STARKVILLE - As Greg Byrne moves on, Mississippi State appears close to finding his successor.

After two-plus years as MSU's athletics director, Byrne turned in his school-provided Chevy Tahoe and cell phone on Friday, and today he's headed to his new job as Arizona's AD. He officially starts Monday and will attend Pac-10 meetings in Phoenix that day.

Byrne accepted the Arizona job just over a month ago, so he's had plenty of time to say goodbye. School President Dr. Mark Keenum and the athletic staff both gave Byrne send-off parties.

"A lot of mixed emotions," Byrne said. "Regina (his wife) and I absolutely love Mississippi State and the people here. And at the same time, too, we're excited about the opportunity at Arizona and excited about the opportunity to meet everybody out there and also get back with some family."

Byrne's final act as MSU's athletics director was talking with interim AD Duncan McKenzie on Thursday about the upcoming SEC meetings and what will be covered there.

McKenzie's temporary tenure shouldn't last long.

While Keenum has declined to speak with the media about the search, which is being aided by Atlanta's Parker Executive Search, school spokesman Kyle Steward said of making a hire that MSU is "still on track to get that done in early May."

Several candidates have been interviewed, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Whit Hughes, who played on MSU's 1996 Final Four basketball team, is one of the candidates and has interviewed for the position, but Keenum has managed to keep most of the names out of the news.

Current North Carolina State AD Lee Fowler is reportedly going to part ways with the school after 10 years there. One report had him as a possible candidate for the MSU job.

Contact Brad Locke at 678-1571 or brad.locke@djournal.com.