in the non-conference. Is that also your model?
Byrne: The model we’ve had has worked pretty well from positioning ourselves to have the best opportunity to get to the CFP (College Football Playoff). And obviously if you’re in the CFP, you’ve got a chance to compete for a national championship, which is what we want to do and what we have done. So I haven’t had real extensive discussions about (changing) that yet, because it’s been working well. But I do know that making sure you stay on top of scheduling and working with Coach Saban on what works within his philosophy and what’s (in-line with) the priorities for our program is important.
Q: Have you already had discussions with other ADs with regard to future matchups? There’s still an open non-conference opportunity in the 2019 schedule, as well as wide-open spots in 2020 and 2021.
BYrne: We’ve had some discussions, but nothing that we’re ready comment on quite yet.
Decatur Daily—Continue reading...
The wood-paneled walls that line the large room remain barren of any personal pictures or keepsakes that would give away any hints about the man who now inhabits it.
Byrne hasn’t had a lot of time to redecorate since taking over the office space from former Crimson Tide AD Bill Battle in the beginning of March. But he sat down for 30 minutes Friday with The Decatur Daily to discuss several topics, including how he hopes to approach his new position.
Q: Nick Saban has been especially vocal of late on several of the NCAA’s new proposals regarding its new recruiting model — including restrictions involving high school coaches and school-sponsored summer camps — that were recently approved by the Division I Council on Friday. Where do you personally stand on several of the NCAA’s new rules?
Byrne: I know as a goal, the NCAA Council is trying to get their arms around some of the issues you deal with in all of sports, but including football. I think Coach Saban’s concerns about the camps are valid, because he runs a traditional camp. And he and his staff are out there coaching trying to develop young players, give young players the best opportunity to succeed at the levels they’re going to be able to succeed at. So I commend him for his passion for that. I think that’s a good thing for it. And so I also know he feels strongly about giving coaches opportunities to advance in their careers, and when you put limitations on that, that’s challenging. So I understand and appreciate where he’s coming from.
Q: Given your busy schedule, just what has your live been like since starting at the beginning of March?
Byrne: It’s been really exciting. I get here usually somewhere between 6-6:30 in the morning — when I’m in town — and I get a chance to try and read and answer some emails. … And I try to get a workout during that time. I’ve really been impressed with the coaches, I’ve been impressed with the staff. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the student athletes. And I’m easing into that, that’s not something you do a little bit at a time. The reception from the Alabama alums, and fan base and supporters has just been, you couldn’t ask for it to be any better. ... I’m trying to get out and meet everybody, too. One of the things I feel strongly about is we’re here to serve as an administration, we’re here to serve our university, we’re here to serve our coaches and student-athletes, and we’re here to serve our fans. Those are the three constants that have to be here for all this to happen. And I feel very fortunate to get to do that on a daily basis. I wake up each morning energized and ready to go and tackle the day. It really is a lifestyle with how I approach the job. And following Coach Battle, who did a great job and I have tremendous respect for, and Mal, who I used to sit in the SEC meetings with as a 36-year-old AD not knowing what I was doing, and Mal just couldn’t have been kinder and more supportive of me. I feel really honored to be here at Alabama.
Q: You recently took a facilities tour. First, what is your assessment of the university’s overall athletic facilities? And are there any facilities that you’ve you already earmarked for improvement?
Byrne: I don’t know as far as the priorities yet, that’s why we’re doing the tours. … I’ve been through Bryant-Denny Stadium, and we’ll go through more of it because I spent three hours there and didn’t even get to everywhere, I’ve been quite a bit through Coleman (Coliseum), but I still want to do more of it. I still haven’t been through the basement areas as well as I want and understand that. Obviously at baseball’s (Sewell-Thomas Stadium), it’s outstanding. It’s gorgeous, I’m blown away by it. I thought there were great things with the track, but there’s still things that (need work) in time. Part of what we have to get our arms around as well as we can is understanding every facility we have, every facility you bring on, there’s maintenance, there’s upkeep, there’s real dollars and cost to do that. Part of what I want to make sure that we do early on, whatever we have, let’s make sure we’re maintaining it. At times you can have an older facility, but it’s clean and has fresh paint and can look as good as it possibly can. But it’s important to stay on the forefront of what takes place from a facility standpoint.
Q: Have there been any thoughts or discussions about possibly building a new basketball arena to replace Coleman Coliseum, which is nearly 50 years old? How much is that on your radar already?
Byrne: Coleman is on the radar. What that means yet, I don’t know.
Q: What is your approach to scheduling, especially when it comes to football? The previous administration focused primarily on securing big-money neutral-site games in the non-conference. Is that also your model?
Byrne: The model we’ve had has worked pretty well from positioning ourselves to have the best opportunity to get to the CFP (College Football Playoff). And obviously if you’re in the CFP, you’ve got a chance to compete for a national championship, which is what we want to do and what we have done. So I haven’t had real extensive discussions about (changing) that yet, because it’s been working well. But I do know that making sure you stay on top of scheduling and working with Coach Saban on what works within his philosophy and what’s (in-line with) the priorities for our program is important.
Q: Have you already had discussions with other ADs with regard to future matchups? There’s still an open non-conference opportunity in the 2019 schedule, as well as wide-open spots in 2020 and 2021.
BYrne: We’ve had some discussions, but nothing that we’re ready comment on quite yet.
Decatur Daily—Continue reading...
