Fire Bill Byrne

He looks like a fat troll and is the reason A&M sucks in football. He is a all that is wrong with the world and I hope he runs his new BMW into a light poll. I do not hate Mike Sherman, he and everyone else knew he was not qualified for the job. He seems like a decent person.

Here are my issues with the POS i call BB.

This information is public domain under the Freedom of Information Act and can also obtained via Channel 3 and the B/CS Eagle. Some thoughts regarding the implications will follow. I would like to hear what you think.1) Back in March, the Texas A&M Athletic Department projected a 2009 fiscal year deficit of $3 million. The Division of Finance and an external consultant hired by the 12th Man Foundation have identified potential budget savings. These efforts have resulted in a reduction of the deficit to $1 million. [Fiscal 2009 ends 08-31-09]

2) Per Interim Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin, the 12th Man Foundation has agreed to provide one-time funding to offset any 2009 fiscal year deficit. Loftin says the Division of Finance will continue to provide direct oversight for the financial operations of the Athletic Department. "During the past three years, very few, if any, measures have been implemented by athletics to significantly reduce operating costs," Terry Pankratz, CFO, wrote to then-president Elsa Murano in February. "Had cost-saving measures been implemented during the past three years, athletics may have some reserve balances to address the renovation costs or there may be some funding available through the line of credit Dr. Gates authorized."

3) Bill Byrne, Director of Athletics, and Dr. Gates arranged an interest-free line of credit in the fiscal 2005-06, when the football team had been struggling and energy prices were skyrocketing. Byrne informed Dr. Gates of predicted $4 million deficits in each of the next four years. The Athletic Department [with obvious “help”] has proposed a 2010 budget which includes $1.6 million in loan repayment ($1.6 million/year X 10 years) and an operating surplus of ~ $34,000. Bill Byrne was charged by the University to reduce the department's budget by $4.5 million. On 07-02-09, Byrne announced that the Athletic Department was eliminating 17 positions to balance the budget. "If we had been selling out Kyle Field, you would not be asking me these questions," Byrne told The Eagle last week. "We would be operating in the black." [No kidding?]

4) Actual Athletic Department budget for 2008 was:Revenues $73,231,625Expenses $73,340,421Operating Income less Debt ($108,796)

5) Projected budget for 2009 was:Revenues $71,910,221Expenses $66,344,308Income $5,565,913Operating Income less Debt ($1,002,151) [To be paid by the 12th Man Foundation]

6) Projected budget for 2010 is: [Prepared before the 2009 football season]Revenues $66,839,400 [Obviously scrubbed and revised downward by the CFO’s office]Expenses $60,337,063Income $6,502.337Operating Income less Debt $33,890

7) The LoC didn't need BoR approval, and several Regents didn't know about it until an April memo from Elsa Murano. "In retrospect, it is inconceivable to me how this situation was allowed to fester for so many years without proper action being taken," Elsa Murano wrote in an April memo to Regents. Financial officers cited poor revenue projections, a lack of interest in oversight or controls, and an inability to control rising expenses. After discovering that no contract had been signed when the LoC was given, Murano had one drafted and signed on April 4, 2008.

8) A 2007 Athletic Department five-year plan projected an increase in football ticket revenues of 10 percent each year, reaching $25.9 million by 2008. Ticket revenue for 2008 actually dropped to $19 million [The Sherman hire obviously did not energize the fan base]. 2009 sales dropped another 12 percent [~$2.3M]. The men's basketball team was projected to bring in about $3.7 million in ticket sales by 2008, but earned only $2.4 million. 2010 projections by the Athletic Department predicted that overall revenues would remain about flat, which University financiers questioned. "I think that is pretty aggressive after a 4-8 football season, men's basketball not enjoying the same level of success in prior years, potentially lower donations with individual market losses in a Texas and national economy that we have not seen in many years," Grant Trexler, Finance Department, wrote in a February e-mail to Pankratz. Byrne has requested University funding to help pay for non-revenue-generating women's athletics. All sports currently are paid for with athletic revenue, most of which comes from football and men's basketball. "This is something that I have asked for since my arrival here," Byrne said in an e-mail. University officials rejected his funding idea, saying they wanted the department to be financially self-sufficient. The Department spends $20 million on women's sports for every $1 million those teams bring in.

9) Byrne's personal salary increased 42 percent in August 2008 -- from $486,000 to $690,000. In 2008-09, he also received $178,500 in bonuses for the success in both basketball programs and track and field. "We are working on revising the policy for the next fiscal year, but we have issues with other schools recruiting coaches away from us right now, and coaches not being paid under our current extra-pay-for-extra-work policy is working against us," Byrne told Pankratz in a June e-mail [Huh?]. The bonuses were paid, and it cost the program slightly over $1 million "due to the great success achieved by our teams," Byrne said, referring to teams such as track and golf that compete in the spring.

10) The university denied Byrne's request for help in funding the Athletic Department's move from John Koldus to offices in Reed Arena and elsewhere across campus to facilitate MSC renovation. The move eventually cost $1.77 million -- $370,000 more than estimated. The Athletic Department had sought forgiveness of the $16 million loan forgiven in exchange for Athletics moving out of Koldus. "If it's true ... the request is completely out of the question," wrote Pankratz, referring to the loan forgiveness, in November 2008.

11) "People scoffed at the notion that Texas A&M could compete on a head-to-head basis with that school in the state capital," Byrne said in June. "In the first year of competition in the Lone Star Showdown, we were beaten 14.5 to 4.5. We won the trophy last year and held on to it this year by tying with 9.5 points each." Last season, Texas' athletic department brought ~$120.3 million, according to Streets and Smith's SportsBusiness Journal.