'Winning is a tradition here,' says Fresno City's newest athletic director Derrick Johnson

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- "Winning is a tradition here."

Derrick Johnson's last stop may have been in New Jersey but he comes to Fresno City College knowing the Rams' winning ways.

"I remember being an athletic director against Fresno City College, they were always that thorn in your side," Johnson says of his time at Riverside CC.

Now leading the Rams, Johnson took a tour Thursday of the athletic facilities, including a look at the new locker rooms which for the first time are air-conditioned.

Eric Solberg is the head coach of the men's soccer team and prior to Thursday night's announcement, was hoping the CCCAA wouldn't cancel fall sports entirely.

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"A lot of these guys and gals that's how they get out and move on in life. I have so many stories of players that are in a completely different situation because they played athletics here," says Solberg.

For Johnson, the challenge comes in leading an athletic department that won't have athletics until January at the earliest.

"It's definitely going to be hard, it's new territory. I accept the challenge, I accept the challenge humbly. I'm going to need all the resources that I can have to kind of navigate the department through this," he says.

Still, given the history of the school and the continued improvements to facilities, he feels confident the Rams will come out on top, whenever they're allowed to do so.

"In the words of our president - 'We will return.' And I think that's very vital that our coaches, our student-athletes and our surrounding community, we are doing everything in the best interest and our capabilities to return to athletics."