Ross Bjork opens up on discussions with Mark Stoops

Before Texas A&M’s coaching search came to a close, there was a very real possibility at one point that Kentucky’s Mark Stoops was going to be the guy in College Station. That’s why, at the introductory press conference for Mike Elko, Aggie AD Ross Bjork had to address that debacle.

Bjork clarified the school’s consideration of Stoops when he took the mic on Monday. He said it was just part of their business in speaking with as many coaches as they did. He shared his admiration of Stoops but added that, in the end, their process wasn’t truly over.

“Well, look, here’s the thing. Over the last two weeks, when we engage with up to 30 different coaches at varying different levels? Some were in person, some were Zoom, some were calls, some were through third parties, etc.? There’s going to be a lot of moving parts,” Bjork explained. “As President Welsh said, one of the things he learned going through this – it ain’t over ’til it’s over. We wanted to make sure we engaged with our final group of candidates as long as possible.”

“I don’t know how all of that got out,” Bjork admitted. “I respect Coach Stoops. He has been in the SEC a long time. I appreciate his statement.”

Stoops has spent 11 seasons in Lexington where he has coached 137 games as the second-longest tenured coach in the SEC. In that time, he has claimed the school’s win record with 73 wins as the program’s longest-tenured coach in history.

Still, no matter what called it off, Stoops found his way back to Kentucky. That opened the door for Elko, someone who has a history with the Aggies before his two seasons at Duke, to earn the gig.

Bjork is pleased with that outcome as well because, in his opinion, their hire of Elko is the best outcome when it comes to the future at Texas A&M.

“Here’s my job at the end of the day – what is in the best interest of Texas A&M?” said Bjork. “The end result is what matters the most – let’s get it right.”

“The process, to me, with all the moving parts and all the candidates? To me, that validated the choice even more,” Bjork said. “We had a process that was very thorough, we talked to a bunch of people given the fact that we had two weeks. The process was fluid until the very end but that’s why we had to get it right. I think the process yielded the right result.”