By leaving to become Alabama's new athletic director, Greg Byrne will miss out on a booster-paid retention bonus that is currently worth $2.18 million.
In what UA terms its "Longevity Fund," Byrne was set to receive 100,000 shares that a booster set aside for him in Western Refining Logistics LP if he does not leave voluntarily before May 31, 2020.
Those shares were trading at $21.80 as of Friday, meaning the full value of Byrne's 100,000 shares would be $2.18 million as of now (the value of them was $3.53 million when the plan was approved in May 2014).
Byrne has vested in 75 percent of those shares already, but he would only collect those vested shares before May 2020 only if he was fired without cause or left because of a "substantial mental or physical incapacity or death," according to the language Arizona Regents approved in September 2015. (See page four of this document for details).
"Therefore, Byrne will not receive any partial or interim payments of the Longevity Fund prior to May 31, 2020, if he voluntarily terminates his employment," UA's approved proposal said.
UA football coach Rich Rodriguez and basketball coach Sean Miller each have 175,000 shares allocated to them in the plan, but only Rodriguez can get any payment for leaving voluntarily before 2020, under language the Regents approved in September 2015.
The difference there is likely because Rodriguez was believed to be a hiring target of other schools at that time. UA initially proposed that Miller also could cash out some shares earlier but that language was removed before the Regents approved it.
Byrne, however, did collect a $500,000 retention bonus from UA for staying through 2016. He had a base salary of $675,000 for 2016-17, and a total salary of $735,000 according to records detailed in our UA salary database.
It's not yet known what Alabama will pay Byrne. Arizona was prepared to match the Crimson Tide's offer, but Byrne opted to return to the Southeastern Conference. He served as Mississippi State's athletic director from 2008-10.ย
