ITHACA, N.Y. -- With the 2024 football season quickly approaching, Dan Swanstrom, The Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Football, has announced the addition of Mark Ross as the team's Director of Football Operations. Ross, who returns to Ithaca after 13 years, adds 28 years of coaching experience, including 10 as a head coach. This announcement comes after Alex Peffley, who served in the director of operations role since 2019, was promoted to Senior Director of Player Personnel.

Ross comes to Cornell from Bloomsburg University, where he served as the defensive coordinator since 2021. Under his guidance, the Huskies ranked third in scoring defense in the PSAC in 2023. In 2021, Ross's defense ranked 16th in all of Division II in turnover margin, averaging .91 more turnovers than ones given up. In the same season, his defense posted a conference-best 13 fumbles recovered, a mark that ranked 11th nationally. In total, the 2021 Bloomsburg defense gained 28 turnovers under Ross's watch, a mark that led the PSAC and ranked ninth in the country.

The 10 years prior, Ross served as the first-ever head football coach at Misericordia University, a Division III school in Dallas, Pa. The team played nine seasons under Ross, including a berth to the MAC Centennial Bowl in 2018 when the team went 8-3 and 7-1 in the Middle Atlantic Conference. During his time as head coach, no program had more All-MAC academic honor roll honorees than Misericordia.

Ross's first stint in Ithaca came at Ithaca College. He began his journey with the Bombers in 2000, beginning as a defensive line and place-kicker coach. After five seasons, Ross moved over to linebackers for a season before taking over as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for four seasons. As defensive coordinator, his defense allowed 10 points or fewer points in 12 different games.

He got his football coaching start at East Stroudsburg University as the team's defensive ends coach. Beginning in 1996, Ross spent four seasons with the Warriors overseeing the defensive ends as well as managing the scout team and special teams personnel.

Ross is a graduate of Penn State University where he earned his bachelor's in secondary education. He received a master's degree in sports management from East Stroudsburg University in 1998.