The end of Pac-12 football: Our Q&A with Alabama AD Greg Byrne, who grew up in the conference and witnessed the beginning of the demise

Byrne watched from the inside as the league he loved headed down the wrong path

As the final Pac-12 championship game approached, the Hotline sought context from a voice unlike any other — from someone who not only witnessed but also felt the conference’s demise, from an outsider who is also an insider, from someone who has the Pac-12 in his DNA but recoiled at the internal rot.

Greg Byrne provided us with context.

Alabama’s athletic director was initially hesitant to share his thoughts on the Pac-12’s life and death.

After all, Byrne left the conference seven years ago and was not privy to the inner workings of the conference during its existential crisis, which began on June 30, 2022, with the departures of USC and UCLA and ended on August 4, 2023, with the departure of five more schools.

He eventually agreed to respond to questions via email.

Byrne’s viewpoint on the subject is unique in college athletics.

While his father, Bill, was the athletic director at Oregon, he attended Sheldon High School in Eugene. He attended Oregon and Arizona State before graduating. He worked in the athletic departments at Oregon and Oregon State before taking over as showrunner at Arizona.

The roots are extensive.

However, during his tenure in Tucson in the early 2010s, Byrne became concerned about the conference’s current and future directions.

He witnessed the strategic blunders from the inside and attempted to raise the alarm despite a top-down structure that pushed athletic directors aside.

Byrne moved from Arizona to Alabama in 2017 and witnessed the landscape change. As college sports recovered from the pandemic, the Pac-12 found itself vulnerable to realignment forces.

From 2,000 miles away, Byrne watched the demise with wide eyes and a heavy heart.

As the Pac-12 football season comes to an end, his perspective helps to complete the circle.