Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne is announcing his retirement at a press conference at Kyle Field at 12:30 p.m., as he informed his staff on Monday at a social gathering in the university's Lettermen Lounge.

The Houston Chronicle cited a source who said Byrne was "very professional" and a bit emotional in urging his staff to continue "building champions" at A&M. That's been Byrne's motto since he arrived on campus almost 10 years ago with former head football coach Dennis Franchione.

The Chronicle also cited an A&M insider from last December saying Byrne would be gone before the Aggies officially entered the SEC, because of a growing rift between the administration and Byrne, who had defended football coach Mike Sherman all the way up until Sherman's Dec. 1 firing by Loftin. Sherman's firing was also an issue on campus, as the student newspaper The Battalion expressed its disdain as well.

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