Greg Byrne, far right, celebrates the Arizona Wildcats’ College World Series title this summer. Harry How – Getty Images

Shawn Eichorst has stepped down as Athletic Director at the University of Miami and is heading to the University of Nebraska to fill the spot vacated by the retiring Tom Osborne.

Eichorst, whose tenure as AD for the Hurricanes lasted a mere 18 months, has big shoes to fill. Osborne is nothing short of a legend in Lincoln, having won three national titles as Husker football coach — a distinction that eventual got him elected to Congress.

For University of Arizona fans, this is great news and effectively ends the Greg Byrne-to-Nebraska rumors. Byrne apparently isn’t interested in replacing a legacy. And by legacy, we don’t mean Osborne, rather, Byrne’s own father Bill Byrne.

As Cornhusker AD, the elder Byrne’s programs won eight national titles and 82 Big  8/12 titles between 1992 and 2003. Among those national championships were Osborne’s three football triumphs. Bill Byrne jumped to Texas A&M before retiring in August.

Such is the price of success. And Arizona has witnessed it firsthand.

Since arriving in Tucson in May of 2010, Byrne has spearheaded a revitalization of Arizona Athletics:

In his short time with Arizona, Byrne has led the charge on new fundraising initiatives and member expansion for the Wildcat Club. Under his leadership, the Wildcats have seen construction completed on a new men’s basketball lockerroom, implementation of a new video board for the south end zone of Arizona Stadium and the beginning stages of a north end zone football facility.

- Arizona Athletics

He’s brought in Rich Rodriguez to breathe life into the stagnant football program. He moved the baseball team to Hi Corbett Stadium, creating the third-highest annual attendance in the West Coast. And then, of course, there was the magical run to a College World Series title under his watch, to name just a few accomplishments in his short tenure.

He’s been so successful as the 11th AD in Arizona history, that Wildcat fans have seemingly forgiven him for graduating from Arizona State.

But each new success seemingly moves him closer to leaving for greener (less desert-y) pastures.

Arizona goes through the same process every year with basketball coach Sean Miller, whenever a prized head coaching position opens somewhere in the country–the most recent coming last year when a spot opened up at Maryland (although most Wildcat fans will argue that Arizona is a more coveted job than Maryland’s).

Keeping Byrne in Tucson should be a priority, but his own success might very well be the thing that sends him packing. Wildcat Nation is hoping that before he departs, perhaps his successes will be so great, that they put his name on an athletic facility. How does Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium in the Greg Byrne Baseball Compex sound?