Sources: Buckeyes target A&M’s Bjork for advertisement

• Pete Thamel, ESPNJan 15, 2024, 02:16 PM ET

Ohio State is targeting Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork to become the school’s next athletic director, sources told ESPN.The working with process remains in the lasts, per the sources, with a conclusion expected in the coming days. Sources told ESPN in recent days that authorities had reached out to other finalists and informed them they were no longer in the running.Bjork’s expected working with brings a paradigm shift for Ohio State sports in the wake of the retirement of long time athletic director Gene Smith, signifying a change in direction under brand-new president Ted Carter, who began his tenure in current weeks.For years, the parlor game at athletic director conventions had been: Which among Smith’s effective Ohio State proteges would change him at Ohio State? There were always plenty of prospective candidates who had worked under Smith, consisting of Washington State’s Pat Chun, Pitt’s Heather Lyke, Utah State’s Diana Sabau and UCLA’s Martin Jarmond.Carter’s targeting of Bjork suggests a preference for a fresh start over institutional knowledge.Bjork would arrive having actually just fired Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher, which came at the cost of the highest buyout in the history of the sport

. Texas A&M owes Fisher more than$76 million of the completely ensured offer. Bjork did not hire Fisher however was athletic director when the agreement extension that resulted in the buyout was issued.In the wake of Fisher’s shooting, Bjork carried out an unartful training search that ended with the hiring of Mike Elko. It included a public courtship of Kentucky’s Mark Stoops that backfired, as Stoops eventually ended up remaining at Kentucky. Texas A&M is not expected to make a push to keep Bjork.Bjork brings more than a decade of SEC experience. He worked at Ole Miss as the athletic director from 2012 to 2019 before being employed at Texas A&M. Prior to Ole Miss, he was the athletic director at Western Kentucky and before that, an associate or assistant advertisement at schools consisting of UCLA, Miami and Missouri.Ohio State looms as one of the leading tasks in college sports. Smith is set to retire in July after 18 seasons, throughout which he became one of the sport’s most respected voices. 8 times during Smith’s tenure, Ohio State finished No. 1 in the Big 10 in the Director’s Cup standings.Ohio State, which has 36 sports, has won 32 group and 117 private national championships throughout Smith’s tenure.