Texas A&M Hiring AD Eric Hyman Away From New SEC Rival

For one thing, it ain’t lateral:

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Following through with what has been rumored throughout the day Friday, South Carolina has officially confirmed that athletic director Eric Hyman has resigned and will take over the AD job at Texas A&M. South Carolina president Harris Pastides showed no hard feelings toward Hyman.

Hyman is very familiar with the state of Texas. He has plenty of family in the Fort Worth area having spent 13 years of his career heading TCU’s athletic department. He leaves a positive legacy at South Carolina in his wake, notably upgrading several athletic facilities.

When the SEC paired up South Carolina and new guys Texas A&M as an annual, cross-division rivalry, we didn’t really have much history to go on between the two. That’s changed now, as the Aggies are reportedly ready to announce South Carolina’s Eric Hyman as their new AD, replacing the retired Bill Byrne.

So why make what would appear to some to be a lateral move? For one thing, much of Hyman’s family lives in Fort Worth after his long tenure at TCU before his time in Columbia. Also, SEC blog Team Speed Kills has a whole lot of analysis on Hyman’s Gamecocks legacy and where Carolina goes from here:

Texas A&M has been without a new athletic director for more than a month now, with Bill Byrne retiring early in May. Since then, Houston’s Mack Rhoades and Georgia Tech’s Dan Radakovich have been rumored targets, but each is staying put. Now South Carolina’s Eric Hyman is reportedly the leader, with Chip Brown reporting some specifics:

Hyman has Texas experience, having run TCU’s athletic department for 13 years previously, earning 2004 AD of the year honors there. He’s also worked at Miami (Ohio) and VMI.

The Texas A&M Aggies have a new conference, college football has a new playoff system, but after the retirement of Bill Byrne, A&M does not yet have a new athletic director. Rumor was the powers that be in College Station had their eye on Georgia Tech athletic director Don Radakovich, but unfortunately for them, he’s not looking to take the position. Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

Radakovich has been with Georgia Tech since 2006 and has previously turned down overtures from both the Tennessee Volunteers and Miami Hurricanes, choosing instead to stay steadfast with the Yellow Jackets. Although the prospect of moving to the SEC had to have been appealing, the report makes it pretty clear that Radakovich didn’t seriously consider it.

Mack Rhoades is probably one of the most appealing candidates when considering who will succeed Bill Byrne as athletic director at Texas A&M. Just one problem: he may or may not actually be available.

Rhoades signed a five-year contract extension with the University of Houston in January. Although the deal isn’t public, sources told the Houston Chronicle that it is worth up to $500,000 per year, plus incentives. Texas A&M will have to convince Rhoades that a move would benefit him both monetarily and in terms of the fact that Rhoades has had success at Houston and may not be willing to move on to the well-established now-SEC school.

The Houston side remains cautious about Rhoades making the hour-and-a-half drive to the northwest, but Sam Khan Jr. points out the excellent job the AD has done, from facilities to conference realignment to football success, and finds Rhoades to be an obviously desirable potential candidate. And he’d pair up with Sumlin again after hiring Tony Levine as UH’s replacement.

For more on Aggies football, visit SEC blog Team Speed Kills and SB Nation Houston.

Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne will announce his retirement at a press conference Tuesday, according to a report from WTAW-1620.

Byrne’s departure follows the news last week that the Texas A&M Board of Regents gave university President R. Bowen Loftin the permission to negotiate Byrne’s departure. Byrne took over as Texas A&M’s athletic director in 2002 and his contract was not set to expire until Aug. 31, 2013.