Byrne then moved to Oregon State University as an associate AD for development in 1998 where his duties included fundraising.

In a brief departure from his athletic administration career, Byrne was the national director of sales for a litigation case management and research software company in 2005.

On June 7, 2008, Byrne hired John Cohen as head baseball coach to replace Ron Polk, who retired the preceding March.

Polk, who endorsed his assistant Tommy Raffo upon his retirement, protested the hire and waged a very personal and public attack on Byrne.

[5] On December 10, 2008, Byrne hired Dan Mullen as head football coach to replace Sylvester Croom who resigned after five years and a 21–38 record at Mississippi State.

Byrne also made changes to the Alabama baseball program, hiring head coach Brad Bohannon.

In January 2024, he quickly hired Kalen DeBoer of Washington to serve as successor to legendary football coach Nick Saban following his unanticipated retirement.