5 things you need to know about Ross Bjork, Ohio State's new athletic director
Ohio State's next athletic director is coming from the Southeastern Conference.
Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork was announced OSU's next athletic director, the university confirmed Tuesday.
Bjork is the ninth athletic director in school history. Gene Smith has worked as Oho State's athletic director since 2005.
Here's what you need to know about Bjork.
Ross Bjork has been an athletic director at three FBS programs
Ohio State will be Bjork's third stop as an FBS athletic director.
Bjork spent his past 12 seasons in the SEC, running the Mississippi athletic department from 2012-19 before taking over at Texas A&M in 2019.
Bjork also worked as athletic director at Western Kentucky from 2010-12.
Bjork's previous stops include Missouri and UCLA.
He has no ties to Ohio or the Big Ten.
Ross Bjork was Texas A&M's AD for Jimbo FIsher's extension and firing
After Bjork was hired at Texas A&M, Aggies football coach Jimbo Fisher received a contract extension and a raise.
After signing a 10-year, $75 million contract in December 2017, Fisher signed a four-year extension prior to the 2021 season that raised his contract from $7.5 million to $9 million per year. The contract was expected to end in 2031.
"Coach Fisher continues to demonstrate he is building our program for long-term success and he is a perfect fit for Texas A&M," Bjork said in a statement in announcing the extension.
After Fisher's extension, Texas A&M won 19 of its next 34 games with no bowl game appearances. He was fired Nov. 12 after the program's sixth win of the season against Mississippi State, triggering the largest contract buyout in college football history of $77 million.
"I determined our program is stuck in Neutral. We should be relevant on the national scene. Something is not clicking and therefore, something had to give."
More from Ross Bjork on the reasons for firing Jimbo Fisher and how he told the players the news: pic.twitter.com/JVNtfyXffP— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) November 12, 2023
"I determined, at this point, for lots of reasons, our program is stuck in neutral," Bjork told reporters after the Fisher firing. "We should be relevant on the national scene. Something is not clicking. Something is not working. And therefore, something had to give in order for Aggie football to reach our full potential."
Ross Bjork was the Mississippi athletic director during Hugh Freeze era
Bjork was not the athletic director that hired Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze. But Freeze's controversy with the Rebels football program came during Bjork's tenure.
In 2017, Ole Miss served a self-imposed one-year bowl ban after being charged with 21 recruiting violations by the NCAA. Sixteen recruiting violations were issued in January 2016 and eight additional violations were added in February 2017.
Freeze resigned from the program in July 2017 due to a "pattern of personal misconduct inconsistent with the standards we expect from the leader of our football team" including at least 12 phone calls to escort services.
Ole Miss football was forced to vacate 33 wins over a six-year period as a punishment for the recruiting violations.
Ross Bjork notable coaching hires
Here are notable coaches Bjork has hired as an athletic director:
Texas A&M (2019-24)
Gerrod Chadwell (women's golf, 2021-present)
Brian Kortan (men's golf, 2021-present)
Jim Schlossnagle (baseball, 2022-present)
Joni Taylor (women's basketball, 2022-present)
Trisha Ford (softball, 2023-present)
Mississippi (2012-19)
Kermit Davis (men's basketball, 2019-23)
Matt Luke (football, 2017-19)
Yolett McPhee-McCuin (women's basketball, 2018-present)
How old is Ross Bjork?
Bjork is 51 yeas old. When he was hired at Western Kentucky in 2010, he was the youngest athletic director among all FBS programs.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 things you need to know about Ross Bjork
