SWANSBORO— Rusty Ross is truly following in his father’s footsteps.

The Jacksonville Daily News has reported that Rusty Ross has been named the new athletic director at Swansboro High School, replacing Jim Sheehan, who retired from the job after 18 years.

Ronnie Ross, Rusty’s father, served as athletic director for 25 years before Sheehan took the job. The baseball field is named after the older Ross.

Rusty has been a teacher and coach at Swansboro for 16 years and has served in the role as assistant athletic director for the last decade. He is a 1979 graduate of Swansboro.

Ross will remain head coach of the Pirates’ varsity baseball team, which finished in third place in the East Central 2-A Conference and qualified for the NCHSAA state playoffs this spring.

Before becoming the head baseball coach, Ross served as the junior varsity baseball team’s coach, a program he helped start in 1999.