Texas A&M's Bill Byrne Receives Academy's Management Award
Texas A&M Director of Athletics (l) receives the Carl Maddox Sports Management Award from Academy National Faculty member Dave Voskuil.
Texas A&M University Director of Athletics Bill Byrne was honored with the United States Sports Academy’s Carl Maddox Sports Management Award. Academy National Faculty member Dave Voskuil presented Byrne with the award during halftime of Texas A&M’s basketball game with Texas Tech on 13 February 2007.
Byrne is in his fourth year at Texas A&M, where he initiated the design of an elaborate master plan for the university’s overall athletic organization. In addition, he helped secure several major gifts for the second phase of the Aggies Championship Vision Capital Campaign. The Aggies are currently one of three schools in NCAA Division I to be ranked in the top-25 in football and men’s and women’s basketball.
In 2006, Texas A&M began construction of a new multi-sport indoor complex. Plans are also underway and funds are being raised to begin major expansion and renovation projects at Reed Arena, the Anderson Track & Field Complex and an indoor facility for the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Prior to arriving in College Station, Byrne enjoyed a 10-year tenure at the University of Nebraska. Under Byrne, the Cornhuskers became the nation's first college football team to have instant replay boards at an exclusive college venue. HuskerVision and the marketing department generated significant sponsorship revenues for the athletic department. This past January, Texas A&M awarded the school’s athletic multimedia marketing rights for 10 years to a joint venture of Learfield Communications, ISP Sports and Fox Sports Network Southwest, known as Texas A&M Sports Properties.
At Nebraska, Byrne led the Cornhuskers to eight national championships and 82 conference championships in 10 years. Byrne’s Nebraska teams also compiled an extremely impressive string of seven straight Top 25 finishes in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup Division I-A standings, making him one of the most respected athletic directors in the country.
But beyond success on the playing field, the Nebraska athletic department experienced tremendous growth under Byrne’s watchful eye. A noted fundraiser, he spearheaded a $36 million improvement project for Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium and he completed a deal to share a $30 million baseball and softball complex with the city of Lincoln. Byrne also increased the number of men’s and women’s varsity intercollegiate teams to 23 and established a balanced, stable financial budget that will serve Nebraska athletics well into the future.
Prior to this, Byrne became one of the youngest athletic directors in Division I when he took over the reins at the University of Oregon in 1984. Under Byrne’s watch, Oregon athletic teams won three NCAA titles. He set up a full-time marketing and promotions operation that formed the Oregon Sports Network for a statewide in-house production of Ducks games on radio and television. Byrne led a $19 million fund drive that created new homes for the football team and athletic offices. This fund drive also saw the addition of the Len Casanova Athletic Center, the addition of a state-of-the-art softball facility and renovations of Autzen Stadium and the world famous Haywood Field. Byrne led the opening of the Oregon Hall of Champions, which was dedicated in his honor. He was also part of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame induction class of 2002.
Byrne has been recognized with the highest awards that an athletics administrator can receive. Among other things, he was the 2002 winner of the John L. Toner Award; the 1999 Central Region National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Director of the Year; president of NACDA in 1991-92; and the National Athletic Fundraisers Association Fundraiser of the Year in 1985.
The Carl Maddox Sports Management Award is presented as part of the Academy’s Awards of Sport Medallion Series, which pays “Tribute to the Artist and the Athlete.” The Maddox Award is given annually to an individual for contributions to the growth and development of sports enterprise through effective management practices. The individual should exhibit mastery of all the management functions, should be well known in the sport arena and should have an abiding belief in the need for ethical behavior in sports management.
The Carl Maddox Sports Management Award, named after the former Louisiana State University and Mississippi State University athletic director, has been presented annually by the Academy since 1992. Past recipients include former Stanford Athletic Director Ted Leland, University of California-Santa Barbara Athletic Director Gary Cunningham, NBA Commissioner David Stern and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. For a complete list of recipients, please visit www.asama.org.
Byrne was presented with the Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medal and Academy Rosette. The Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medallion was designed by the Academy's Sport Artist of the Year 1990, Blair Buswell. He also received the Academy Rosette, modeled after the Legion of Honour, which was instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. A rosette is a symbol of recognition and affiliation.
