Did Bill Byrne just get a substantial raise (30 - 40 %)? Justified for A&M winning 4 national championships this last year (Track (2), Equestrian, Golf). These are non-revenue sports (bet anyone, the raise is more $$ than the revenue from any of the 4 sports). Whoever allowed that clause in his contract needs to have their head examined..

Yep. He is rolling in the dough with our non-revenue sports racking up the wins.

The raise was in Summer 2008. He wasn't the only one to get a large one at that time.

at a time when they were in financial trouble and then followed by laying off employees? not a great idea

I have heard he received a bonus for the volleyball team making the tournament in the five figure range. If true, that is pathetic.

His job is to make the entire athletic program the best it can be. His contract apparently has incentives for achieving measurable results - such as winning national championships. What's wrong with that?

The university is better off when most of our athletic teams - not just the big revenue producers - fare well.

I've gotta believe that big financial incentives should be tied at least partially to financial stability of the program.

If I spent 2 billion dollars, I could win a NC in every sport. Except for the Spring sports. Because the athletic department would collapse before the school year got that far along.

[This message has been edited by gobluwolverine (edited 12/5/2009 11:30p).]

I concur with wolverine's sentiments.

No one has a problem with Byrne getting a bonus for winning national championships. That, however, is not necessarily what's being talked about here.

With its resources and facilities, Texas A&M should be a top 25 program in every sport. That is something that should be expected and undeserving of any bonus. Once you start talking conference championships and top 10 finshes, then maybe you can talk bonus.

[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 12/6/2009 5:02p).]

Well, going into the summer of 2008, we were coming off an athletic season when we were racking up conference titles (I think we won 7 of them in the 2007-2008 go around) and making news on a national level.

As far as the "should be top 25" thing. I think in practice it's been shown money won't do that alone. That's an incredible accomplishment that deserves its fair share of credit.

I don't know why Byrne got his raise and if it was right or wrong, but he was doing big things in my mind.

Definately needs the football program to get going again.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 12/6/2009 6:08p).]

I'd love to see a comparison of national salary ranking (pre-bonus) and actual team finish for our staffs to see if we are getting our money's worth.

Well, we've been sitting there at 12/13 or so in the directors cup. We were 12th prior to his raise in the summer of 2008.

You also have to consider where his athletic program started in the DC with respect to those other programs.

So, in that respect, while I don't know where his salary sits nationally, I imagine we're getting our money's worth and then maybe some more.



That said football in a clear first and then men's basketball are the keys to the A&M athletic program. That's where the interest is highest and the money is made.

I think football isn't there yet, obviously, but it's hard to say he's done anything less than a stellar job with basketball.

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Definately needs the football program to get going again.

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if he doesn't, nothing else he does will be enough

Wally was 16th not too long before he was let go...that's a lot of $$$ to spend to move up 4-6 spots...

I would agree that results vs. cost he has done an excellent job with men's basketball.

[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 12/6/2009 8:40p).]

Of course. There is still some definate wiggle room there depending on your definition of "going."

If we're a 8-9 win team every year, I think a lot of say, people on this website, won't be happy but in the eyes of Byrne's superiors, if everything else is going well and the football program is making money and staying out of trouble, I imagine they'd keep him around.

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Wally was 16th not too long before he was let go...that's a lot of $$$ to spend to move up 4-6 spots...

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The athletic department never finished better than 26th under Wally.

We finished 16th in 2003-2004. Byrne arrived here in the winter of 2002.

At any rate, we weren't paying Wally nor Byrne to build one season of success. As a whole, I don't think anyone can argue our men's basketball team and non-revenue sports as whole are finding much more consistent success under Byrne than they were in along while before he got here.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 12/6/2009 8:54p).]

[This message has been edited by TxRebel007 (edited 12/6/2009 9:33p).]

[This message has been edited by TxRebel007 (edited 12/6/2009 9:34p).]

Actually we're both wrong. We finished 20th in 1995-96 and 24th in 1993-94.

At the risk of getting bombarded with smarta$$ remarks, I was wondering if any of you have heard about $Bills pending resignation/firing? This is a rumor I have heard. I certainly hope not, this is the last thing our AD needs at this point inspite of how I feel about Bill. Again, something I heard through the grapevine.

This weeks BBWW has some interesting news.

http://www.aggieathletics.com/genrel/121609aaa.html

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Today, I want to talk a little bit about our business operations. We have just been through an internal audit performed by the Texas A&M University System auditors, which covered the period from September 1, 2007 through December 31, 2008. Their report will be released soon. These audits are commonplace for Athletics, Texas A&M and other state entities, all of which deal with financial aid, large contracts and external funding sources.

Most of the recommendations in the audit report cover improvements that can be made to every day processes in areas such as purchasing procedures, receivables management and cash advances for team travel. Almost any company or operation of any size that goes through an audit will receive recommendations of this sort.

The auditors also made one very serious observation. During the period under audit, they believed that we had limited monitoring of, and limited accountability for, daily financial operations. And during that time, the auditors were correct. I had come to this same conclusion in the fall of 2008 and had begun taking steps to change the leadership of our Business Office and to expand and strengthen the staff to address this weakness. These changes are complete, and I am confident that our business operations are being conducted effectively and efficiently today. Many of the other audit recommendations have already been implemented, and the others will be in place shortly.

Overall, in spite of the hardships imposed on our fans by the economy, the financial picture for the athletic department is healthy. We have begun repaying the $16 million loan from the University and intend to adhere to its terms.

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Something is up. It may not be that big or it may be. If something major goes down in the AD finance wise, I think it would be hard for BB to survive it. I just hope if he were to leave we get a professional AD and not another coach.

Too many expensed meals at Cafe Eccell?

Sounds like the Audit committee is taking exception to the massive per diems that the athletes get over breaks, at away games, etc. I've heard of some athletes who, at the end of the semester break, will pocket almost a grand worth of per diem, even after they've bought food.

Some sports have done the per diem, which has always been paid at the maximum amount allowed per state (I think California and New York are the highest; California at least being upwards of 50 dollars a day), while other sports have done the group meals where the athletes get food provided instead of money.

Obviously the group meal would be more economical, but some sports don't work very well with scheduling such a meal (track trips with lots of athletes on different competition and training schedules).

Track changed to group meals when feasible (breakfast, sometimes lunch) and allowing the athletes the money for the meals that wouldn't be provided, so that they don't get the full day's per diem, but whatever the allowed amount would be for that meal.

The same goes for recruiting - it used to be when a recruit was in, you could take them out to any restaurant, and the recruiter and their host were each allowed a drink, appetizer, entree, and dessert with a per diem of entertainment money on top of that. Now there are a lot more group meals provided, and restaurant trips are usually more limited.

'in spite of the hardships imposed on our fans by the economy'

I can think of some people that had to undergo 'hardships' a lot worse than the fans.

^^^Not sure that was the most important part of the post, but I agree. I think on the whole, people that patron Texas A&M athletics the most were probably hit relatively little by the economic downturn.

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I can think of some people that had to undergo 'hardships' a lot worse than the fans.

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I think on the whole, people that patron Texas A&M athletics the most were probably hit relatively little by the economic downturn.

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I disagree. I think the great majority of the athletic department's "patrons" have certainly been hit hard from the point of view of the AD budget.

When it comes to the big donors that really drive the bottom line, I understand they might still be driving their Cadillacs to the front door of Kyle Field and Reed Arena, but it's no secret that they've lost millions upon millions, that the 12th Man Foundation lost millions upon millions, etc...

As for the typical Aggie patron, most of them are just hard working people who never had money to throw at everything they wanted. And now, yes, they've been hit and maybe they just don't feel like they need to be making a 2,3 or more hour drive every for a weekend stay in College Station every other weekend.


Bill Byrne's point is a very valid point that has been made by athletic directors across the country.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 12/19/2009 5:32p).]

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The same goes for recruiting - it used to be when a recruit was in, you could take them out to any restaurant, and the recruiter and their host were each allowed a drink, appetizer, entree, and dessert with a per diem of entertainment money on top of that. Now there are a lot more group meals provided, and restaurant trips are usually more limited.

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Maybe I'm misunderstand you, I'm not exactly sure whom "host and recruiter" are referring too, but I will say that taking recruits out to a restaraunt has been a big no-no since before Byrne got here, el aggie, yet alone the issue of what the staff could pay for.




As for the issue of meals, that's an interesting topic.

When school is in session, you're allowed to provide one on campus meal a day on non-competition days (save the evening before a competition) and you can't have anything other than group meals when competing at home. I don't think that's a big issue with anyone.

The issue is what to do on the road. You get two options:

You can give breakfast, lunch and dinner or a per diem to not exceed what institutional staff recieve during a trip. You can also give a pregame or postgame meal or 15 bucks in leiu of that meal.

Or you can go with option two where you can give all the meals you want but they must all be group meals.

I would like to see programs focus on the group meals. I think that's more benefical all the way around. It's obviously a problem, like el aggie said, when you get to programs like track where activites are so spread out.


As for the vacation periods, you can provide meals or the per diem. There too I'd like to see some more group meals. I don't think you need to force athletes to eat together all day, but I'd like to see a group meal tied into the practice schedule.

Exactly what is the per diem rate here at A&M? I'm sure I could figure it out but I don't really feel like it.


Anyways, the bottom line for me is the department is repaying the loan and they're supporting themselves. I can't imagine Byrne is going anywhere unless we've just got some power hungry folks (and I suppose we do). He's running a successful and financialy sound department.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 12/19/2009 6:09p).]

"The same goes for recruiting - it used to be when a recruit was in, you could take them out to any restaurant, and the recruiter and their host were each allowed a drink, appetizer, entree, and dessert with a per diem of entertainment money on top of that. Now there are a lot more group meals provided, and restaurant trips are usually more limited.


Maybe I'm misunderstand you, I'm not exactly sure whom "host and recruiter" are referring too, but I will say that taking recruits out to a restaraunt has been a big no-no since before Byrne got here, el aggie, yet alone the issue of what the staff could pay for."


It wasn't a no-no under Wally, and at least for the first part of Byrne's time at A&M. Compliance was very clear on what could and couldn't be paid for / reimbursed.


"As for the vacation periods, you can provide meals or the per diem. There too I'd like to see some more group meals. I don't think you need to force athletes to eat together all day, but I'd like to see a group meal tied into the practice schedule.

Exactly what is the per diem rate here at A&M? I'm sure I could figure it out but I don't really feel like it."

Group meals would be much more economical, but you run into the timing issue again, with different groups having different times of day that are better for working out. Sometimes the per diem is just a whole lot easier logistically.

A few years ago, the per diem in Texas was about 35 dollars. If a track athlete qualified for the regional meet, when it first began, that meant staying about 2 1/2 weeks after finals, which became about $600 in per diem. If they qualified for nationals, that meant about another 10 days, or another 350 in per diem (unless Nationals was in California, with a per diem rate of $50, so a little more).

An athlete that could qualify for the NCAA outdoor meet then could hypothetically get $1000 for food for a month. Great for the athlete, could be hard to explain to stockholders (12th Man Foundation).

'Anyways, the bottom line for me is the department is repaying the loan and they're supporting themselves.'

A little too late for some folks.

el aggie, your biggest argument against this group meal idea seems to be the timing of it. Being that you're so adamant about it, it almost seems like you are a current or former collegiate athlete who knows that the per diems are too high, but benefited from the system.

I'm sure that ESPECIALLY over breaks, when there's no classes, that the teams can find a time where everyone can eat together. If someone decides they don't WANT to eat then, then that's their decision, and they can fend for themselves.

Often times, these group meals could consist of running to Jason's Deli or McAllisters, and grabbing a couple of piles of sandwiches. That way, if someone can't eat at precisely the same moment, nobody goes hungry.

There are ways around the timing issues, I'm quite certain. I doubt there's a rule against having team meals in more than 1 grouping, so long as nobody eats with both groups.

They are talking about track. Throwers, sprinters, jumpers, distance runners don't all practice at the same time.

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I'd love to see a comparison of national salary ranking (pre-bonus) and actual team finish for our staffs to see if we are getting our money's worth.

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I know you said staffs, and not Byrne. But FWIW I recently saw an article on ADs and i think Byrne was 2nd or 3rd in salary in the Big 12. Dodds was actually way down the list.

Count me in the minority (?) that thinks Byrne has done a great job thus far. This is from a guy that's never liked Byrne from his days at Nebraksa during the formation of the Big 12.

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It wasn't a no-no under Wally, and at least for the first part of Byrne's time at A&M. Compliance was very clear on what could and couldn't be paid for / reimbursed.

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Again, I'm not sure I completely understand what you're talking about. I thought you were saying you could take recruits out to anywhere you wanted to take them for meals, and no, since the early 1990s, you havn't been able to supply/cover/etc... meals beyond what a normal student-athletes recieve during the year (STAY ON CAMPUS)
except a snack (pizza, hamburger, etc...)

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Group meals would be much more economical, but you run into the timing issue again, with different groups having different times of day that are better for working out. Sometimes the per diem is just a whole lot easier logistically.

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I know that and I'm not saying every meal. I said I don't think every meal should be. I'm just saying I think when you have the options for group/handing out food or cash per diems, which really isn't that often, more often than not I think a group meal or giving food out makes more sense all around...for the team's success to the financial success of the entire athletic department. The option of supplying food instead of cash is even possible at track meets in my mind.

Maybe I'm just a stubborn kid who takes after his father? He's been a huge supporter of group meals over the past few decades he's been traveling the country with his teams.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 12/21/2009 12:04a).]

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'Anyways, the bottom line for me is the department is repaying the loan and they're supporting themselves.'

A little too late for some folks.

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Not sure I understand, Look Out Below.

I know you're just another GI (thank god that joker wouldn't be caught near a volleyball or track or soccer or whatever match/game/meet), but exactly what is "too little" and why is it "too late"?

We accepted Dr. Gates' no interest loan and for 4 years we became like 99.9% of college athletic departments and were using some institutional support to save some jobs and to continue an aggresive run at updating the cluster**** that were the facilities at Texas A&M.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 12/20/2009 11:48p).]