Every school has politics and meddling boosters. aTm has it worse than most. Remember the Regent who publicly called for Sumlin's immediate firing via Twitter around midnight after they blew the big lead over UCLA? And got public agreement from some others? They aren't quite as bad as UTw, but they're in the same ballpark.
No, we're not 100% pure on that. But boosters are among the groups Saban has processed, so it's less than at most major powers.
I think Byrne's ultimate goal is to be a conference commissioner. Does he get there better, faster, and with less risk of boosters hounding him into a bad hire (and thereby damage the path his longer-term goal) from aTm, or UA? I think UA.
If we've learned nothing else from Nick Saban, we've learned that the salary you pay for first-rate coaching and administrative talent is peanuts compared to (1) the returns it generates, and (2) the damage second-rate talent does -- Bob Bockrath and Andrew Sorensen say hello. So long as we match the money, and I have every confidence we would, I think he stays even if aTm does try to poach.
