WSYX ABC 6.
On Wednesday, Ohio State officially introduced Ross Bjork as its next athletic director. His wife, Sonya, spoke to the media after his introductory press conference was over.
Sonya Bjork told WSYX ABC 6 that she’s thrilled her family is in Columbus for the foreseeable future.
“We’re thrilled to be Buckeyes,” Bjork said. “I was thrilled. I was pushy, like, ‘Let’s do this. The next thing we had to do was figure out how to tell your mother.’ We threw around some really fun ideas about how we were going to punk her and tell her we were going to be Buckeyes. It was a lot of fun.”
Bjork’s mother-in-law grew up in Williamstown, Ohio. As you’d expect, she was thrilled to find out about her son joining Ohio State.
“She finally had to close her mouth because she was so excited. Then she kept crying. It was really sweet.”
I caught up with incoming OSU AD Ross Bjork’s wife, Sonya, about learning he was taking the job.
Ross’s mother grew up in Williamstown, Ohio. Sonya talks about breaking the news to her.
More on the Bjork family and their excitement to become #Buckeyes at 5 on @wsyx6 pic.twitter.com/qUHxgMbiwt
— Kellyanne Stitts (@KellyanneStitts) January 17, 2024
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Bjork will succeed Gene Smith at Ohio State. He was hired by the school’s newest president, Ted Carter.
“From the day I started here on January 1, I was deeply involved in the search,” Carter said. “Simply stated, Ross separated himself from the rest of the candidates. He struck me as somebody who has the values here at Ohio State – integrity passion and care for our students. I measured those against all the candidates, and he was by far the leader.”
Smith isn’t retiring until June 30, which gives Bjork ample time to prepare for his new gig.