In October, standing next to the Yankee Stadium infield before one of his last games as manager of the Boston Red Sox, Bobby Valentine was asked what he would do next if he were fired when the season ended.

“I don’t know,” said Valentine, who was let go three days later. “But it will be something interesting. Those are the only kinds of jobs I take.”

Valentine, the part-time restaurateur and broadcaster, former public safety official, longtime major league manager in two countries and self-proclaimed inventor of the wrap sandwich, has kept his word with another unorthodox career choice. Even by Valentine’s standards, it was a thunderbolt of the unexpected.

Beginning in July, Valentine will be the athletic director for Sacred Heart University, a Division I program in Fairfield, Conn., with 31 sports. Valentine, 62, grew up in Stamford, about 20 miles away. It will be Valentine’s first collegiate administrative job.