Ross Bjork not afraid of high expectations for the Ohio State football team
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football program always has high expectations. They are one of the few programs that expect to win the national championship every year. That's what the fanbase expects as well. Ryan Day has fallen short of that goal so far, but has played for a national championship.
New athletic director Ross Bjork understands those expectations. He has officially taken over for Gene Smith now that Smith retired at the end of June. Bjork knew what he was signing up for when he took the job. He understands what fans want, particularly from the Ohio State football program.
Speaking with Dave Holmes of ABC 6, Bjork talked about how he's settling in Columbus and how he looks to lead the athletic department into a new era. Athletes are now about to start getting paid directly from the university and that's something new that he's going to have to navigate.
How Ross Bjork will support the Ohio State football program
Bjork did talk about that payment aspect and how it will affect the football team in particular. He understands that tradition is important, but he wants to stop thinking traditionally. Ohio State has already announced that they will participate in full revenue sharing up to 22%.
In order to be able to do that, Bjork knows that NIL collectives will be an important aspect of the future. That's how they're going to be able to get that money to pay all of those athletes. Bjork was very much involved in NIL funding while he was at Texas A&M and he will be at Ohio State too.
Talking specifically about the football team, Bjork talked about how Ryan Day knows that the program has high expectations and that he wouldn't want it any other way. Bjork made it clear that those expectations won't be going away anytime soon either. Day needs to live up to them.
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Bjork made it clear that he will do whatever he can to support Ohio State athletics to make them the best in every sport. He also believes they will be able to keep every sport they have despite the revenue sharing. He has his work cut out for him to keep that promise.