By Mark Pszonak
It has been an interesting few months in Tuscaloosa for Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne. Post-Nick Saban football has suddenly become a bit bumpy, and his response has been far from reassuring. Instead of trying to right the ship, he is panicking, and people are starting to notice.
The unraveling began to come to light on December 8th, the day that Alabama found out that they did not qualify for the first expanded playoffs. His response was to go to X and post this:
Disappointed with the outcome and felt we were one of the 12 best teams in the country. We had an extremely challenging schedule and recognize there were two games in particular that we did not perform as well as we should have.
We have said that we would need to see how…
— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) December 8, 2024
The second paragraph was especially problematic, and I’m not just talking about the awkward spelling mistake (assess/asses). His complaints about Alabama’s non-conference scheduling are ridiculous. The Tide would have made the playoffs if they didn’t implode against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. Losing by a combined score of 64-38 to two conference teams that both finished 6-6 is not a good look.
Everything was then relatively quiet until Byrne went back to X last night to basically beg Alabama fans for money because other programs were stealing their players:
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Alabama fans,
Over the past few years, there have been drastic changes in college athletics. We have been careful during this transitional period to protect our position at the top of college athletics while being mindful to listen, engage and learn from our generous…— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) December 18, 2024
There is plenty to dissect in his comments, but there is one specific part that is gaining the most attention.
“You have heard examples of other teams using promises of million-dollar paydays to lure away our players or convince them not to come to Alabama. It is time for Bama Nation to fight back”
Is it a coincidence that this wasn’t a problem when Nick Saban was the head coach? Is it a coincidence that this wasn’t a problem when Alabama was beating mediocre 6-6 teams? No, it is not, but now other schools see blood in the water and are attacking. And instead of staying calm, Byrne is flailing wildly and bringing in more sharks.
There will never be a pity party for Alabama, so Byrne and the Tide need to figure this out on their own. The college sports landscape, and especially football, is changing by the day, so even elite programs like Alabama must evolve with it.
But that is unlikely to happen as long as Byrne continues on the chaotic path he is on.
