Buckeyes Land New Athletic Director With Ross Bjork

The Buckeyes have found their new Director of Athletics with the announcement of Ross Bjork to replace retiring AD Gene Smith at the end of the academic year.

Ohio State announced the news on its official website.

Bjork will be the ninth AD in program history, replacing Smith who served in the position for almost 20 years after being hired in 2005 to replace Andy Geiger.

The new AD will be reporting to a new University President as the Buckeyes welcomed Ted Carter to the role at the start of calendar year 2024.

Most recently Bjork served in a similar role at Texas A&M University, taking over the job with the Aggies in 2019. Prior to that were stops at Ole Miss and Western Kentucky along with other roles at UCLA, Miami (Fla.) and Missouri.

Bjork will be taking over the biggest athletic department in the college space as Ohio State supports 36 varsity sports in both men’s and women’s athletics. He will be thrust into an operation that supports more than 1,000 student-athletes and while primary attention of fans if focused on football and basketball, the Buckeyes have been in a period of growth with facilities including the recently completed Schumaker Center, Covelli Center and the new Lacrosse Stadium.

One of the first things on deck for Bjork will be navigating the Buckeyes through the addition of four teams to the Big Ten and the challenges that west coast travel will present to Olympic sports.

But the major issue in the near future is going to be Name, Image, and Likeness as it pertains to the university space. Earlier this month, NCAA President Charlie Baker presented a plan where NIL could be brought in-house at the university level.

With Ohio State’s NIL giving taking off, evident of the additions via the transfer portal and the retention of so many draft-eligible football players, there will be a lot to unpack for the Buckeyes moving forward if this idea becomes rule and we see yet another seismic shift in the business of college athletics.

Running a large program should be no issue for Bjork, who was running the nation’s No. 7 program in terms of revenue in College Station (Texas) per a USA Today story.

We will have more on what the Buckeyes are getting in Bjork and what this means for the Ohio State Athletic Department.

All of that and more here on BuckeyeHuddle.com.

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