Will Howard reflects on college football journey, path to Ohio State

Will Howard ended his five-year college football career as a national champion after Ohio State ran the gauntlet in the College Football Playoff before defeating Notre Dame in the title game.

After winning the championship, Howard reflected on his college football journey and how it culminated with the first championship for Ohio State in a decade.

“It’s crazy to look back at all the things that have happened in my career, going from really playing as a freshman at Kansas State, not really knowing what I’m doing out there, and going into my junior year kind of lost, not really thinking I’d be playing, and then ended up winning a Big 12 Championship,” Howard said.

“All that, I just had to trust in the Lord, man, and trust that He had a plan for me and that all the adversity that we were going through, all the tough times that I went through. … I’m just so thankful that I got the chance to come here and to be a Buckeye and that Coach Day believed in me and that these guys believed in me. I’m blessed, and I’m just so unbelievably thankful that I got a chance to be a Buckeye, even if it was for just one year.”

The Kansas State transfer ultimately finished his single season in Columbus with career-highs across the board with 4,010 passing yards, 42 total touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions.

Being in the spotlight is nothing new for Howard, however, as he’s been thrust into it ever since he was a freshman in 2020. That year, however, Howard called it “one of the tougher years.” Experiencing a pandemic, living on his own for the first time and adapting to college football saw him finish the year with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He was playing bad football, and didn’t feel like himself, he said.

He got another crack at the starting job during this third season with Kansas State in 2022 but didn’t play until Week 6. His grandmother passed away during the first couple weeks of the season, which was another hardship due to their close relationship. Leaning on friends, faith and family, Howard would end up leading the Wildcats to a Big 12 Championship over eventual national runners-up TCU that year.

After his best season yet at K-State in 2023, he opted to transfer to Ohio State and the rest will forever be written in Buckeyes history.

“I’m just so thankful that I have a group of guys in this locker room and a group of coaches and my family that I can lean on and they can get me through all those tough times,” Howard said. “Here we are, man. It’s kind of surreal to feel like personally and as a team, all the things that we’ve been through this year, to come out on top feels pretty damned good.”