Oller: New Ohio State AD Ross Bjork excels at playing 'Moneyball' fundraising game
In the modern era of college sports, the athletic director’s job boils down to three main duties: who to hire, when to fire and how to raise money.
There is much more to it, of course, but those three qualifications top the list. And new Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork excels in at least one of them, though probably not the one fans care about most.
Bjork is gifted at getting donors to gift big checks, and he showed why Wednesday during his introductory news conference at the Covelli Center, answering every question without one hint of a stammering 'uh,' or awkward pause. He presents well, as the marketing people like to say.
Less clear is Bjork's ability to make home run coaching hires and deciding if and when to fire coaches, or when to extend their contract. But any element of doubt associated with those duties took a back seat to Bjork's strengths, as outgoing athletic director Gene Smith and school president Ted Carter talked up the new AD as someone who can lead the department along a path of increasingly slippery footing that includes conference realignment and name, image and likeness.
"Managing the budget, the future of fundraising and how we're going to manage a program this vast and this big is going to take some imagination and is going to take somebody with the ability to show people what right looks like, and Ross is the man able to deal with it," Carter said.
In talking to people who have worked with and/or covered Bjork at his previous AD stops at Texas A&M and Mississippi, the 51-year-old is an elite fundraiser who is brilliant at connecting with the handful of donors who are spending all the money. They described him as a smart, thorough and ambitious.
Ohio State: 5 things you need to know about Ross Bjork, Ohio State's new athletic director
Bjork and the Texas A&M 12th Man Foundation introduced a huge capital campaign a few years ago centered on construction of an academic wellness center, football indoor performance center and indoor track stadium, as well as redevelopment of the football complex. The campaign quickly raised $120 million in donor contributions – oil money! – which is the second largest philanthropic fundraising effort in the foundation’s history, behind the redevelopment of Kyle Field. During his seven years at Mississippi, revenue generated within athletics jumped from $57 million to $117 million.
Bjork used the terms "resource acquisition" and "development" more than he mentioned fundraising. Regardless of the semantics, he hammered home the point that raising money begins with relationships.
Ohio State fans may be asking, “Fundraising is all well and good, but what about finding Ryan Day’s replacement, whenever it happens?” In 10 years. Five years. Or if he takes a fourth consecutive loss to Michigan.
Bjork stressed that he is not in charge until July 1, the day after Smith retires. But he was adamant about Ohio State winning championships. With Day, Chris Holtmann or any coach who wears scarlet and gray.
"Be not afraid," he said. "Expect high expectations. Win at the highest level. I know what we say, 'the school up north.' I get it. Every single day we will be prepared."
Bjork’s resume is not as bulletproof regarding coaching hires or avoiding coaching controversies. He did bring in baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle, who guided the Aggies into the final four of the men's College World Series in 2022, but none of his hires have won national championships.
Bjork was not responsible for hiring Hugh Freeze at Mississippi, but in 2017 defended his football coach against 21 NCAA rules violation charges, including a failure-to-monitor charge against Freeze and a lack of institutional control. Freeze eventually was forced to resign when a public records request filed by his predecessor, Houston Nutt, showed that Freeze had placed at least 12 phone calls to escort services.
Bjork also took heat at Texas A&M for extending football coach Jimbo Fisher’s fully guaranteed $75 million contract through 2031. The AD fired Fisher in November, only two seasons after the extension was signed, leaving the university on the hook for $77 million.
This season, Aggies fans criticized Bjork for botching the coaching search for Fisher’s replacement. Bjork was set to hire Mark Stoops away from Kentucky until the fan base caught wind of the hire and expressed outrage, similar to Tennessee fans going berserk when the Vols zeroed in on Greg Schiano, who ultimately landed at Rutgers.
The blowback from Aggies fans, and reportedly some players, killed the Stoops deal before it had been approved by the A&M Board of Regents, and Bjork hired Duke’s Mike Elko instead.
A source confirmed some A&M Board of Regents members were not pleased with Bjork for brokering a deal that had not yet been cleared by the school’s higher ups.
“He bumbled the Mark Stoops flirtation and misread his authority and autonomy,” the source said. “A lot of Aggies at that point thought he may have become a lame duck athletic director, but looks like he landed well (at Ohio State).”
Bjork explained the Stoops situation by pointing out that no coaching hire happens in a vacuum, meaning he could not have gone rogue even if he had wanted.
Carter defended Bjork against the Fisher extension fallout by reminding everyone that A&M administrators above Bjork had to sign off on the expensive decision.
Bjork’s other football coach hiring decision came in November 2017 when he elevated Matt Luke from interim to full-time coach after the Rebels made a late push to finish 6-6 following Freeze’s departure. Luke lasted two seasons before getting fired. As athletic director at Western Kentucky, Bjork made a midseason coaching change in men's basketball, after which the Hilltoppers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Regarding academics, A&M's overall grade point average improved under Bjork.
Fans want to win. Finances are of secondary interest, except when ticket prices increase. But as college football becomes even more of a business, money matters. You don’t keep up with the Joneses, Alabamas and Oregons without collecting lots of the green stuff.
You might say fundraising is to athletic directors what recruiting is to coaches – the lifeblood that allows success to happen. In that way, Bjork appears to be perfect for a job in which he inherits a department that raked in $251.6 million in revenue in fiscal year 2021-22; the second most posted by an athletic department since 2005.
A member of the Mississippi media compared Bjork’s strengths and weaknesses to a scene in “Moneyball,” where Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, takes heat from his scouting department for wanting to sign players who can’t hit, field or throw.
But what they do better than most is get on base. Bjork may be a mixed bag on some of the hiring and firing responsibilities, but his fundraising "on-base percentage" is through the roof.
Ohio State’s new athletic director has big shoes to fill. Smith is as well-liked as any AD. Isn't bad at fundraising, either. But it sounds like Bjork is a strong leader, too, and one who is especially adept at playing moneyball.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State hires athletic director Ross Bjork to replace Gene Smith
