Ohio State hires Ross Bjork as next athletic director

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has its new athletic director.

The Buckeyes, and most notably new university president Ted Carter and outgoing athletic director Gene Smith, have found their new leader of the largest athletic department in the country: Ross Bjork will take over when Smith officially retires in June.

“Few athletics directors have established such an impressive and strong record of success in athletics, in the classroom and throughout the community,” Ohio State president Ted Carter said in a statement. “The bar is incredibly high at Ohio State, and we have found in Ross a highly intelligent and effective leader – not to mention a fierce competitor.”

Bjork is leaving his post as the athletic director at Texas A&M for the same post at Ohio State.

“I have been extraordinarily blessed to be a product of college athletics as a student-athlete and fortunate to work with so many outstanding student-athletes, coaches, staff and university leaders throughout my career, and Ohio State represents the culmination of these efforts,” Bjork said. “To be a part of Buckeye Nation, along with its storied traditions and long history of achievement, is a tremendous honor and a welcome challenge for me and our family. I can’t wait to get started.”

He will begin on July 1. He has been at Texas A&M since 2019, when he took over that athletic department following an eight-year stint at Ole Miss.

Despite a hit-and-miss career in making coaching hirings for football and men’s basketball, Bjork is known around athletic circles as a good athletic director who can fundraise and has a vision for the future of college athletics. Now he takes over as one of the most powerful people in the college athletics space.

He’ll have a massive responsibility in shaping the next era of Ohio State athletics.

Background on Ohio State athletic director search

Smith announced in August that he would be leaving his post as the Buckeyes athletic director June 30, 2024. The Ohio State brass immediately went into search mode. Of course, they had to hire a president first, and that came in August.

The Ohio State board of trustees appointed Walter “Ted” Carter its next university president. Carter, 64, had been serving as the president of the University of Nebraska system since January 2020.

Carter is replacing former Ohio State president Kristina M. Johnson, who stepped down from her position in May after taking over in August 2020. Carter is due to start his new role at Ohio State on Jan. 1, 2024.

Carter and the top Ohio State power players have now found their top name for the athletic director spot, and it comes from the SEC.

Bjork, who has been the athletic director at Texas A&M since 2019, was at Ole Miss from 2012-2019, where he oversaw football success — and plenty of NCAA involvement because of recruiting violations — from Hugh Freeze. Bjork also promoted offensive line coach Matt Luke to head coach before Luke was fired two years later.

Bjork oversaw the contract extension for now-former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher before Bjork and his athletic department paid a historic $76 million buyout for Fisher after disappointing seasons in College Station. Bjork then made the hire of former Aggies defensive coordinator and Duke coach Mike Elko as the next Texas A&M head coach.

The 51-year-old Bjork has also helped Texas A&M through a great transitionary period of college football in the SEC, as the conference is set to welcome Texas and Oklahoma next year.

Before his time at Texas A&M and Ole Miss, Bjork was the athletic director at Western Kentucky and had posts in the athletic departments at UCLA, Miami (Florida) and Missouri.

This is a developing story. Lettermen Row will have more information when it becomes available.