Alabama Moves To Extend AD Greg Byrne Through 2032-33

Alabama isn't waiting around on its athletic director. Pete Thamel reported Sunday that the school is in the middle of a 2-year extension for Greg Byrne. The deal would push him out to the 2032-33 season, and the University of Alabama system compensation committee is scheduled to discuss it Monday. That's a quick turnaround from a report to a vote, which usually means the thing is already done in every way except on paper.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Sources: Alabama is amid the process of a two-year contract extension for Atheltic Director Greg Byrne, which would bring him through the 2032-33 season. The deal will be discussed by the University of Alabama system compensation committee on Monday.

This isn't an AD fighting for his job. Byrne is 54 and already signed through 2030-31, so the extension just stretches a long runway a little further. Alabama gave him an 8-year deal worth just over $2 million a year in March 2024, the same round of approvals that took care of Nate Oats. That makes this the second time in about 2 and a half years the school has gone out of its way to lock him in.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

The Alabama system compensation committee posted today indicating they are planning to meet about Byrne’s contract. Byrne, 54, is currently on a deal through the 2030-31 season.

The paperwork is already public. Pete Nakos pointed to the Board of Trustees Compensation Committee agenda, which has Byrne up for a new deal, and credited Colin Gay for spotting it. When the posted agenda says the same thing the sources do, there isn't much doubt about where this is going.

Pete Nakos

@PeteNakos

Alabama Board of Trustees Compensation Committee set to meet tomorrow. Athletic director Greg Byrne is up for consideration for a new deal. (h/t @_ColinGay) t.co/EdeV11S0OL

Byrne has run Alabama athletics since January 2017. The biggest moment of his tenure came when Nick Saban retired and he had to replace the greatest coach in college football history. He went and got Kalen DeBoer, and whatever you think of how the DeBoer era has gone, the school clearly still trusts the guy who made that call. Byrne has also been running the department through revenue sharing, NIL and the rest of college sports turning upside down, and a lot of ADs haven't survived that.

Why do it now? Stability is the pitch, and it's a word Byrne uses all the time about his own coaches. A lot of big-time ADs are changing jobs, and the top ones keep getting richer. Adding 2 more years to Byrne's deal is Alabama telling everyone else not to bother calling.

Next up is Monday's committee meeting, where the terms should come out: the new salary, any raise and how the buyout changes. Unless something strange happens, Byrne is running the Crimson Tide into the next decade.