A great many people all over the world were stunned by the retirement of Nick Saban on Wednesday. Crimson Tide athletic director Greg Byrne was not among them.
When Saban spoke about his future, he was transparent, according to the man who knew in his heart of hearts that he'd be the one to appoint the legendary coach's successor.
"I don't want to say a date and time," Byrne said, "but I couldn't have asked for better communication as the retirement came [to pass]. I wasn't taken by surprise."
The coach who led Alabama for 17 seasons will remain involved with the program. Saban's successor, former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer, is adamant about that. He intends to grant Saban full access as needed. The latter was involved in the search process that yielded the former, and both Byrne and the new coach want him involved.
Every Sunday during the season, Byrne and Saban met in the afternoon. In the offseason, the pair spoke regularly. Upon Byrne's arrival, his hope was for Saban to remain coaching as long as he wanted to. However, preparation for what came after was of major importance.
The athletic director who's led the department since 2017 has fielded queries from the beginning about what it was like being the person to name the next Alabama football coach. Byrne described it as being asked "only 9,723 times." This past week, he finally performed that duty, one he likely hoped would never arrive but eventually did.
"When it comes to coaches and coaching searches, and thinking about the future, you never want it to be, 'Oh, I guess I'd better start looking and putting things together,'" said Byrne. "Over time, I was always preparing, hoping I'd never have to execute the plan."
So once Saban's retirement was announced to the team, Byrne implemented his plan in place.
"We had an entire plan to the hour of what we were going to do," Byrne said. "We had been working on that for quite a while, and so we had a few folks from our department and football program that were boots on the ground."
Once the time came, things moved quickly. At hour 49 out of the 72 Byrne asked the Crimson Tide players to give him, De Boer was hired.
"I thought we had a good, solid plan. [We] knew because of the transfer portal and NIL and everything else going on, it wasn't the same as it used to be. We had to adjust our thinking, the way our approach should be, and that's what we did."
DeBoer himself said he wouldn't have left his post in Seattle for just anywhere. However, once the crux of Byrne's plan became centered around him, he took the job, and with it the mantle of succeeding Saban's unprecedented run of success in Tuscaloosa.
"I certainly felt a huge responsibility," Byrne said of appointing the new head coach. "When we were so fortunate to come to Alabama, I knew that was part of what we were signing up for, hoping that would be a long time down the road."
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