Former pro gridder Frank Ryan took over the helm of the Yale athletic department this week. At a news conference yesterday, the signal caller for the Cleveland Browns from 1962-1968 proclaimed himself a "champion" of the Ivy League concept of balancing athletics with academics.

Ryan was accompanied at his first Yale news conference by head Eli football coach Carmen Cozza. Cozza originally agreed to step down as coach and assume the athletic directorship last fall, but he changed his mind.

A physics major and football standout at Rice, Ryan was quoted as saying, "The concept of the scholar-athlete is a good one. I don't think athletics are the end-all of one's life and career."

Ryan will give up his current job as a computer programmer in Washington and begin to commute to New Haven next month to examine the Yale athletic program. He will assume his duties in full on June 1.

"I learned from experience in my computer work that the most important element is the human element and that's what I intend to emphasize," he said.

Ryan and Cozza intend to initiate an increased emphasis on promoting football games. Cozza is comtemplating hiring a full-time promotion director for the Eli eleven and increasing ticket outlets.

"I'd like to think there are imaginative ways we can get more people out to the stadium," Ryan said.