The Ohio State football program has undergone a lot of changes since winning the national championship, mostly led by athletic director Ross Bjork. That includes the changing of some beloved traditions on game day, which were unveiled on Tuesday.
Bjork has struggled to figure out how the current landscape of college football is using NIL effectively. In fact, it seems like the Ohio State Buckeyes are getting left behind when it comes to the NIL space, specifically in recruiting. Some Ohio State fans are starting to question whether or not he can handle it.
Despite the fact that Bjork was hired in part because he was supposed to be at the forefront of NIL. He said he wanted to embrace that part of college sports, especially when it comes to college football and college basketball. Now, he's asking for clarity on rules he should know about already.
Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork asks for clarity on NIL rules
While he was talking to WOSU, Bjork called for some more clarity on collectives and whether or not they are allowed in collegiate sports.
“We were ready to pivot if we needed to, but in a lot of ways, we didn't have to. That's why we created Buckeye Sports Group. We're talking to sponsors, we're talking to donors. Our collectives are still engaged from a leadership and a structure standpoint. So we have a lot of things in place to adapt to what was said last week. But also, we're still waiting on the rules to be published."
The Buckeyes have fallen behind when it comes to recruiting because of how poorly Ohio State has allocated the NIL rules. They currently sit at ninth in the 2026 recruiting class rankings, which would be the worst class since Urban Meyer retired and Day took over.
Bjork has not been able to navigate the NIL space as well as other programs, and it could cost the Buckeyes big-time in the future. They have lost out on several elite recruits already, and that is going to continue if he doesn't allow collectives to dish out some money.