No name deals for Kyle Field
‘Sacred’ stadium off table, but AD Bjork open to other revenue sources
COLLEGE STATION — Ross Bjork chuckled at the suggested name high in the sky in maroon lights, spawned from a reporter’s question more loaded than a gussied-up gas station burrito: “Buc-ee’s Stadium at Kyle Field.”
“There are some things I learned quickly that are sacred,” said Bjork, four months on the job as Texas A&M’s athletic director. “Kyle Field is one of them.”
In other words that are music to many Aggies’ ears in a world of credit union and dot.com monikers adorning otherwise oldschool stadiums, Kyle Field will stay “Kyle Field.”
The Aggies are, however, doing their best to keep up with the Joneses (and tides of crimson and others) in the cutthroat world of college athletics finances, prompting Bjork to remind fans they must keep propelling forward.
Perhaps meaning a few more brand names around the west side of campus to help pay the bills (and then some).
“I do think that there are some sponsor-activation things that you could do that are tasteful while still protecting the tradition,” he said Tuesday. “The key is ‘tradition with innovation.’ How do you blend those two?”
Bjork, 46, will try to blend the two worlds of his last year this weekend, when the Aggies play football at Mississippi. A&M swiped Bjork from Oxford, Miss., where he spent the previous seven years as a rising-star AD, to replace Scott Woodward, who returned home to LSU.
“It will be tough,” Bjork said of going back to the place where his two boys, an eighth-grader and thirdgrader, mainly grew up. “You have friends there, and you have relationships you built there for seven years. Then you’re coming in with the opposing team, and you want your new team to win.
“Those emotions will be tough. But it will be neat to see friends and things you helped get built, whether it’s facilities or programs.”
The Aggies (3-3, 1-2 SEC) are trying to get back on track following a 47-28 home loss to top-ranked Alabama last Saturday. Bjork strolled into a tidy situation at A&M in the “big two” sports: football and men’s basketball.
Football’s Jimbo Fisher, who won a national title at Florida State in 2013, had just wrapped up the first season of a 10-year contract. Just prior to his exit in the spring, Woodward fired basketball coach Billy Kennedy and replaced him with Buzz Williams from Virginia Tech.
Williams, a former A&M assistant under Billy Gillispie more than a decade ago, conducted his 10th practice with his new program Tuesday.
“We’re trying to get to the point where we can be really good in consecutive practices,” Williams said. “We’re starting to get there. We’re just not quite there yet. Everybody is new. Regardless of how old they are or where they came from or how long they’ve been at A&M, everything is new.
“Everything we do in practice, every day in a film session, every day in the weight room, it’s all new.”
Williams, who led Virginia Tech to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season, coaches his first official game at A&M on Nov. 6 against Northwestern (La.) State in Reed Arena. Though Bjork didn’t hire Williams, the two practically arrived together.
“We have two seasoned coaches in our two most high-profile sports,” Bjork said. “It helps my transition and my ‘take’ on the program to say look, I don’t have to worry about those coaches. They’re locked in contractually because the university felt that was important, and they’re seasoned, experienced, championship-level coaches.”
Bjork said his biggest task early is achieving “financial stability” in the department.
“Even though we have great resources here, every penny matters,” he said. “Every dollar matters. Every 100 dollars matter.”
A&M paid football coach Kevin Sumlin about $10 million to leave the Aggies two years ago before the expiration of his contract. A&M is paying Fisher $75 million over his 10 years. A&M paid Kennedy about $3.5 million to leave the Aggies last spring. A&M is paying Williams about $24 million over six years, starting now. It all adds up.
“Those sorts of transitional costs are pricey. The good thing is (A&M) had a plan,” Bjork said of the university’s preparing for the massive payments before his arrival last summer. “Our (department) CFO Jeff Toole had a plan, and our 12th Man Foundation had a plan. We have a plan, but the next couple of years are tight, so every penny matters.
“Now it’s all about how we can grow our revenues.”
Rest assured, Bjork added, growing those revenues won’t include a tacked-on name to Kyle Field.