SALINAS >> It was never his ambition to be an athletic director. Rob Bishop was a men’s basketball coach — and a successful one at three different collegiate stops.

Yet, when his contract wasn’t renewed at Cal State Monterey Bay nearly a decade ago, Bishop’s lifetime career in athletics went in a different direction.

“When my contract ended, my kids were still in school,” Bishop said. “My wife did not want to uproot them for me to pursue another college job.”

So Bishop spent the next eight years learning a new job, serving as Palma School’s athletic director, where he earned the respect of his peers immediately.

Being an athletic director has been a good fit for Bishop, who stepped down at Palma to take a similar position at Butte Community College.

“I’m super thankful for Palma taking a chance on me,” Bishop said. “It allowed us to stay. I had never been an AD. But it was still about sports.”

A part of Bishop has always wanted to return to the collegiate level, although his previous stops as a coach had all been at the four-year level.

“I love the college level,” Bishop said. “When the Butte job opened up, that’s (the area) where Holly (his wife) and I met, where our first daughter was born. It felt like a full circle moment.”

Having earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Chico State, Bishop spent two-plus decades coaching college basketball — including nine as the head coach at CSUMB.

The Otters set a school record for wins in Division II play under Bishop with 16 in 2008, reaching the California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament championship game.

The program’s only two winning seasons since becoming a Division II program came under Bishop, who was also an assistant at Northern Arizona University, when it won two Big Sky Conference titles.

“The reason I ended up getting my master’s is if I didn’t make it as a DI or DII coach, I had the ability to go back as a JC coach,” Bishop said. “I didn’t see myself as an AD or a department head.”

Bishop will serve as Butte’s athletic director, as well as the dean of the kinesiology and health department, overseeing six full-time faculty members and a number of part-time staffers and coaches.

“It felt like a good fit,” Bishop said. “Things just fell into place. But this doesn’t happen without Brother Dunn, Chris Dalman and David Sullivan taking a chance on me eight years ago.”

A search is on for a replacement for Bishop, who was also overseeing the reconstruction of Palma’s new baseball field and weight room.

“Imagine being responsible for every athlete, every coach and generating money for the athletic machine,” Palma football coach Jeff Carnazzo said. “There is so much to that job. Rob never complained. He always had a smile on his face. He brought a lot of positive energy. I don’t know if you can replace him with one person.”

During Bishop’s last season at Palma, he oversaw the return of girls to campus after a 60-year absence. That included adding 10 girls’ sports to his plate.

“I made sure our girls’ sports were treated like the boys,” Bishop said. “Not everyone can have the 3 p.m. practice slot. It doubled my workout. That added a lot to my daily grind.”

Finding 10 new coaches for girls’ sports came with the understanding that most of their athletes would endure a sit out period for transferring.

“My phone never stopped ringing,” Bishop said. “My job was to make these coaches’ jobs easier. It was a long year. But we were able to navigate through it. The coaches did a great job.”

While accepting the job feels like Bishop is going home, he spent 17 years on the Monerey Peninsula between CSUMB and Palma.

“A big part of me is leaving a big part of my heart at Palma,” Bishop said. “When I made the announcement, it was a tough day. As much as I’m looking forward to the new challenge, a big part of me will miss Palma. I have a lot of friends here.”

Bishop believes the athletic program is in a better place than when he arrived, which was his No. 1 goal.

“I tried to do some things to mimic what I had in college and make the experience as good as I could,” Bishop said. “There are benefits to working at a private school. We’ve got good kids.”

Bishop will oversee eight sports at Butte, including a football program that was ranked fourth in the state, going 10-1 last fall, beating Foothill in the Gridiron Classic Bowl Game.

“I’m leaving a good staff at Palma,” Bishop said. “But I’m jumping into a place with a good staff. I’ve got some good, young talented coaches to work with.”

While a return to the college level in some capacity has always been Bishop’s goal, spending eight years at Palma left an impression on him.

“I love high school kids,” Bishop said. “I think I’ve impacted a lot of kids at this level. I just feel I can have more of an impact at the college level. These are kids I feel I can reach in a positive way.”