Aggie Town Hall: Ross Bjork
Mar 27, 2020 | General
Welcome to the first edition of our new feature, Aggie Town Hall, a recurring Q&A session with Athletics Director Ross Bjork. You can watch through the image above.
You can read the interview below.
Mike Wright: Alright, we'd like to welcome everyone to an Aggie Town Hall. This is kind of a unique approach, but it is our first chance where we can all get in the same room here and ask some questions of your Athletic Director at Texas A&M, Ross Bjork. You'll have an opportunity to use some various platforms that Will and Andrew will tell you about in just a few moments. My name is Mike Wright with communications, public relations for Texas A&M, I'm a Senior Associate A.D., and also joining us on the call each week will be Andrew Monaco, the Voice of the Aggies, and from 12th Man Productions, Will Johnson. Ross Bjork, thank you for joining us, Andrew Monaco, what do you have first for our athletic director?
Andrew Monaco: Normally, we are all together at least once a month. We have asked everyone with the hashtag of #AskRoss on our social media as well as 12thman.com/AskRoss. We're going to do this now every week and hear right from our Director of Athletics and Ross, we're not together at Studio 12 at Kyle Field. But apparently you are, by that background. That is sweetest of the four of us to tell you the truth.
Ross Bjork: And you just saw my son there. The benefits of working at home. Yeah, he just said he's my manager, agent, you know, something like that. I've learned so many new terms and new technology platforms in the last two weeks, with all this virtual workspace that we're all going through. I just learned how to put Kyle Field, Home of the 12th Man in my background on Zoom. I was impressed with myself for trying to figure that out. So it feels like I am right here in Kyle Field answering your questions.
Andrew Monaco: We certainly hope that we will get the opportunity to all be back together there in Kyle Field and elsewhere on campus. Ross, so much happened so quickly, I'm thinking personally in Nashville at the SEC tournament for men's basketball, where things were changing almost minute to minute. How do you keep the lines of communication open, not just with your staff and how they're working mostly remotely, but also with our student-athletes?
Ross Bjork: As everything unfolded, we've kind of taken progressive steps as this whole process has really unfolded, and sometimes it's hard to just fathom, how did we get to this place? But we started out just canceling a basketball tournament there in Nashville, and now we canceled all spring sports. And so it's taking on just a new way of operating. What we've tried to do, we tried to get messages out there right away to our student-athletes about, okay, here's how we're gonna operate…that's my dog in the back. Can you drown that out, Matt? Here's how we're gonna operate, since we can't be on campus this week. Here's what you need to know. Here's how to take care of yourself. So we try to get messages out as soon as possible. And then, as we got more organized, as the technology pieces were coming together, as the university put all classes online, we've had we've had to adapt. So, you know, technologies like Zoom. Just the other day we had about 155 Zoom appointments with our academic staff and our student athletes. We're still feeding our student-athletes in the Slocum Nutrition Center, where they can grab and go, and so we've had to adapt. Sometimes it's been at a moment's notice. Sometimes we've had a few days to get up and running. But communication has been key. Trying to keep connected has been a key to…you know, we're in a new normal right now, so we try to have normalcy during an uncertain time. There's gonna be another new new normal at some point in time, and so we'll have to adapt to that phase of this. And then hopefully, we're all back together, whatever normal looks like, on the other side of all this.
Will Johnson: Well, Ross, in the course of that answer, you went through the entire game challenges working from home, dog barking in the background, Your son could arrive, my daughter, at any minute. The technology right there on your wrist. But one of the things you've challenged the athletic department staff with when you off working for home, that also means your family is there with you and try to spend some time with your family these days. I want to know when you get that time, what does the Bjork family spend it on? Board games? Movies? A diverse array of things?
Ross Bjork: Yeah. You know, these last two weeks working at home, it seems like I've had probably 6 to 10 different conference calls every day. So the days they're sort of packed, but then we have our last conference call, the University has been hosting a 5:00 call, and that usually ends about six o'clock. And so what we've been doing this week is six o'clock hits, we've been going on a bike ride and just getting outside, you know, trying to enjoy the fresh air. So we've been getting out and doing family bike rides at night. Then we'll come back. I've watched some Netflix shows that I typically…I'm not a big TV show guy. Usually I'm just live sports. Well, there's no live sports, so we've had to stay entertained. And then, you know what? You know what's really cool? My 13 year old, he is preparing for football season. He'll be a 9th grader, and I usually get up early and work out, and he's actually told me, Hey, Dad, don't forget to wake me up in the morning. I want to work out. And so he and I have been going on runs together. We've been lifting some weights together, and that's the first time we've ever had a chance to do this. So that's been cool. Again, back to what I was talking about with our athletic staff you referenced, this is the time to spend with our families. We don't get this downtime where there's no events, no games. Yeah, we're working, and it's some long days and they can kind of run together. But now is the time to spend that quality time together with family. So that's what we tried to do
Mike Wright: Ross, during all of the conference calls that we're covering and very in the span of a day, I think it's important for fans to know that the work that we're doing in the department doesn't stop. We don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring. We're preparing right now. And as we mentioned in previous conversations, there are discussions about the cup design, the ticket design. Everything to do is leading up to September 5th because, frankly, with that, volleyball and soccer, that's what we're really focused on. So it's not like the work is halting and we're just at home trying to play catch up. We're actually moving ahead.
Ross Bjork: Yeah, I think that's that's been one of our biggest challenges and opportunities at the same time. What do we work on right now? Because there is no spring activity. We know we have class, but those of us maybe on the external side of things, we've got a plan for next year. We're playing football, we're playing soccer, we're playing volleyball. We've got to design things. You've got ticket sales campaigns and mapping out the game day experience. There's some changes that we'll implement. There's new things that will happen. So all of those things have to be mapped out, and we can't just sit here and say, well, okay, we can't see each other physically. Let's open up sometime in April or May. We've got to move the program forward. I've used the term we're operational, but that doesn't mean we can only maintain. That means we still have to grow. So I think that's been the really cool thing is that we've had a couple weeks to sort of design some new plans and get some content out there. And when people start seeing those new things, I think the Aggies will be impressed. So that's exciting that you mentioned those things.
Mike Wright: Will and Andrew, if you don't mind me dovetailing off in one other question then we'll go one more round here. But, Ross, you use the term triage in the first week of handling all this. And that's kind of exactly what it was. We could talk about the fact that we've got a strong leader at the top that is helping to to direct this effort, but we seem to be now Maurin a little bit of a normal state, if you will. Let's let's talk a little bit about the triage and the transition in your mind as to where we are, Right? now versus last week when there were so many unknowns.
Ross Bjork: Yeah, I think we have a better rhythm now. Last week it was Hey, this thing was popping up. Hey, this is gonna be canceled. We're suspending activity until March 30th. And then it moved to April 15th. And then it moved to all spring activities and online classes. That triage was happening really in a moment's notice. And so this week, I think there's still some of that that's happening, but now we know what our rhythm is. We know what our daily routine is. We know that our county's under a shelter in place. And so there is no going into the office, where last week we could kind of go into the office if we wanted to. And now that's off. So the rhythm, I think, is better. The schedule, I think, is more normal in terms of we know what each day will bring. And then it's about how do we plan for the fall? That's really what kind of my mindset is on both. How do we prepare physically with our student-athletes? And then, obviously, with running the department. How do we plan for that? So you're exactly right. We're not standing still. This is not normal, but this is our normal for now. And then it will shift again. But there is a rhythm, I think, that we've all gathered in the last couple of days.
Andrew Monaco: Ross, How important was it, the messages coming from all the coaches there and then the most recent one from Jimbo to get the warning, to have everybody you mentioned shelter in place. How important is it for you? As we start on Monday to do this every week to also be part of the voice to let the 12th Man, know what is happening?
Ross Bjork: Well, I'm not a medical doctor, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night (laughing). I won't say that. You know, I told our coaches and our senior staff I think the second conference call we had, Hey, we thought we were just head coaches and athletic administrators, but we're actually health care, not health care workers, but health care administrators, if you will. We have an obligation to protect everyone. And just like Jimbo is high-profile, we have an obligation to get messages out there to make sure that people heed those messages. Sports is a rallying point. It's a powerful tool. Head coaches carry a lot of visibility. And so when we were approached to have Coach Fisher, he said yes right away. He's great at those things. People can relate to him here in the state of Texas. The Aggies can relate to him. And so anything that we can do to contain this thing…one of the things we have learned about this is that containment in isolation seems to work. We keep hearing about we've got to slow the curve down. And so if Aggies could do their part then we wanted to be included in that messaging.
Will Johnson: Along those lines. Ross, I recently saw a survey, and what it did was track cell phones across the country to see what kind of moving was happening in states and counties. And the state of Texas got an A for social distancing. And so did Brazos County. Is that what you've already come to expect from this place we call Aggieland, willing to help out in difficult times for the greater good?
Ross Bjork: I believe so. You know people listen. People listen to leadership. I think people listen to Texas A&M, so we can set an example by doing that. That's one of the first things that I told our athletic staff is, again, we could still come into the office. But the word I used was, I'm advising you to work from home. And so I think us setting a good example with that hopefully helps the community. But no, I'm not surprised. Look, we don't want this to impact our communities. And again, the more we learn about it than the more we know that if you have this discipline, it's gonna work. So Brazos County took an early lead around our state, and hopefully that helps our community at large.
Mike Wright: All right, Ross in wrapping up a couple of quick things here, stick with me on this. I'm gonna go just a little bit down in the well, but I got a speak straight from the heart for a second here. It is no secret, it's all out there. You had some challenges while you were at Ole Miss. You handled those over an expanded period of time, and then you come to Texas A&M. As one who's been in a position who's handled his share of challenges, when you're leading a group, those situations just make you stronger, and you learn a little something along the way. I don't think it's by any accident to some degree that you were here and then all of a sudden you come in, things were just really good, their rocketing along and then, boom, you're hit not only with a crisis, but you're hit with something that may not ever happen, heaven forbid in our lifetime, hasn't happened before. And as I told Jimbo, I said isn't it odd that as leaders we tell our staffs, tell our players, overcome adversity, rise above it and find a way to come out on top no matter what. We saw that in the seven OT win. But it's a little ironic now that we're not only preaching to the people that we led or that we lead, we now have to practice what we preach. And sometimes that's not easy to do. So tell me mentally, right now, how are you coping with this? What are you doing? Are you running partially on adrenaline here because you know there's a job to do? And right now this is the biggest one of your life?
Ross Bjork: I think the biggest thing for me, I was asked this question earlier in talking to one of our local media, he was asking about playing Division II football. And I said, you know what? Look, when you play a small college football, you kind of do it for the love of the game. There's not a big crowd. I mean, you're not playing in front of 100,000 people. It's sort of your family and friends, and you kind of play for the greater good of the game. So I think that mentality has to apply to leadership. And so what I've tried to do is I've tried to stay disciplined with my routine and schedule and keep…Hey, I'm working today, you know? Look, I'm at my house right now, but I woke up the same time, I had the same routine, made the coffee, got ready for the day, had the first call at 8:30 in the morning, been non-stop ever since. So I think we've got to keep the same pace to keep us focused. And then I always believe that, look, it's not a matter of if you're tested, it's a matter of when. And that you have to be ready to respond. And leadership is not hey, you're the smartest in the room and you have all the answers. Leadership is about relying on the people around you, serving those people, allowing them to help solve whatever problems. Maybe you're the organizer. Maybe they look to you for the final word. But we've got to rely on our teams. And that's what I'm here to do is pull the team together. And then also I have to be a realist, but I also have to be optimistic about the future. And because we're living in uncertain times, then I want to see us on the other side of this. And I think one of the things will learn is that we're gonna be stronger. We're gonna appreciate relationships a lot more because of what we've gone through. And that's what we have to kind of remember through all of this. So there'll be a time where we come together and get on the other side of this. Hopefully our leadership comes through in the end.
Mike Wright: I asked Jimbo the question, how special is it now, you talk about taking things for granted…for Andrew, the first call. Will, when you walk down on Kyle Field on September 5th and Ross, now what will it be like when you walk down that tunnel for the first ball game against Abilene Christian? It's got a whole different feel now.
Ross Bjork: Yeah the first time we gathered when this kind of came out, one of the first questions was about the Aggie spirit. And you know what it means going through this challenge. And I said, You know what? Just wait till the first time we do get back together. It's gonna be powerful. So I think we've got to remember that. We've got to remember that at the first Midnight Yell and the power behind you. It lets you utilize that as hope and inspiration.
Mike Wright: All right, if you have questions in the future, Andrew, Will, how about you go ahead and think this through one more time? How folks can get in touch with us and we will read your questions. We hope to go in real time and be able to relay them to Ross. But how did they get in touch with us?
Andrew Monaco: We will be doing this every week, and you on all of our social channels, especially Texas A&M Athletics. You can join us with the hashtag of #AskRoss, and all four of us will be tweeting things out especially with that hash tag as well. But Will Johnson, that's not the only way that fans can get questions and hopefully in real time as well, to our Director of Athletics.
Will Johnson: 12thman.com/AskRoss, That's where you want to go if you're logged on 12thman.com/AskRoss, easy template right there for questions for our A.D.
Mike Wright: All right, Ross, wrapping it up, I don't want put you on the spot, but tell them what you said in that interview I thought was pretty darn funny about football in the SEC, some encouragement about the social distancing. You had some line there, and I can't recall exactly how you put it.
Ross Bjork: Let's see. Oh, it was a tweet. I'd probably need to pull it up. But something about, if SEC fans knew that they could have college football, everyone would lock themselves in their house starting today. It was something like that.
Mike Wright: That's the God's honest truth.
Will Johnson: I told my wife the same thing yesterday. For one month, go to our room and slide meals under the door if I get football.
Mike Wright: Ross, we appreciate the time.
You can read the interview below.
Mike Wright: Alright, we'd like to welcome everyone to an Aggie Town Hall. This is kind of a unique approach, but it is our first chance where we can all get in the same room here and ask some questions of your Athletic Director at Texas A&M, Ross Bjork. You'll have an opportunity to use some various platforms that Will and Andrew will tell you about in just a few moments. My name is Mike Wright with communications, public relations for Texas A&M, I'm a Senior Associate A.D., and also joining us on the call each week will be Andrew Monaco, the Voice of the Aggies, and from 12th Man Productions, Will Johnson. Ross Bjork, thank you for joining us, Andrew Monaco, what do you have first for our athletic director?
Andrew Monaco: Normally, we are all together at least once a month. We have asked everyone with the hashtag of #AskRoss on our social media as well as 12thman.com/AskRoss. We're going to do this now every week and hear right from our Director of Athletics and Ross, we're not together at Studio 12 at Kyle Field. But apparently you are, by that background. That is sweetest of the four of us to tell you the truth.
Ross Bjork: And you just saw my son there. The benefits of working at home. Yeah, he just said he's my manager, agent, you know, something like that. I've learned so many new terms and new technology platforms in the last two weeks, with all this virtual workspace that we're all going through. I just learned how to put Kyle Field, Home of the 12th Man in my background on Zoom. I was impressed with myself for trying to figure that out. So it feels like I am right here in Kyle Field answering your questions.
Andrew Monaco: We certainly hope that we will get the opportunity to all be back together there in Kyle Field and elsewhere on campus. Ross, so much happened so quickly, I'm thinking personally in Nashville at the SEC tournament for men's basketball, where things were changing almost minute to minute. How do you keep the lines of communication open, not just with your staff and how they're working mostly remotely, but also with our student-athletes?
Ross Bjork: As everything unfolded, we've kind of taken progressive steps as this whole process has really unfolded, and sometimes it's hard to just fathom, how did we get to this place? But we started out just canceling a basketball tournament there in Nashville, and now we canceled all spring sports. And so it's taking on just a new way of operating. What we've tried to do, we tried to get messages out there right away to our student-athletes about, okay, here's how we're gonna operate…that's my dog in the back. Can you drown that out, Matt? Here's how we're gonna operate, since we can't be on campus this week. Here's what you need to know. Here's how to take care of yourself. So we try to get messages out as soon as possible. And then, as we got more organized, as the technology pieces were coming together, as the university put all classes online, we've had we've had to adapt. So, you know, technologies like Zoom. Just the other day we had about 155 Zoom appointments with our academic staff and our student athletes. We're still feeding our student-athletes in the Slocum Nutrition Center, where they can grab and go, and so we've had to adapt. Sometimes it's been at a moment's notice. Sometimes we've had a few days to get up and running. But communication has been key. Trying to keep connected has been a key to…you know, we're in a new normal right now, so we try to have normalcy during an uncertain time. There's gonna be another new new normal at some point in time, and so we'll have to adapt to that phase of this. And then hopefully, we're all back together, whatever normal looks like, on the other side of all this.
Will Johnson: Well, Ross, in the course of that answer, you went through the entire game challenges working from home, dog barking in the background, Your son could arrive, my daughter, at any minute. The technology right there on your wrist. But one of the things you've challenged the athletic department staff with when you off working for home, that also means your family is there with you and try to spend some time with your family these days. I want to know when you get that time, what does the Bjork family spend it on? Board games? Movies? A diverse array of things?
Ross Bjork: Yeah. You know, these last two weeks working at home, it seems like I've had probably 6 to 10 different conference calls every day. So the days they're sort of packed, but then we have our last conference call, the University has been hosting a 5:00 call, and that usually ends about six o'clock. And so what we've been doing this week is six o'clock hits, we've been going on a bike ride and just getting outside, you know, trying to enjoy the fresh air. So we've been getting out and doing family bike rides at night. Then we'll come back. I've watched some Netflix shows that I typically…I'm not a big TV show guy. Usually I'm just live sports. Well, there's no live sports, so we've had to stay entertained. And then, you know what? You know what's really cool? My 13 year old, he is preparing for football season. He'll be a 9th grader, and I usually get up early and work out, and he's actually told me, Hey, Dad, don't forget to wake me up in the morning. I want to work out. And so he and I have been going on runs together. We've been lifting some weights together, and that's the first time we've ever had a chance to do this. So that's been cool. Again, back to what I was talking about with our athletic staff you referenced, this is the time to spend with our families. We don't get this downtime where there's no events, no games. Yeah, we're working, and it's some long days and they can kind of run together. But now is the time to spend that quality time together with family. So that's what we tried to do
Mike Wright: Ross, during all of the conference calls that we're covering and very in the span of a day, I think it's important for fans to know that the work that we're doing in the department doesn't stop. We don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring. We're preparing right now. And as we mentioned in previous conversations, there are discussions about the cup design, the ticket design. Everything to do is leading up to September 5th because, frankly, with that, volleyball and soccer, that's what we're really focused on. So it's not like the work is halting and we're just at home trying to play catch up. We're actually moving ahead.
Ross Bjork: Yeah, I think that's that's been one of our biggest challenges and opportunities at the same time. What do we work on right now? Because there is no spring activity. We know we have class, but those of us maybe on the external side of things, we've got a plan for next year. We're playing football, we're playing soccer, we're playing volleyball. We've got to design things. You've got ticket sales campaigns and mapping out the game day experience. There's some changes that we'll implement. There's new things that will happen. So all of those things have to be mapped out, and we can't just sit here and say, well, okay, we can't see each other physically. Let's open up sometime in April or May. We've got to move the program forward. I've used the term we're operational, but that doesn't mean we can only maintain. That means we still have to grow. So I think that's been the really cool thing is that we've had a couple weeks to sort of design some new plans and get some content out there. And when people start seeing those new things, I think the Aggies will be impressed. So that's exciting that you mentioned those things.
Mike Wright: Will and Andrew, if you don't mind me dovetailing off in one other question then we'll go one more round here. But, Ross, you use the term triage in the first week of handling all this. And that's kind of exactly what it was. We could talk about the fact that we've got a strong leader at the top that is helping to to direct this effort, but we seem to be now Maurin a little bit of a normal state, if you will. Let's let's talk a little bit about the triage and the transition in your mind as to where we are, Right? now versus last week when there were so many unknowns.
Ross Bjork: Yeah, I think we have a better rhythm now. Last week it was Hey, this thing was popping up. Hey, this is gonna be canceled. We're suspending activity until March 30th. And then it moved to April 15th. And then it moved to all spring activities and online classes. That triage was happening really in a moment's notice. And so this week, I think there's still some of that that's happening, but now we know what our rhythm is. We know what our daily routine is. We know that our county's under a shelter in place. And so there is no going into the office, where last week we could kind of go into the office if we wanted to. And now that's off. So the rhythm, I think, is better. The schedule, I think, is more normal in terms of we know what each day will bring. And then it's about how do we plan for the fall? That's really what kind of my mindset is on both. How do we prepare physically with our student-athletes? And then, obviously, with running the department. How do we plan for that? So you're exactly right. We're not standing still. This is not normal, but this is our normal for now. And then it will shift again. But there is a rhythm, I think, that we've all gathered in the last couple of days.
Andrew Monaco: Ross, How important was it, the messages coming from all the coaches there and then the most recent one from Jimbo to get the warning, to have everybody you mentioned shelter in place. How important is it for you? As we start on Monday to do this every week to also be part of the voice to let the 12th Man, know what is happening?
Ross Bjork: Well, I'm not a medical doctor, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night (laughing). I won't say that. You know, I told our coaches and our senior staff I think the second conference call we had, Hey, we thought we were just head coaches and athletic administrators, but we're actually health care, not health care workers, but health care administrators, if you will. We have an obligation to protect everyone. And just like Jimbo is high-profile, we have an obligation to get messages out there to make sure that people heed those messages. Sports is a rallying point. It's a powerful tool. Head coaches carry a lot of visibility. And so when we were approached to have Coach Fisher, he said yes right away. He's great at those things. People can relate to him here in the state of Texas. The Aggies can relate to him. And so anything that we can do to contain this thing…one of the things we have learned about this is that containment in isolation seems to work. We keep hearing about we've got to slow the curve down. And so if Aggies could do their part then we wanted to be included in that messaging.
Will Johnson: Along those lines. Ross, I recently saw a survey, and what it did was track cell phones across the country to see what kind of moving was happening in states and counties. And the state of Texas got an A for social distancing. And so did Brazos County. Is that what you've already come to expect from this place we call Aggieland, willing to help out in difficult times for the greater good?
Ross Bjork: I believe so. You know people listen. People listen to leadership. I think people listen to Texas A&M, so we can set an example by doing that. That's one of the first things that I told our athletic staff is, again, we could still come into the office. But the word I used was, I'm advising you to work from home. And so I think us setting a good example with that hopefully helps the community. But no, I'm not surprised. Look, we don't want this to impact our communities. And again, the more we learn about it than the more we know that if you have this discipline, it's gonna work. So Brazos County took an early lead around our state, and hopefully that helps our community at large.
Mike Wright: All right, Ross in wrapping up a couple of quick things here, stick with me on this. I'm gonna go just a little bit down in the well, but I got a speak straight from the heart for a second here. It is no secret, it's all out there. You had some challenges while you were at Ole Miss. You handled those over an expanded period of time, and then you come to Texas A&M. As one who's been in a position who's handled his share of challenges, when you're leading a group, those situations just make you stronger, and you learn a little something along the way. I don't think it's by any accident to some degree that you were here and then all of a sudden you come in, things were just really good, their rocketing along and then, boom, you're hit not only with a crisis, but you're hit with something that may not ever happen, heaven forbid in our lifetime, hasn't happened before. And as I told Jimbo, I said isn't it odd that as leaders we tell our staffs, tell our players, overcome adversity, rise above it and find a way to come out on top no matter what. We saw that in the seven OT win. But it's a little ironic now that we're not only preaching to the people that we led or that we lead, we now have to practice what we preach. And sometimes that's not easy to do. So tell me mentally, right now, how are you coping with this? What are you doing? Are you running partially on adrenaline here because you know there's a job to do? And right now this is the biggest one of your life?
Ross Bjork: I think the biggest thing for me, I was asked this question earlier in talking to one of our local media, he was asking about playing Division II football. And I said, you know what? Look, when you play a small college football, you kind of do it for the love of the game. There's not a big crowd. I mean, you're not playing in front of 100,000 people. It's sort of your family and friends, and you kind of play for the greater good of the game. So I think that mentality has to apply to leadership. And so what I've tried to do is I've tried to stay disciplined with my routine and schedule and keep…Hey, I'm working today, you know? Look, I'm at my house right now, but I woke up the same time, I had the same routine, made the coffee, got ready for the day, had the first call at 8:30 in the morning, been non-stop ever since. So I think we've got to keep the same pace to keep us focused. And then I always believe that, look, it's not a matter of if you're tested, it's a matter of when. And that you have to be ready to respond. And leadership is not hey, you're the smartest in the room and you have all the answers. Leadership is about relying on the people around you, serving those people, allowing them to help solve whatever problems. Maybe you're the organizer. Maybe they look to you for the final word. But we've got to rely on our teams. And that's what I'm here to do is pull the team together. And then also I have to be a realist, but I also have to be optimistic about the future. And because we're living in uncertain times, then I want to see us on the other side of this. And I think one of the things will learn is that we're gonna be stronger. We're gonna appreciate relationships a lot more because of what we've gone through. And that's what we have to kind of remember through all of this. So there'll be a time where we come together and get on the other side of this. Hopefully our leadership comes through in the end.
Mike Wright: I asked Jimbo the question, how special is it now, you talk about taking things for granted…for Andrew, the first call. Will, when you walk down on Kyle Field on September 5th and Ross, now what will it be like when you walk down that tunnel for the first ball game against Abilene Christian? It's got a whole different feel now.
Ross Bjork: Yeah the first time we gathered when this kind of came out, one of the first questions was about the Aggie spirit. And you know what it means going through this challenge. And I said, You know what? Just wait till the first time we do get back together. It's gonna be powerful. So I think we've got to remember that. We've got to remember that at the first Midnight Yell and the power behind you. It lets you utilize that as hope and inspiration.
Mike Wright: All right, if you have questions in the future, Andrew, Will, how about you go ahead and think this through one more time? How folks can get in touch with us and we will read your questions. We hope to go in real time and be able to relay them to Ross. But how did they get in touch with us?
Andrew Monaco: We will be doing this every week, and you on all of our social channels, especially Texas A&M Athletics. You can join us with the hashtag of #AskRoss, and all four of us will be tweeting things out especially with that hash tag as well. But Will Johnson, that's not the only way that fans can get questions and hopefully in real time as well, to our Director of Athletics.
Will Johnson: 12thman.com/AskRoss, That's where you want to go if you're logged on 12thman.com/AskRoss, easy template right there for questions for our A.D.
Mike Wright: All right, Ross, wrapping it up, I don't want put you on the spot, but tell them what you said in that interview I thought was pretty darn funny about football in the SEC, some encouragement about the social distancing. You had some line there, and I can't recall exactly how you put it.
Ross Bjork: Let's see. Oh, it was a tweet. I'd probably need to pull it up. But something about, if SEC fans knew that they could have college football, everyone would lock themselves in their house starting today. It was something like that.
Mike Wright: That's the God's honest truth.
Will Johnson: I told my wife the same thing yesterday. For one month, go to our room and slide meals under the door if I get football.
Mike Wright: Ross, we appreciate the time.
Fightin' Texas Aggie Band Halftime: Florida
Saturday, October 11
Fightin' Texas Aggie Band Halftime: Mississippi State
Saturday, October 04
Fightin' Texas Aggie Band Halftime: Auburn
Saturday, September 27
Fightin' Texas Aggie Band Halftime: Utah State
Saturday, September 06
