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RT if you are excited like me for @ArizonaFBall! #BearDown pic.twitter.com/BHMktKB1kx
— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) September 12, 2015
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Within a few minutes of the announcement of former ASU athletic director Steve Patterson’s firing yesterday morning at Texas, I received this message on Facebook:
“With Texas firing their guy, what are the chances they come after ours?”
My response:
“I’d say pretty good. Greg Byrne is one of the best young ADs out there. His dad was AD at Texas A&M. Having dealt with him personally, he is a pro. He has the ability to work with the demands at Texas.”
Byrne’s potential candidacy for the high-paying, prestigious Texas job became a hot topic on social media (which I will showcase in the following slides of this slideshow).
Meanwhile, Byrne was busy doing what he does best, communicating with people, this time in an Arizona business school class:
Thanks @hfuchs451, enjoyed speaking to the class. #BearDown https://t.co/0VQl9xMdmJ
— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) September 16, 2015
While Patterson drew the ire of Texas fans, Byrne has been the equivalent of hires such as former Arizona athletic director Ced Dempsey and basketball coach Lute Olson at Arizona — Supporters of Arizona athletics and all of those within the department never want to see him leave.
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Site founder and award-winning sports journalist Javier Morales has published his first e-book, “The Highest Form of Living”, a fiction piece about a young man who overcomes a troubled upbringing without his lost father and wayward mother through basketball and hope. His hope is realized through the sport he loves. Basketball enables him to get past his fears. His experience on the court indirectly brings him closer to his parents in a unique, heartfelt way. Please order it at Amazon (for only $4.99) by clicking on the photo:
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Byrne has a strong track record with his hires (see chart below). He completed the work that his predecessor Jim Livengood started with the construction of the Lowell-Stevens facility at Arizona Stadium. He has spearheaded the necessary effort to renovate McKale Center. He also made the wise decision to allow baseball to be moved off campus to Hi Corbett Field, a move that has drawn larger crowds and provided a boost to baseball’s popularity in Tucson.
Byrne, who will turn 44 on Nov. 29, is a professional with all who come in contact with him, including the media. He is not above interacting with fans. In fact, he welcomes and thrives off of it.
He also is intelligent enough to realize today’s impact of social media has on collegiate athletics. Unlike a majority of his peers, he constantly uses his Twitter account to make announcements about Wildcat athletics (see above Tweet). He writes his own weekly blog at ArizonaWildcats.com called “Wildcat Wednesday”, that features his insight into what his happening within the athletic department.
READ ON IN THE FOLLOWING SLIDES THE SOCIAL MEDIA REACTIONS OF BYRNE AS A POSSIBILITY FOR THE TEXAS JOB BY CLICKING THE NEXT ARROW:
GREG BYRNE’S HIRES
MISSISSIPPI STATE
[table “” not found /]ARIZONA
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