The success of a college athletic director, especially in a Power 5 league like the SEC, is judged differently by the school administration and its fanbase.
The administration is mostly concerned about an athletic department staying financially in the black, so it cares more about an AD staying on budget as well as being a great fundraiser.
The fanbase grades an AD on head coaching hires. Did the coach win championships or was the coach a flop?
Somewhere in the middle of all this, the AD has to be approachable, from the highest donor to the common season ticket-holder to the media. He or she needs to drop any hint of arrogance and supremacy. They can't act like they are doing people a favor when they meet, and they can't hide in their office and communicate with their fanbase via a monthly email.
They must understand everything that entails being an AD in the constantly changing world of college athletics, especially the use of social media.
The last two AD hires in the SEC --
Greg Byrne at Alabama on Monday and
Scott Stricklin at Florida on Nov. 1 -- check all the above boxes.
It's a blueprint LSU needs to follow if they ever get rid of
Joe Alleva, 64, who is none of the above. But since Alleva's contract runs through 2020 and he still has the support of the Board of Supervisors after some average coaching hires and an extremely fuzzy coaching search to replace the fired
Les Miles, it might be awhile before LSU is shopping for an AD.
That's hard for some LSU fans to fathom, especially when Alleva's men's basketball coaching hires,
Trent Johnson and
Johnny Jones, have a combined one NCAA Tournament win in two appearances over the past eight seasons.
Nikki Fargas, Alleva's hire as women's coach, has five NCAA tourney wins in four appearances but hasn't made it past the Sweet 16.
On the other hand, LSU women's softball coach
Beth Torina, an Alleva hire, has been to five NCAA tourneys in as many years, including two straight trips to the Women's College World Series.
But what has put Alleva in the line of fire is the November 2015 debacle on the near-firing of Miles and this past season's failure to land a big-name coach after Miles was fired in September.
While Alleva is not the most popular figure among LSU fans, Alabama's administration is ecstatic to hire former Arizona and Mississippi State AD Byrne. He turned down the Florida vacancy that went to his protege Stricklin, who succeeded Byrne at Mississippi State, because he had his eye on the Alabama job that is opening thanks to the retirement of Bill Battle.
The 45-year old Byrne and the 46-year old Stricklin, the 2016 Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year, are cut from the same mold. They practically were raised in athletic departments, especially Byrne, whose father Bill was an athletic director for almost 30 years at Oregon, Nebraska and Texas A&M.
When Greg Byrne was in third grade at his California elementary school and had the assignment of writing what he wanted to be when he grew up, it was a simple task for him.
"Everybody was writing about being doctors, veterinarians and firefighters," Byrne once told me. "I wrote about being an athletic director."
One of the main traits Byrne picked up from his father was being a good listener. "My father always says, 'Don't rush to judgment, spend time listening, spend time talking to people,'" Byrne said. "As much as you want to be sometimes, don't be emotional in your decisions."
Something that had endeared Byrne and Stricklin to their constituents is their ability and willingness to connect with anyone, whether it's a millionaire booster or a janitor.
They make everyone feel valued, there's not a hint of condescension. It's basic human kindness, and it can go a long way in being the difference in a successful organization and one that fails.
At Mississippi State in his three years as AD from 2008 to 2010, Byrne hired
Dan Mullen as head football coach and
John Cohen as baseball coach. Mullen has been to seven straight bowls and has won eight or more games four times. Cohen, who just became AD when Stricklin vacated the job for the Florida spot, went to five NCAA tourneys and was the College World Series runner-up.
At Arizona, Byrne hired
Rich Rodriguez as football coach, who's just 36-29 after five seasons. But he also hired highly successful baseball coach
Jay Johnson, who took the Wildcats to a third-place finish in last year's College World Series in his first season.
Also, Byrne didn't allow Maryland in 2011 to steal basketball coach
Sean Miller, re-signing him to an extension. Miller has taken Arizona to the Elite Eight three times in seven seasons.
"He (Byrne) has a great pulse and feel for the goings on in your program," Miller told the Arizona Republic newspaper. "I know he'll go on to do great things at Alabama. They're lucky to have him."
Byrne definitely has the confidence to get the job done. In accepting the position, he realized that he's probably the AD who will have to eventually replace football coach
Nick Saban.
That is almost an impossible task, but Alabama found the right guy in Byrne. He has always enjoyed running toward a fire, which is not good news for LSU and a few other SEC schools.
