Ross Bjork will have big shoes to fill when he takes over as Ohio State’s athletic director on July 1, but he’s ready to get started.
“I don’t have to bring any core values to this job,” Bjork stated Wednesday during his debut press conference. “They’re already well established.”
He’s correct. Ohio State is one of the NCAA’s most established programs, thanks largely to the success of current AD Ohio State’s . Under his leadership, the Buckeyes have won 32 team and 117 individual national championships.
But after 18 seasons of turning the Buckeyes into a staple of athletics, Smith is set to retire on June 30. Bjork is expected to keep the pedigree of Ohio State athletics at its peak during his time in Columbus.
“I think I’m the very first hire [under new OSU president Ted Carter], and my goal is not to mess it up,” Bjork said.
Bjork, who spent over a decade in the Southeastern Conference at Texas A&M and Ole Miss, already understands how athletics are changing, especially in the world of name, image and likeness, and the transfer portal.
Under Bjork’s watch, A&M’s athletic department generated the seventh-most revenue in the NCAA during the 2022-23 academic year, according to USA TODAY
At Texas A&M, Bjork was influential in the lucrative contract extension handed out to Fisher in 2021 amid the rumors of the LSU opening. Coming off a 9-1 finish with a top-five ranking in the AP Poll, the Aggies upped Fisher’s annual salary to $9 million while extending him through the 2031 season.
Fisher, who was fired after going 19-15 in his final three seasons, will be owed the entirety of his $77 million buyout through the end of the contract, making it the largest contract buyout in league history.
“You take facts, you take data, you take some emotion, you take some personalities, and then you make the right decision,” Bjork said. “As we went through whatever it was at Ole Miss or what it’s been at Texas A&M, you own those decisions.”
Bjork will oversee all sports, but attention currently is set on football following an 11-2 finish under fifth-year coach Ryan Day. The Buckeyes lost 14-3 in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri last December and have lost three consecutive times to Michigan.
“Brilliant mind in the game of football,” Bjork said of Day. “High-level leader. Knows what championship football looks like and knows how to put all those pieces together.”
Bjork, a native of Dodge City, Kansas, might not understand everything about Ohio State, but he understands the importance of rivalries. When asked about The Game, Bjork said it matters, but it would be his job to support Day entering 2024.
“The best thing I can do is lock arms with him, figure out if there are any barriers and figure out key decisions.”
. Since the approval of NIL, the Aggies have been one of the more aggressive schools in securing talent with backing from boosters.
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