Ross Bjork ready to make being AD at Texas A&M a ‘lifestyle’ - San Antonio Express-News

COLLEGE STATION — In athletic director Ross Bjork’s seven-year tenure at Mississippi, the athletic department’s budget more than doubled from $57 million to $117 million — something Texas A&M touted Monday as Bjork officially assumed his new duties as the Aggies’ AD.

“We have to look people in the eye, ask them what they’re passionate about and connect that passion to what our vision is,” Bjork said. “It’s all about relationships. You can’t just walk in and say, ‘Hey, we want you to give a million dollars,’ and we’ve never met that person and we don’t have a connection.”

Bjork, 46, began connecting with Aggies during a spirited introduction that was open to the public at Kyle Field’s Hall of Champions.

While Texas A&M did not release Bjork’s salary, he is expected to make between $900,000 and $1 million annually as the 20th athletic director in school history.

“When the coaches that you have left not just at Ole Miss but at Western Kentucky are all unanimously saying wonderful things about you, that’s the best sign you could ever have,” said A&M chancellor John Sharp, who attended Monday’s festivities. “No one said anything derogatory about Ross.”

School president Michael K. Young vetted candidates and ultimately made the decision to hire Bjork to replace Scott Woodward, who left for LSU, his alma mater, in April.

“We wanted somebody who aspires to the same level of excellence that we do at this university across the board,” Young said of Bjork. “We’re going to win, and we’re going to win a lot. But we’re going to win the right way.”

Bjork, too, was asked the inevitable question: Does he see A&M playing Texas on the football field in the foreseeable future? The Aggies and Longhorns have not played since November 2011, which was just before Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC in the summer of 2012.

Bjork said while the Aggies’ football schedule is booked for nearly the next decade, he would at some point sit down with Young and football coach Jimbo Fisher to discuss the matter.

“We’re going to do what’s best for Texas A&M,” Bjork said.

Bjork inherits a stable situation with regard to the school’s major sports. Fisher, who led Florida State to a national title in 2013, is entering his second season after guiding the Aggies (9-4) to at least nine victories for the first time since 2013.

Woodward in March dismissed basketball coach Billy Kennedy after Kennedy missed the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in his eight seasons at A&M. Woodward hired native Texan Buzz Williams from Virginia Tech.

Baseball coach Rob Childress just made the NCAA Tournament for a 13th consecutive season, although the Aggies bowed out in a regional on the road for a second consecutive year. Bjork has said Childress’ program is one of the “standard bearers” in the SEC.

Bjork, a native of a Kansas and a former fullback at Emporia State, said he first visited Kyle Field in 1998 when he was an assistant athletic director at Missouri.

“If I remember right, I was in the press box, and it was shaking,” Bjork said of his first Kyle Field experience. “I thought, ‘Is that an earthquake? The band?’ There’s just a ton of passion here.”

The old press box on the west side of Kyle Field was notorious for swaying when fans rocked back and forth during the “Aggie War Hymn.” The new press box on the east side sways much less now that the venerable stadium has been rebuilt and is connected among its four primary sections.

And that is another thing — Bjork won’t have to do any big-time fundraising for a new football stadium since it underwent a $485 million renovation four years ago, making it the largest stadium in the state and in the SEC with a capacity of 102,000.

“This is not an eight-to-five job,” Bjork said of his primary approach to directing athletics. “This is a lifestyle.”

brent.zwerneman@chron.com

twitter.com/brentzwerneman

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https://www.expressnews.com/sports/college_sports/aggies/article/Ross-Bjork-ready-to-make-being-AD-at-Texas-A-M-a-13928090.php

2019-06-04 03:27:07Z
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