COLLEGE STATION – Nearly 10 years ago, Texas A&M rolled out the red carpet – literally – for football coach Dennis Franchione and athletic director Bill Byrne, both brand new to their respective gigs, when they stepped off a plane together at Easterwood Airport.

Franchione was the star that December 2002 day, as Byrne lingered in the background. Turns out, the athletic director hired from Nebraska outlasted Franchione by five years in Aggieland, and made a far greater impact on A&M sports.

Byrne, 66, on Monday told his staff members at a social gathering on campus he’d announce his retirement at a 12:30 p.m. news conference Tuesday at Kyle Field. Associate athletic director John Thornton, a former A&M basketball player and coach, will serve as interim athletic director while a search begins, an A&M official said.

One insider present at the gathering in the A&M Letterman’s Lounge said Byrne was “very professional” and a bit emotional in urging his staff to continue “building champions” – a motto Byrne has promoted nearly since his arrival.

A&M president R. Bowen Loftin said last month he and Byrne were “holding conversations about the future” and that A&M intended to pay Byrne’s contract ($690,000 annually) that expires at the end of August 2013. Loftin also made it clear that Byrne’s job description would be determined between now and then, as the Aggies exit the Big 12 after 16 years and enter the Southeastern Conference on July 1.

While at Nebraska, Byrne was a founding father of the Big 12, and he was minimally involved in the Aggies’ impending Big 12 exit and SEC entrance, a drive last summer spearheaded by Loftin and A&M regent Jim Wilson.

Last December, an A&M insider said Byrne would be gone before the Aggies officially entered the SEC, because of a growing rift between the administration and Byrne, who had steadfastly defended beleaguered football coach Mike Sherman all the way up until Sherman’s Dec. 1 firing by Loftin.

Byrne served as Nebraska’s athletic director from 1992-2002, and the Cornhuskers won three football national titles in that span. But football, king at A&M and the sport that funds nearly every other athletic endeavor on campus, failed to deliver during Byrne’s tenure.

While he didn’t directly hire Franchione, Byrne gave the current Texas State coach a raise and extension following the 2004 season. He did the same for Sherman a year ago. The coaches combined for a 58-54 record over the past nine years, and the Aggies won their lone Big 12 title in 1998, four years prior to Byrne’s arrival.

Byrne enjoyed success, however, in nearly every other sport. The men’s and women’s track teams have won the last six outdoor national titles – an unprecedented feat in the sport – while women’s basketball won an NCAA title in 2011 and men’s golf earned a national crown in 2009. Men’s basketball also enjoyed a revival under Byrne, as the Aggies made a school record six consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2006-11.

Byrne and his wife, Marilyn, have two grandsons in Tucson, Ariz., where their son, Greg, is Arizona athletic director. Bill Byrne recently wrote in his weekly online address that he had reached a “point of transition” at A&M and he was “looking forward to my life after athletics.”



brent.zwerneman@chron.com

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