Greg Byrne’s most popular decision as Alabama athletics director may have nothing to do with hiring a coach or building a new facility. Earlier this week, Byrne announced the return of “Dixieland Delight” in the fourth quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium, a celebrated tradition that had to go away when some fans added extra words to the classic song by legendary country band Alabama.

Appearing on “3 Man Front” on WJOX 94.5 FM, Byrne offered some behind-the-scenes insight into the decision-making process on “Dixieland Delight.”

“I certainly have followed the band Alabama for as long as I can remember,” Byrne said. “I’ve had them on my iTunes for a long time, too, because I like a lot of southern rock and such. Never did I think ‘Dixieland Delight’ would carry so many of my conversations in my time at Alabama.”

“From the time I got here… I think I probably heard about it the first day,” Bryne said of discussions of bringing back the tradition of playing the song in the fourth quarter.

“At the beginning of the football season, we started having some discussion internally,” Byrne added.

Byrne revealed that he wanted to get support from other administrators including school president Stuart Bell. Their support led to him talking to student leadership.

“About three or four weeks ago, we started saying, ‘Ok I think we can make this happen.'”

Byrne shared that players on the team had made the request as recently as when the team landed in Arkansas. He said at that time he already knew they would be bringing it back starting with the Missouri game.

The full segment can be heard via the player below: