OXFORD — Ross Bjork went more than five years as Ole Miss' athletic director without having to make a coaching hire in football or men's basketball.
 
He checked football off his list with the hire of Matt Luke in November. Andy Kennedy announced his decision to step down from his post about two weeks ago, which means men's basketball is next on Bjork's plate. 
 
On Tuesday morning, Bjork sat down with the Clarion Ledger and discussed Kennedy's departure, the status of the men's basketball coaching search, program expectations and more in a Q&A.
 
On Andy Kennedy

Q: When was the last time you spoke with Andy Kennedy?
 
Bjork: "Last time I talked to coach Kennedy would have been the Sunday we told the team he was stepping down immediately. We have texted since but that was the last time, that Sunday."
 
Q: What was that day like?
 
Bjork: "I think it was kind of surreal in some ways. Sort of sad for him. You kind of have to compartmentalize these things when they happen, so you have the personal side of the individual and you feel for him. He really was torn up over not being able to get the team to respond.
 
"Then the moment he informed the team, it has to turn into: OK, energy, being positive, excitement for the guys to say, 'Here's a new opportunity and here is a new voice.' Even though they're familiar with coach (Tony) Madlock, this is a new voice. So you sort of have to, again, separate, compartmentalize. OK, we have to deal with Andy and the emotions of that but at the same time we (had) a game on Tuesday night, at Missouri. You have to be ready for that. I think coach Madlock did a great job setting an early tone in that first meeting."
 
Q: Is it weird there's no proper send-off? The final image of Andy Kennedy as Ole Miss' coach is him walking off the court at Mississippi State, with a seven-game losing streak.
 
Bjork: "When I talked to him the first Sunday, that was sort of the idea. There would be this celebration. That's the part you hate for Andy as a Mississippian. A guy who gave 12 years, a coach who inherited a very, very difficult situation. We wanted all that but at the same time, what's best for the student-athletes at this moment? That's how he looked at, that's how we had to look at it. I think there will be time and place to remember Andy in the proper context. There are lots of things that we have to cement legacies, whether that's the M-Club Hall of Fame or sort of tributes I think will happen over time. Our intent is to really remember what he did, celebrate that and build upon the foundation."
 
Q: What do you think he's ultimately remembered for here?
Bjork: "I think consistency of always being in the hunt, always being in the mix. Again, working with little in terms of the facilities, in terms of the history, the tradition. We've had spurts but from the being of Ole Miss basketball until Andy stepped down, we haven't had much. I think consistency, hard work, dedicated and then there's the flip side of that, OK, we wanted to make more tournaments. We wanted to get over that hump and be more consistent sort of on the national level. But I think most people will remember him for doing an incredible job in a very, very tough environment."
 
On the coaching search
 
Q: It's been two weeks since he announced he'd step down, so where does the search stand now?
 
Bjork: "Active. Active, engaged. Talking to a lot of people on the phone, then meeting with people. Just understanding the landscape of college basketball, it's changing almost daily, with the reports that came out last week, the report that came out the week before that set the stage (for this FBI stuff). So you're monitoring all that. You're engaged with industry leaders, people that are connected to basketball. So I would describe it as active, very engaged and (we're) evaluating who the right candidates are."
 
Q: So you have talked to candidates?
 
Bjork: "We have been engaged with representatives. We have been engaged with coaches directly. So I don't want to confirm specific meetings if you will. But I'll just say we're using all resources, agents, search firms, myself. Keith Carter (Ole Miss deputy athletic director for development and research acquisition) is helping me with the search, so there's a lot of activity happening right now."
 
Q: You're using a search firm?
 
Bjork: "We are. We're using a firm based in Atlanta called Ventura Partners. The executive there is Chad Chatlos."
 
Q: What's important to you in terms of a candidate?
 
Bjork: "I think all coaching searches have the same characteristic in this regard: We are looking for a coach who has a program identity. What does our program stand for? Or if you are the head coach, what would you bring as the program identity? To me, what an identity does is unify the program. From recruiting, to student support, to alumni and donor support to athletic administrative support. We have to bring somebody in here that can unify all facets around basketball. So what is that identity? Is that a style of play? Is that a disciplined approach? Does it start with defense? What is that? Each coach is going to have maybe a different perspective on that. Obviously in the recruiting world, what should be our identity (there)? That's where it starts. We have to get somebody who will have an established identity, that's very consistent, but yet fluid as things change and evolve.
 
"The first year, the identity may be different because of the roster and pieces and parts of the program. The second year, it might evolve. But what will we stand for in all facets of running the program? That's the biggest thing and then unifying the program. Somebody that can be out in the community, somebody that can speak at alumni events. Somebody that can work with students and get them fired up about attending basketball. Somebody who knows recruiting and what it takes at the national level. Somebody that could sell Ole Miss and be energized about our program and the great things we have to offer.
 
"Obviously, they have to have integrity, the academic mindset, they have to understand our university. They have to understand the SEC, college basketball. Those things are a given. So it's a full sort of portfolio of what we're looking for." 
 
Q: Would past NCAA issues disqualify a candidate?
 
Bjork: "I believe that each situation is different. If someone has anything in their past, I think you have to dive deep into that, you have to find out why those things happened. Then you have to determine what have they done since? What's their reputation? How have they acted since maybe they've had an issue? What have they done to be proactive in the compliance world and those NCAA issues? That's how we're going to analyze it. Each situation is different. 
 
"So we would never rule anybody out at this point in time. We would just make sure we had all the information. So we know how to handle it or what we would be dealing with."
 
Q: Do you have any preferences, such as a young coach? Or a sitting head coach?
 
Bjork: "Best coach is really the preference. So what does that look like? Is that experience? Is that youth? Is that energetic style? I think back to fit. What's the right fit? That can mean a lot of things. That can mean age. That can mean seasoned experience. That could mean youthfulness. The best coach is what we're looking for." 
 
Q: What are the expectations for whoever steps into this program?
 
Bjork: "In, again being active in the marketplace, talking to a lot of people, people's vision of this program is the same as what our expectations are and that is to wake up on Selection Sunday and be in the (NCAA) Tournament. And know that you're in. What seed are we? Where are we going? Where are they going to send us to? Knowing that you're in the tournament. Everyone we've talked to has that same vision for our program.
 
"Based on resources, based on where the SEC stands, based on the uniqueness of Oxford, Ole Miss and the fact perhaps we haven't been as consistent in that area, that (if) we put the right pieces together that this can be a consistent NCAA performer.
 
"Then when you're in the tournament, you build it and make runs and you get seeded higher and then you have a chance to compete for a championship. Everyone that we've talked to that's our vision: Wake up on Selection Sunday and know that you're in the tournament."
 
Q: Kentucky and Florida are the only programs that seem to do that consistently in the SEC, so do you think that's a bit unrealistic?
 
Bjork: "Anytime you're a leader, you have to have a vision and you have to believe. To me, the belief starts right here. If we don't believe, then why would we go out and talk to candidates? If we say, 'Well, you know what? We're OK with making one out five or one out of four. As long as we're 20 games or whatever.' No, that's not what we stand for. We stand for competing at the highest level. That takes obviously finding the right person, the right resources. All those things. I know we haven't had the history but I also think you can go to a lot of programs now who have kind of flipped that script in college basketball and they're now performing at a really high level. So I think it can be done here."
 
Q: You called this a destination job when Andy stepped down. Given the head coach salary and assistant salary pool (among the lowest in the SEC), do you understand why some people are skeptical you said that?
 
Bjork: "No, I believe it. I believe the proof is in the pudding as they say. Look, we know what kind of investment the next round takes. We're willing to do that, both in the head coaching salary/contract, the resources around that and also the assistant coach resources.
 
"It's really kind of been a misnomer about the resources, recruiting budget, for example, doesn't count all the private planes we get access to from our donors who help us. That doesn't show up in the budget. Anytime you set a salary pool for assistant coaches, you always work with the head coach. Based on where we've been, Andy and I believed those were the right numbers. He believed in his staff. So we'll sit down with a new head coach and we'll say, 'What's the right number?' We know most salary pools are in that $700,000-$900,000 range. What's the right number? Whatever that right number is, let's go hire the best staff/ We'll have those conversations in as we (close) in on our final candidates. But we know what it takes, we're willing to invest and get the right people."
 
Q: How much are you willing to pay a new coach?
 
Bjork: "It's really predicated on who it is. We know what the salary ranges are. We know Kentucky is really an outlier. We also know you're in the upper ($2 million range). ... It will be dictated by what's the market? Who are you going after? Where are they coming from? What's their status? Look this is a head coaching in the SEC. We don't want to look like we're not committed. So we're willing to do that. What that looks like, it's too early to tell until we really get into the negotiation or the heart of a conversation around salary package."
 
Q: How hard is it to vet candidates with all the FBI stuff going on?
 
Bjork: "That's where you have to rely on resources, industry contacts. There's no way to tell for sure. You have to trust your instincts, trust your contacts. Obviously, the people that we have talked to or will talk to, we're asking them directly hard questions because you have to. You have to protect yourself. So we're using every means possible. Extensive background work. Obviously, we'll vet them through the SEC and the NCAA and make sure we have every resource at the table knowing we'll do everything in our power to make sure there's nothing in the past that will alarm us."
 
Q: Different sports, different circumstances but does this compare to the football search in terms of the head start?
 
Bjork: "It does from that perspective. I think that's been one positive of when Andy decided to step away was allowing us to go out and really just be in the market and not have to worry about is the Ole Miss job coming open or not? You can just go. From that perspective, it gives us a clean slate, a fresh start. People know our job is open, so they can reach out. Obviously, we had more time in football. We had a whole season and the dynamics are different because you only play on Saturday. Here, you might have coaches playing on Tuesday or Wednesday, then Saturday. So it's just a different sort of scheduling and logistical work that you have to juggle."
 
Q: The last time you were asked about the timeline, the search hadn't really started yet. What's the timeline now?
 
Bjork: "In the college basketball world, most people put a pin down on the Final Four weekend. You know, 'I want my coach by the Final Four.' Anything before that is sort of a bonus. I think what we have to do is we have to be ready to strike maybe sooner ... because the marketplace will start shifting here very soon.
 
"So I think we have to be prepared to go a little faster than the Final Four weekend. But the idea is how do we get the best coach? If that means we have to wait on somebody and we feel good about waiting, then we may wait. If that means we need to go now and we have to tell somebody, 'We can't wait on you because we have our person,' then we go. 
 
"You keep it fluid but I also feel in the last four or five days since all this news came out, we may be looking at a more accelerated timeline depending on who the candidates are because we still want to be ahead of the market shifting."
 
On the status of basketball at Ole Miss
 
Q: Both men and women are near the bottom, if not at the bottom, of the SEC, how do you assess what both programs need?
 
Bjork: "We've got work to do. Clearly, there's work to be done. But I look at it sort of in the big picture. On the women's side, we have an amazing history. We have amazing facilities, back to the same aspects of the university, Oxford, Ole Miss. We can recruit to that.
 
"At the timing of this interview is we have one more game in the SEC Tournament, hopefully more if we can beat Florida tomorrow. So we're pouring our energy into that game in hopes we can advance. Then after that, we have to assess the women's program but recognizing we'd like to be further along in that program.
 
"Coach (Matt) Insell has great contacts in the recruiting world. He inherited a very difficult situation when he stepped in here. But programs are, I think, sustained based on momentum and we need momentum. Hopefully, we can gain that with a good run in the SEC Tournament."
 
Q: Will you evaluate Insell's status after the season ends?
 
Bjork: "We definitely will. Absolutely."

SOURCE:  Morales, Antonio.  "Ole Miss' Ross Bjork: We have been engaged with representatives, coaches directly."  Clarion Ledger, 28 February 2018, https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/ole-miss/2018/02/28/ross-bjork-q-andy-kennedy-coaching-search-expectations/379455002/.