Ohio State is targeting Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork to become the school's next athletic director, sources told ESPN.
The hiring process is in the final stages according to sources, with some finality expected in the coming days. In recent days, sources told ESPN that officials contacted other finalists and told them they were no longer in the running.
Bjork's long-awaited hiring brings a paradigm shift for Ohio State athletics, following the retirement of longtime athletic director Gene Smith, and is symbolic of a new direction for new president Ted Carter, who began his tenure in recent weeks. .
For years, the parlor game at athletic directors' conventions had been: Which of Smith's successful protégés at Ohio State would replace him at Ohio State? There were always many potential candidates who had worked with Smith, including Washington State's Pat Chun, Pitt's Heather Lyke, Utah State's Diana Sabau and UCLA's Martin Jarmond.
Carter's focus on Björk indicates a preference for a new beginning over institutional knowledge.
Bjork would arrive after firing Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, costing him the highest termination in sports history. Texas A&M owes Fisher more than $76 million on the fully guaranteed deal. Björk did not hire Fisher, but she was athletic director when the contract extension that led to the termination was issued.
In the wake of Fisher's firing, Björk executed a clumsy coaching search that ended with the hiring of Mike Elko. It included a public courtship of Kentucky's Mark Stoops that backfired, as Stoops ultimately ended up saying in Kentucky. Texas A&M is not expected to make any efforts to retain Björk.
Bjork brings more than a decade of SEC experience. He worked at Ole Miss as athletic director from 2012 to 2019 before being hired at Texas A&M. Prior to Ole Miss, he worked as an athletic director at Western Kentucky and worked as an associate and assistant athletic director at places like UCLA, Miami and Missouri before taking the job at Western Kentucky.
Ohio State is shaping up to be one of the best jobs in college athletics. Smith will retire in July after 18 seasons, where he emerged as one of the most respected voices in the sport. Eight times during Smith's tenure, Ohio State finished No. 1 in the Big Ten in the Directors' Cup standings.
Ohio State has 36 sports and during Smith's tenure, the school won 32 team and 117 individual national championships.
