Saturday, January 06, 2007

Day 40 in the University of Oregon's search for a new Athletic Director

One potential candidate for the job who should be considered is Greg Byrne.
He has more than a decade of intercollegiate athletics experience. Greg is presently an Associate Athletic Director at Mississippi State University.Greg spearheads the MSU Athletic fundraising effort and oversees the Bulldog Club staff. Before that , he served as the associate athletic director for development and fundraising at the University of Kentucky from 2002-2005. Prior to joining the Kentucky Wildcats, Byrne spent four years as associate athletic director of development at Oregon State University. He served as the regional director of development at the University of Oregon from 1995-1998. Byrne's resume also includes a year as the special projects coordinator for the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. He holds a bachelor's degree from the College of Public Programs at Arizona State University.

I first met Greg when he was stationed here in Medford as the Regional Director of Development for the University Of Oregon. He was and is a real dynamo and would do a great job for the Duck! I don't know if Greg is interested in the job but Oregon should be interested in him. I remember when he went to Oregon State. I ran into him shortly after his move and I told him he would be a Duck again someday. That someday should be now! He comes from "good stock" as his father, Bill Byrne was the Athletic Director at the University of Oregon from 1984 till the mid 1990's. After leaving Oregon he was the Athletic Director at Nebraska and is now the AD at Texas A&M. When Bill became Oregon AD he was one of the youngest AD's in the United States and let's hope Greg can follow in his father's footsteps! If Oregon doesn't hire him it will be our loss!