clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics The original Air Kiffin shirt is available here

Filed under:

Ole Miss Athletics Director Ross Bjork gets a Raise and a Contract Extension

Thank you, Dan Jones.

By The Ghost of Jay Cutler
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

How about some good news to kick your weekend off?

Ross Bjork, the fan-favorite director of Ole Miss Rebel athletics, received an extension through 2019 today, per the Ole Miss Sports official site. The extension comes with a raise to a base salary of $650,000 a year, with the possibility of an additional $100,000 in incentives for excellent student-athlete performance both in the classroom and on the field of play.

This, unsurprisingly, makes Bjork pretty happy:

When I was hired in 2012, Sonya and I quickly realized what the Ole Miss family already knew: Ole Miss and Oxford make up a very special place, the perfect blend of academics, social life and athletics. Furthermore, we have been deeply moved by all of the support we have received from the Ole Miss family over the past three years and feel like we've been embraced with open arms every step of the way.

Bjork has been a fan favorite virtually since the day he was hired. This is due largely to him simply not being his predecessor, with much of the continued admiration coming on the heels of several unprecedentedly successful years in Ole Miss athletics. During Ross Bjork's tenure as AD, the Ole Miss football program has recruited a top-10 class, earned top-10 Associated Press votes, and played in a New Years Day Bowl gone to some bowl at some point, the details of which we cannot recall; the Ole Miss men's basketball team has won the SEC tournament and earned two invites to the big dance; the Lady Rebels basketball team made a return to postseason play; and the baseball team made its first trip to the College World Series since 1970.

Add to that the unprecedented levels of giving and the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of athletics construction that is either underway or scheduled under Ross Bjork's leadership, and it's tough to argue that he doesn't deserve this raise and extension.

Hey, at the very least we're keeping him from going to Mizzou for good now, right?

Congratulations, Ross. You've earned it.