On several different occasions this summer, Ohio State football fans have voiced their displeasure with Athletic Director Ross Bjork. The main topics of conversation have been NIL and the whole 'Hang on Sloopy' drama that still has people upset.
In terms of NIL, it's been no secret that the Buckeyes have made strong pushes to land 5-star prospects, only for them to spurn Ohio State at the last second for a different powerhouse. Money being used for targets has been a concern.
The general feeling among the fanbase has been that Bjork and Co. aren't putting Ohio State in the best position to land some of the top playmakers because they're cheaping out a bit in terms of NIL. Bjork appeared to fire back at that notion in a recent interview with Front Office Sports, but Buckeyes supporters aren't buying this:
Athletic Director ending beloved Ohio State football tradition for no reason
Ohio State AD Ross Bjork told FOS the school’s NIL philosophy is simple: “Embrace it at the highest level.”
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 6, 2025
To do that, OSU shut down its top collectives and launched "Buckeye Sports Group," a centralized NIL arm designed for the post-House era.
“The philosophy on NIL is: Embrace it at the highest level,” Bjork said via Front Office Sports. “Be as aggressive as you can be given your environment.”
Ohio State AD Ross Bjork can't be serious with what he said about NIL
In terms of key losses due to NIL, the two prospects that immediately come to mind are safety Bralan Womack and linebacker Tyler Atkinson. Womack, the nation's No. 1 safety, announced his commitment to the Auburn Tigers not long ago, but earlier in the year he said the Buckeyes were his top school. What changed there?
Similarly, Atkinson, the No. 1 linebacker in the country, also said at one point during his recruitment that Ohio State was at the top of the list for him. This had plenty of people in Columbus thinking that he'd end up committing to the Buckeyes and Day. Instead, he's now Texas-bound.
A pair of other 5-star targets recently had Ohio State among their finalists, but they ended up elsewhere. That was running back Savion Hiter, who is headed to Michigan, and offensive lineman Darius Gray, who will be playing his college ball at South Carolina.
Bjork has claimed that he and Ohio State are ready to 'embrace it (NIL) at the highest level' moving forward. If he wants to make people start believing in what he had to say there, then some big-time recruiting wins need to be posted. And money can no longer be the reason the Buckeyes get bad news when a youngster makes his announcement for where he'll be playing for the next 4-5 years.