Which coaches did Ross Bjork hire before being named Ohio State AD? Here's the list
In his career as an athletic director, Ross Bjork has hired his share of coaches.
When he begins his tenure at Ohio State on July 1, Bjork will be bringing with him 14 years of experience as an athletic director split between Western Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas A&M, and in that time, Bjork has hired 25 coaches in 10 different sports.
How have Bjork's hires done at Western Kentucky, Ole Miss and Texas A&M? Here's a look at each of their tenures.
Western Kentucky (2010-12)
Men's golf: Phillip Hatchett (2010-18)
Phillip Hatchett was hired as Western Kentucky’s men’s golf coach prior to the 2010-11 school year.
Hatchett, a former four-year letter winner for Western Kentucky golf, spent eight seasons as the Hilltoppers’ coach. He led the team to five top-five performances in 2017-18, while golfer Billy Tom Sargent was named All-Conference USA second team and became the second Western Kentucky golfer to qualify for an NCAA Regional.
Hatchett was killed after being struck by a vehicle while cycling at age 55 ahead of the 2018-19 school year.
Men's basketball: Ray Harper (2012-16)
Ray Harper, a Western Kentucky assistant, replaced men’s basketball coach Ken McDonald in the middle of the 2011-12 season.
In 2011-12, Harper led the Hilltoppers to a Sun Belt Conference tournament win and to an NCAA Tournament First Four game, beating Mississippi Valley State to secure a date against one-seed Kentucky. The Wildcats beat Western Kentucky 81-66 in the Round of 64.
Harper spent four-plus seasons at Western Kentucky, posting an 89-64 record including two NCAA Tournament bids and an NIT bid in 2014-15. Under Harper, the Hilltoppers won two Sun Belt Conference tournaments.
He resigned when three of his players were suspended by the school for undisclosed violations of school policy following an internal disciplinary hearing.
Baseball: Matt Myers (2012-15)
Bjork hired Matt Myers, a former Western Kentucky assistant, to take over the program in 2012.
In four seasons with the Hilltoppers, Myers finished with a record of 106-118, leading to his dismissal. Western Kentucky never finished higher than fifth in the Sun Belt Conference play. Myers also led the Hilltoppers to an 11th-place finish in the team’s first season in Conference USA.
Women's basketball: Michelle Clark-Heard (2012-18)
From 2012-18, Michelle Clark-Heard led Western Kentucky to 154 wins in 201 games, including two Conference USA regular-season and tournament championships. Under Clark-Heard, Western Kentucky played in four NCAA Tournaments.
She was the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2012-13 and the Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2014-15.
Cincinnati hired her away in 2018.
Mississippi (2012-19)
Women's basketball: Adrian Wiggins (2012)
Five days after being named as the Director of Athletics at Ole Miss, Bjork announced his first hire: women's basketball coach Adrian Wiggins, who had led Fresno State to five straight NCAA appearances.
But Wiggins' time at Ole Miss was short-lived.
Wiggins was placed on leave and eventually fired for "impermissible recruiting contacts and academic misconduct committed by members of his staff" after two of the team's junior college transfers turned out to have failed to meet NCAA transfer standards.
The NCAA issued Wiggins a two-year show-cause penalty, while the women's basketball program self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2012-13 season.
Women's basketball: Brett Frank (2012-13)
Bjork promoted Ole Miss assistant coach Brett Frank to run the women's basketball program in 2012-13.
Frank led the Rebels to a 9-20 record, winning only two of 16 games against SEC opponents. Ole Miss finished the season losing nine of 10 conference games, and Frank was fired after one season.
Women’s basketball: Matt Insell (2013-18)
To replace Frank, Bjork hired Matt Insell.
Insell, a former Kentucky women's basketball assistant, spent five seasons with the Rebels before he was let go, leaving with a 70-87 record. Ole Miss finished above .500 in two of his five seasons, both of which ended in WNIT appearances.
Volleyball: Steven McRoberts (2014-19)
After taking over the Ole Miss volleyball program in 2014, Steven McRoberts eclipsed 100 wins in six seasons, leading the Rebels to four straight winning seasons from 2014-17.
McRoberts helped Ole Miss to 16 regular-season tournament titles with multiple players earning All-America, All-Region and All-SEC honors. McRoberts departed the team in 2019 after a 12-game losing streak helped Ole Miss to its second-straight losing season. It was described as a mutual parting by the coach and school.
Softball: Mike Smith (2014-19)
Mike Smith became the fifth head coach of the Ole Miss softball program in May 2014.
In five years, Smith led the Rebels to an overall record of 187-112, four NCAA Regional berths and two Super Regionals. Ole Miss won the SEC Championship under Smith in 2017.
Smith resigned from his position ahead of the 2020 season after being placed on administrative leave following a "non-financial, external audit" of the program, according to The Oxford Eagle.
Men's golf: Chris Malloy (2014-present)
The coach Bjork hired to lead the men's golf team is still at Ole Miss.
Chris Malloy, who played for the Rebels and helped the team to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000, took over the Ole Miss men's golf program in 2014.
In his first nine seasons, Malloy led Ole Miss to eight tournament titles. He helped Braden Thornberry become the first national champion in Ole Miss golf history in 2017, along with developing two All-Americans, three first-team All-SEC golfers and four SEC All-Freshman golfers.
Women’s golf: Kory Henkes (2015-present)
Kory Henkes started her ninth season as the Ole Miss women's golf coach in 2023-24.
Henkes led the Rebels to a national championship in 2021 – Ole Miss' first national championship for a women's team in school history, and the athletic department's first since the football team won a title in 1962. Henkes earned WGCA National Coach of the Year honors in 2021.
Under Henkes, Ole Miss women's golf has seen six All-Americans and eight All-SEC players.
Track: Connie Price-Smith (2015-present)
Connie Price-Smith, a four-time Olympian and USA Track & Field Hall of Famer, is in her ninth season leading the Ole Miss track & field and cross country programs.
Under Price-Smith, Ole Miss has had seven NCAA individual title winners, 67 SEC champions and 143 first- or second-team All-Americans. Ole Miss has also recorded 24 total top-25 team finishes in both track and cross country.
Rifle: Marsha Beasley (2016-23)
After a storied career at West Virginia, Marsha Beasley was a two-time College Rifle Coaches Association Coach of the Year leading the Ole Miss rifle team. Before retiring, she guided the Rebels to three straight NCAA Championship appearances, including a third-place finish in 2021.
Football: Matt Luke (2017-19)
Bjork named Matt Luke as Ole Miss' interim football coach after coach Hugh Freeze resigned prior to the 2017 season.
Before he was fired after the 2019 season, Luke led the Rebels to a 15-21 record, winning six of 24 SEC games and finishing sixth in the SEC West for three straight years.
Men’s basketball: Tony Madlock (2018)
Andy Kennedy resigned after 12 seasons with Ole Miss men's basketball, paving the way to Tony Madlock leading the Rebels for the final five games of the 2017-18 season.
The Rebels lost four of those five games, and he was not retained on the next coaching staff.
Men’s basketball: Kermit Davis (2018-23)
Bjork hired Kermit Davis to take over the Ole Miss men's basketball program in 2018 after Davis had spent 16 seasons with Middle Tennessee.
Davis took Ole Miss to the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19, but the Rebels had only one winning season in his next four years at the helm, including an NIT appearance in 2020-21. Davis finished with a 74-79 record.
Women’s basketball: Yolett McPhee-McCuin (2018-present)
After Insell's departure in 2018, Yolett McPhee-McCuin rebuilt the Ole Miss women's basketball program.
She had two losing seasons to start her tenure, But McPhee-McCuin took the Rebels to a WNIT runner-up finish in 2021 before back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet Sixteen finish in 2023.
Texas A&M (2019-23)
Men’s basketball: Buzz Williams (2019-present)
Bjork started his tenure at Texas A&M by hiring Buzz Williams to take over the men's basketball program.
After accumulating 100 wins at Virginia Tech from 2014-19, Williams led the Aggies to the NIT finals in 2021-22 and the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23. In those two seasons, Williams led Texas A&M to 52 wins. He and the Aggies beat Ohio State Nov. 10 by a score of 73-66.
Men’s golf: Brian Kortan (2020-present)
Having been with Texas A&M as an assistant coach since 2013, Brian Kortan took over as interim head coach of the men's golf program in 2020 before being elevated to the position full-time in 2021.
In four seasons, Kortan has led the Aggies to two NCAA championship appearances, three SEC championship semifinals and nine tournament wins.
Women’s golf: Gerrod Chadwell (2021-present)
Bjork hired Gerrod Chadwell from Houston in 2021, and Chadwell has led the Aggies to two NCAA semifinals and to their first SEC Championshp since 2015.
Baseball: Jim Schlossnagle (2022-present)
In Jim Schlossnagle, Bjork made arguably his most successful hire. The coach took Texas A&M to the College World Series in his first season on the job.
After 18 years at TCU, Schlossnagle led the Aggies to a 44-20 record in 2022 and won the SEC Western Division title. In 2023, the Aggies played in the SEC tournament championship and ended the season in the NCAA regional.
Schlossnagle is one of four coaches to win multiple College World Series games at different programs.
Women’s basketball: Joni Taylor (2022-present)
Bjork landed the 2021 SEC Coach of the Year to replace Naismith Hall of Fame women's basketball coach Gary Blair.
After seven seasons at Georgia, Joni Taylor was named as the Aggies' eighth women's basketball coach in program history. She guided Texas A&M to the quarterfinals in the 2023 SEC tournament after a 9-20 regular season.
Taylor's Aggies have improved in 2023-24, beginning this year 14-3.
Softball: Trisha Ford (2022-present)
Bjork brought in another veteran coach to lead Texas A&M softball.
Trisha Ford, a four-time conference coach of the year, took over ahead of the 2023 season and led the Aggies to a 35-21 record, the club's most regular-season wins since 2018. Ford also led Texas A&M to its 21st consecutive NCAA appearance.
Volleyball: Jamie Morrison (2022-present)
Jamie Morrison took Texas A&M to the NCAA Tournament in his first season in College Station.
Morrison helped the Aggies to 16 wins in 2023, the program's highest total in four seasons, including six against 2023 NCAA Tournament teams.
Football: Mike Elko (2024-present)
Mike Elko is Bjork's most recent hire.
After Jimbo Fisher was fired during the 2023 season, Elko was tasked with taking over the Aggies after leading Duke to back-to-back bowl games.
Although it has been reported that Bjork wanted to hire Kentucky's Mike Stoops, it was Elko was named 2022 ACC Coach of the Year at Duke after leading the Aggies' defense in 2018-21.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Coaches Ross Bjork hired before becoming Ohio State athletic director
