National Football Foundation

After Bill Byrne received his bachelor's and then master's degree in business at Idaho State, he didn't pack up and leave college. Instead, he made college his business; his own college to begin with. As soon as he was an alumnus, Byrne became Idaho State director of alumni relations. It was a five year job (1971-76) that led to one of the most storied careers in college athletics administration.

For the past ten years, Byrne has been director of athletics at the University of Nebraska and has been the primary catalyst in creating a place for the school among the nation's elite.

This year, Byrne is the recipient of the National Football Foundation's John L. Toner Award, -presented annually to a director of athletics who has demonstrated superior administrative abilities and shown outstanding dedication to college athletics and particularly college football."

Anybody with even the most rudimentary knowledge of college football over the past decade must be aware of the huge imprint Nebraska has made on the landscape. Under his watch, the Huskers became only the second team in the history of the NCAA to win three national football titles in a four year span.

While football may be king in college athletics, Byrne has never, throughout his career, let the glamour or the glory of the gridiron dictate the scope of his job. A director of athletics, no matter how much newspaper ink or TV time is occupied by football, carries the responsibility for the health and success of the full college athletics program, both financially and competitively and for both men and women.

In Nebraska's case, a full program means 23 sports. including women's soccer, women's bowling and women's rifle. Those three sports have been added under Byrne and all three have achieved championship caliber competition. Championship competition has become a continuing theme under Byrne. In the past decade he has been responsible for hiring ten coaches. Those coaches have already accounted for three National Championships, 16 conference titles, 23 NCAA appearances and three bowl game victories. Nebraska has produced eight National Championship teams in the Byrne era.

The financial and physical health of Nebraska athletics has shared equally under Byrne's leadership. When he arrived ten years ago, NU had a $2.5 million deficit. While operating under a $40 million budget, the deficit is gone and the athletic program now provides more than $40 million in economic impact to the Lincoln community each year.

Donations to the NU athletic program have risen dramatically under Byrne. Annual donations have increased nearly 360% with 2000-01 athletic department donations totaling over $9 million.

Improving facilities has been a Byrne priority. Three years ago, NU introduced its' biggest project yet, the $36.1 million Memorial Stadium Improvement Project which involved an expanded training room, improved locker rooms, expanded restrooms, a new public address system, a new press facility and 42 skyboxes.

Beyond football, Byrne has overseen new outdoor and indoor tracks for the track and field program. The Ed Weir Outdoor Track renovations, which came in at $2.9 million, went into operation two years ago. And $2 million went to indoor track at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Byrne helped guide more than $7.9 million in improvements to the Devaney Sports Center which included HuskerVision screens, improved fan amenities, better seating for the disabled and a complete upper concourse renovation with a Husker Timeline along with exhibits celebrating a century of Nebraska athletics.

Two years ago, the University, the City of Lincoln and Lincoln Professional Baseball broke ground on an innovative $32.1 million baseball/softball complex. Byrne led fund-raising efforts for the complex which is home to both NU baseball and softball teams as well as Lincoln's new Northern League franchise, the Saltdogs. The baseball stadium holds 6,000 and features 16 skybox suites while the softball stadium has a 2,500 capacity.

The baseball and softball stadiums feature state-of-the-art technology which includes an underground heating system for the playing field, allowing groundskeepers to grow grass year-round.

Before coming to Nebraska, Byrne became one of the youngest directors of athletics in Division I when he assumed the top job at the University of Oregon in 1984. He established fundraising offices in Portland and Southern Oregon and set up a full-time marketing and promotions operation, which blossomed to encompass the Oregon Sports Network for statewide in-house production of Duck's games on radio and television. Byrne led the $19 million fund drive that resulted in new homes for Oregon's football team and athletic offices.

Before going to Oregon, Byrne was assistant athletics director at San Diego State (1980-82) and executive director of the New Mexico Lobo Club.

Byrne served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in 1991-92 and is currently in his ninth year on its' Executive Committee. He has also served as chairman of the PAC-10 Conference Executive Committee and was the National Athletic Fundraisers Association National Fundraiser of the year. The Nebraska Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame thrives because of Byrne's leadership and the school's involvement.

Byrne's wife, Marilyn, is the dean of graduate studies in educational leadership at Doane College and earned her Ph.D in higher education administration from Nebraska. The Byrnes have two sons.