ESPN’s Mark May: UA’s Byrne ‘will own the state of AZ’

Most everyone agrees Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne
has done a great job since taking over for Jim Livengood
on
May 1, 2010.

With Sean Miller already on board for basketball, the AD
turned his focus to football, where Arizona has struggled
not only on the field, but off it as well.

Byrne has worked to change that, as ground already broke
on
the “North Endzone Project” as he works to upgrade the
team’s stadium as well as other facilities.

People are taking notice, including ESPN NCAA football
analyst Mark May.

Arizona AD Greg Byrne
and staff will OWN the state of AZ. very soon in all
sports!

— Mark May (@mark_may) March 25,
2012

Shots fired? ASU fans can’t be happy reading that.

Then again, May is not the first person to put into words
just how impressed he is with what Byrne is doing with the
Wildcats. One need only compare Byrne’s football coach
search, which ended with the hire of Rich Rodriguez, with
how Arizona State conducted its search to replace Dennis
Erickson to see why May — and others — might feel this
way.

Of course, all that matters now is wins, and who gets more
— UA or ASU — is yet to be determined.

However, as Byrne’s star continues to rise, the chances
of him leaving — for another school or any other higher-
profile job — would seem to increase.

Wildcats fans will take that, of course, so long as Byrne
delivers on what seems to be a pretty bright future for
the school from the Old Pueblo.

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