The University of Alabama administration pursued newly-named director of athletics Greg Byrne so vigorously that it twice accelerated the departure date for current athletics director Bill Battle, The Tuscaloosa News has learned.
Byrne, currently vice president for athletics at the University of Arizona, was officially named as the incoming director of athletics at UA in an email release on Monday. The release said that Battle, 75, would continue to serve as the top administrator in the athletics department until March 1, with Byrne taking over on that date.
Battle confirmed to The Tuscaloosa News on Sunday night that he had informed UA President Stuart R. Bell last fall that he was contemplating retirement. Battle also told The News that he had given input to the search for his replacement, which was managed by the New Jersey-based Turnkey Sports and Entertainment search firm, with the process to find a new athletics director beginning "sometime in the middle to late fall," Battle said.
Battle did not indicate when he originally planned to leave, but the initial target was for him to serve out his four-year contract that expires in June 2017, The News has learned. UA officials then requested an earlier departure date, eventually settling on March.
Byrne -- who has been frequently mentioned as a candidate for prominent athletic administration jobs around the country -- was identified as the top target, and was in Tuscaloosa over the past weekend in order to meet with UA officials, as well as Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban.
At that point, there became an urgency to secure Byrne, with media reports accelerating the announcement of Battle's pending retirement to Sunday night, even though Battle was out of town and had not met personally with his senior staff. Those staff members were notified by email.
Battle will transition into a position as special consultant to Bell, UA's president, upon stepping down from his current position.
The UA Office of Strategic Communications was not immediately available to clarify the precise criteria or process used in the search due to Monday's Martin Luther King Day holiday.
The hire of Byrne, 45, has received widespread praise on social media both regionally and nationally.
Byrne, an Arizona State graduate, has served as the chief athletics department administrator at Arizona since 2010. He has extensive experience in the SEC as well, having served as athletics director at Mississippi State and, previously, serving in the athletics administration at Kentucky.
His father, Bill Byrne, was also a prominent athletic administrator for more than 30 years prior to retirement. The senior Byrne served as athletics director at Texas A&M from 2002 until 2012, hiring football coach Dennis Franchione away from Alabama prior to the 2003 season and helping the Aggies transition into the SEC in 2012.
