New Athletic Director for Ohio State

To follow Ross Bjork’s (BS 95-Recreation) journey to become the athletic director at The Ohio State University, you’d be wise to start in the office of Dr. Glen Lojka (BSE 60-Physical Education, MS 64-Physical Education), Bjork’s faculty advisor at Emporia State University.

It was in that office, in the mid-1990s, that Bjork showed Lojka, then a professor of Health, Physical Education + Recreation, a newspaper clipping about a sports management program offered by another school. Bjork, a fullback on the Hornets’ football team, had come to Emporia State after graduating from Dodge City Community College in his hometown. He was interested in pursuing a career in administrative roles in athletics, and he went to Lojka to see if ESU had a similar program path for him to reach that goal.

Bjork said Lojka, who passed away in 2021, “looked over that article 10 different ways.” Then he said something that temporarily broke Bjork’s heart.

We can’t help you, Bjork recalls Lojka regretfully telling him. Emporia State didn’t have a program like that.

But that wasn’t the end of the matter. Inspired by Bjork’s enthusiasm, Lojka developed a hybrid degree program that allowed Bjork to major in recreation and also earn a minor in business.

Without Lojka’s nimble course management and willingness to consider a novel approach, Bjork’s career as one of the most sought-after administrators in collegiate sports might never have taken flight.

Today, ESU offers a Bachelor of Science in sport leadership + recreation.

“In my mind, we created a template around sport management, and it was really fascinating. Dr. Lojka was great. He totally understood it and understood what I was trying to do,” Bjork said.

Driven today by an embrace of the challenges that face college athletics, the 51-year-old Bjork used his unique undergraduate degree to fuel an enviable career. Since graduating from ESU, Bjork has worked at seven universities in six states, beginning as a twentysomething development officer at Western Kentucky University (WKU). Promotions and relocations happened rapidly: two roles at the University of Missouri, where he became the assistant athletic director for development, and associate athletic director posts at the University of Miami and UCLA. When WKU called back in 2010 — offering an opportunity to lead its athletics department — Bjork became the youngest athletic director among the NCAA’s 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, a remarkable accomplishment in a field historically dominated by administrators nearing retirement age.

Less than two decades after departing ESU, Bjork had successfully hurdled two milestones: gaining a foothold in an astonishingly competitive field and earning his first athletic director role. The third arrived in 2012 when the University of Mississippi lured Bjork from Bowling Green and made him one of the 14 athletic directors in the Southeastern Conference, one of the nation’s most prominent leagues. Seven years at Ole Miss led to a job offer from another SEC institution, Texas A&M University, whose student body has ranked as the nation’s largest since 2021 and whose on-campus football stadium seats more than 103,000.

It took the opportunity to pilot Ohio State’s mammoth athletics department and work in the Big Ten Conference for the former Hornet fullback to depart Texas. Hired in January to replace the retiring Gene Smith, Bjork — who is serving as the Buckeyes’ athletic director-in-waiting until this summer — is tasked with overseeing more than 1,000 student-athletes and the coaching staffs of 36 teams while managing a department that enjoyed $279.5 million in revenue in fiscal year 2023.

“One of the things about me that has helped is I've been in so many diverse markets that I think I can adapt to any situation,” Bjork said. “I was in Miami for two years. We were in Los Angeles for five years. We've been in the South since 2010. But I grew up in the Midwest, and now I'm going back to the Midwest, going back to Ohio.”

A career that regularly changes ZIP codes and time zones may not be for everyone, Bjork admits. But for his family, it’s been a positive experience. His wife, Sonya, and sons, Paxton and Payton, have collected friendships and memories in metropolises like Los Angeles and Miami and town-and-gown cities like Bowling Green, Oxford and College Station. His career has allowed the Bjorks to explore the nation through their daily lives; their oldest son was born in Santa Monica, California; their youngest was born in Bowling Green.

Their dad’s career has also afforded his boys opportunities others would relish.

“Our sons essentially grew up in a locker room, and I think the lessons and the experiences that they've had are going to serve them well as they evolve and become leaders and get their educations,” he said. “The things they've experienced are tremendous. Being on sidelines, being in locker rooms, being around the players, and really seeing great role models is something they'll carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

For ESU students considering sport leadership + recreation as their major, Bjork’s advice is enthusiastic. It’s a great choice, he believes, and he shared some guidance about expectations, particularly if students’ career goals include administrative roles. Frequent relocations aren’t mandatory, he says. He has colleagues at other universities who’ve enjoyed productive careers at a single school.

But he’s also convinced that “if you are willing to relocate, I think you'll have more opportunities. I'm a perfect example of that. I've been willing to move around, which means I have more opportunities.”

The job is not without its challenges. Criticism is unavoidable, he admits. Top administrators in college athletics are public figures whose decisions are always being scrutinized by the media and legions of fans whose passions range from mild to wildly obsessive. Firing coaches — or retaining them after lackluster seasons, in some cases — are among the hardest decisions athletic directors face, especially given how coaches’ families are affected. What’s vital, Bjork believes, is remaining steadfast to the goal.

“I know the path to failure is trying to make everyone happy. You have to have that perspective of always keeping the institution at the forefront of your decision-making and do what's in the best interest of the university. If you do that every single time and they still criticize, there's nothing you can do.”

Sport leadership majors also need to embrace the reality of today’s college athletics: the effects of Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) regulations; the dizzying number of players who now transfer from school to school; and the remaking of conference landscapes that had remained largely unaltered for generations. Constants in college athletics now seem rare. But the mission — supporting the university and students — hasn’t diminished, Bjork believes.

“That's the part that I'm fired up about on the future of athletics. I think there's a bright future, even though it's hard, and I'm excited about helping lead some of these changes.”

Bjork looks back at his start at ESU with pride, both in the unorthodox way it began and how one professor’s decision to help a football player reach his academic goal remains so instrumental to his career. That reality isn’t lost on him.

“An opportunity was created because I played college sports,” he said. “So, whether it's Division III or Ohio State, the opportunity that athletes have to grow and learn because of college athletics, there's going to be value in that. No matter what the model is, no matter if we're paying athletes, if they're employees, if they're not, there's going to be value and there's going to be a model at every level for athletes to just have opportunity.”