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.